Challenge

Tivoli Arena
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Joel Gaona took the kick off in the first half of the match. When Joel Gaona came up free with the goalie in the 4th minute, the Mexico 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 Joel Gaona couldn't finish the play. Dante Lacasa came out of the goal in the 6th minute to try and stop a shot by Alemannia Aachen's Lech Wawrukiewicz. But to his dismay, Lech Wawrukiewicz quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-0. Jess Carnduff showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Gaona in the 10th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 16th minute of play forced Alemannia Aachen's goalkeeper Jess Carnduff to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Lautaro Mancebo had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 19th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When the match had gone on for 22 minutes, Manfred Kottsieper took a quick shot and it went in 2-0 without a chance for Dante Lacasa to make any attempt to save it. Alemannia Aachen's Jess Carnduff played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Gaona in the 26th minute of play. 26 minutes into the game, Joel Gaona cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-1. Jess Carnduff was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Lautaro Mancebo fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 31st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jess Carnduff having to interfere. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Thomas Müller, who was totally free with the ball in the 35th minute. Felix Luque hit a great freekick 36 minutes into the match. If Thomas Müller had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 37th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. In the 45th minute, Alberto Tafalla left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Mexico fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-2.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Thomas Müller was the one to do the kick off. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Joel Gaona in the 50th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Jess Carnduff prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Jess Carnduff stood somewhat misplaced when Joel Gaona came free in front of goal and shot 2-3 to the left of him in the 50 minute. Dante Lacasa stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Manfred Kottsieper's shot from short distance in the 53rd minute. Jess Carnduff made a fantastic save in the 55th minute, when Lautaro Mancebo sent off a good shot on target. After 73 minutes Mexico's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Mateusz Rydel who took care of the corner kick. It was a well-played corner which Lech Wawrukiewicz managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. 76 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Manfred Kottsieper came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Manfred Kottsieper, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Thomas Müller in the 84th minute of play. Through an outstanding action, after 86 minutes, Jess Carnduff successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. In the 87th minute, Edmundo Duarte hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Lautaro Mancebo fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 88th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jess Carnduff having to interfere.