Challenge

Folke Anderson
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when İbrahim Volkan took the kick off in the first half of the match. Mexico's Dante Lacasa proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 11th minute of the match, managed to save Mexico from getting a goal against them. Damian Maftei succeeded in the game's 11th minute to shoot an unreachable shot under the crossbar and scored - 1-0. Aguinaga Nebot didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alberto Tafalla went, in the 21st minute, to the upper right corner, 1-1 was the resulting score. Esmeraldas S.C.'s İbrahim Volkan got a good chance for a goal in the 23rd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Mexico's Dante Lacasa proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 26th minute of the match, managed to save Mexico from getting a goal against them. Aguinaga Nebot took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Damian Maftei could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 28th minute of the match, but Dante Lacasa made a huge save. Esmeraldas S.C. were awarded a corner in the 30th minute after Mexico's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Stefanos Terzopoulos took the corner. Aguinaga Nebot took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Alberto Tafalla, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Mexico's Facundo Cadaval got a free kick in the 34th minute. In the 42nd minute Martinez Cines 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. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 44th minute of play forced Esmeraldas S.C.'s goalkeeper Aguinaga Nebot to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Joel Gaona was the one to do the kick off. 52 minutes into the match, İbrahim Volkan notched a goal, 2-1, to the right of Mexico's Dante Lacasa. Dante Lacasa was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. In the 55thth minute of the game İbrahim Volkan 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. 59 minutes had been played when some careless play by Esmeraldas S.C.'s defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Joel Gaona was slow to take the kick. During this time Mexico's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Lorenzo Cazalla got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Aguinaga Nebot quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Joel Gaona scored 2-2 in the 68th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Aguinaga Nebot, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Esmeraldas S.C.'s Flavio Valines was substituted for Martinez Cines. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 73rd minute. Aguinaga Nebot tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Joel Gaona recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 77th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. When Alberto Tafalla came up free with the goalie in the 81st 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 Alberto Tafalla couldn't finish the play. In the 84th minute, Alberto Tafalla fired away a shot on goal. He put a little to much spin on the ball and sent it just wide of the right post. 86 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when İbrahim Volkan came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 89 minutes Esmeraldas S.C.'s defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Joel Gaona who took care of the corner kick. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Damian Maftei, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a defensive mix-up in Esmeraldas S.C.'s zone, Lautaro Mancebo stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Aguinaga Nebot came out of the goal and Lautaro Mancebo tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 96th minute. Aguinaga Nebot tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When the referee blew the final whistle, you could see the dissatisfaction in the Mexico players' eyes. They were disappointed they hadn't taken more from the game.