Challenge

Genk Stadion
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Joel Gaona started the match with the kick off. After 5 minutes, 邵泉林 mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Genk and the Mexico players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of Mexico booed when Genk was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 5 match minutes in a wonderful position. 邵泉林 didn't get a good kick on the ball. 6 minutes into the match, Alberto Tafalla notched a goal, 0-1, to the right of Genk's Jannes Van Leempoel. Jannes Van Leempoel was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After 12 played minutes Mexico got a freekick which was hit by Facundo Cadaval. Jannes Van Leempoel showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 16th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 17th minute of play forced Genk's goalkeeper Jannes Van Leempoel to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Vergil Rupov in the 18th minute of the match. The corner ended in Alfons Rijniers almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Mexico's Dante Lacasa did a great save. Suat Kaya could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 24th minute of the match, but Dante Lacasa made a huge save. Jannes Van Leempoel showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Luca Zorita, who was totally free with the ball in the 30th minute. Jannes Van Leempoel made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Felix Luque in the 31st minute of play. Vergil Rupov in the 33rdth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Dante Lacasa, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. After 34 minutes of play, Mexico's Alberto Tafalla made it 0-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Jannes Van Leempoel was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 41st match minute, Genk was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Alfons Rijniers to maneuver through the defense. Jannes Van Leempoel showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 42nd minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vergil Rupov in the 47th minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After the first half Mexico were leading 0-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Vergil Rupov to make the kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vergil Rupov in the 52nd minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Jannes Van Leempoel showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Gaona in the 55th minute of the match. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Rain De Hond in the 60th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vergil Rupov in the 62nd minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Suat Kaya, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Genk made a substitution. Albert Verdun replaced Alfons Rijniers. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Vergil Rupov in the 73rd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Dante Lacasa prevented the ball from getting in the gole. After 73 minutes, Vergil Rupov made it 1-2 with a short kick to the right side. Mexico's Dante Lacasa tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. Genk's Jannes Van Leempoel proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 78th minute of the match, managed to save Genk from getting a goal against them. After having played for 79 minutes, Luca Zorita managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Mexico's supporters crossed their fingers, but Luca Zorita was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Lautaro Mancebo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 83rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 86th minute Joel Gaona shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jannes Van Leempoel saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 87 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Suat Kaya came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Jannes Van Leempoel showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 92nd minute. After a rather tough play, Genk's 邵泉林 got a free kick in the 93rd minute. Lautaro Mancebo kicked well hit freekick during the 94th minute of the match. In the 95th minute Alexander Klemensson 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. After 97 minutes, Facundo Cadaval mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Mexico and the Genk players grew even worse after the yellow card. Facundo Cadaval hit a great freekick 97 minutes into the match. In the 98th minute of the match 邵泉林 shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Dante Lacasa showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Mexico's supporters were very happy and cheered loudly because their team had won after a very close match.