Challenge

Marcelo A. Bielsa
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Growlithe FC's Barış Ziya started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. An unexpectedly hard shot by Barış Ziya in the 4th minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alfredo Graciani went, in the 5th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-0 was the resulting score. Bernabe Armani showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Gaona in the 9th minute of the match. Ahmet Baki Ulualp charged in rather forcefully in the 9th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Ahmet Baki Ulualp the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After a rather tough play, Growlithe FC's Ahmet Baki Ulualp got a free kick in the 10th minute. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alfredo Graciani in the 12th minute of play. Dante Lacasa made an important save on a dangerous shot by Benito Galeno in the 14th minute. Barış Ziya took the ball and in the 16 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Dante Lacasa. Dante Lacasa dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-0. Ahmet Baki Ulualp sent away a hard shot on goal in the 21st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 23rd minute Joel Gaona shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Bernabe Armani saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 28th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When Alexander Palmer came up free with the goalie in the 29th minute, the Growlithe FC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Alexander Palmer couldn't finish the play. Pedro Leheren kicked well hit freekick during the 31st minute of the match. A hard and well directed shot from Joel Gaona led 31 minutes into the game to a goal after the ball had bounced deceptively just in front of the goal. Growlithe FC's Bernabe Armani became a little unsure and couldn't grip the ball before it was over the goalline. Thus it was 2-1. The audience thought a goal was coming when Ahmet Baki Ulualp got free with Dante Lacasa in the 36th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Bernabe Armani took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Lautaro Mancebo, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Mexico's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Joel Gaona in the 38th minute. The corner ended in Joel Gaona almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Growlithe FC's Bernabe Armani did a great save. In the 43rd minute, Alberto Tafalla made a precise shot to the right of Bernabe Armani. Growlithe FC's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-2. After some careless play in the Growlithe FC defense, Joel Gaona kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Bernabe Armani. The Growlithe FC fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Bernabe Armani should have stopped the shot. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 2-3.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Joel Gaona stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Bernabe Armani made an important save on a dangerous shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 59th minute. In the 65thth minute of the game Barış Ziya who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Mexico's Dante Lacasa was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Dante Lacasa came out of the goal in the 66th minute to try and stop a shot by Growlithe FC's Alexander Palmer. But to his dismay, Alexander Palmer quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 4-3. Growlithe FC's Bernabe Armani proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 69th minute of the match, managed to save Growlithe FC from getting a goal against them. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Alfredo Graciani, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Bernabe Armani made an important save on a dangerous shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 78th minute. In the 79th minute Barış Ziya shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dante Lacasa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 82nd minute Barış Ziya shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dante Lacasa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Alfredo Graciani in the 83rd minute of play. Mexico's Alberto Tafalla got a good chance for a goal in the 85th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. The Growlithe FC support was delighted with a win in a match that could easily have ended differently.