League Play-Off

Alexandria Arena
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) Joinville City's Sílvio Meirelles 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. With a little luck, Nacional Club Saba's João Pedro Machado got control of the ball when Oswaldo Paraibano tried to sneak it across the goal line. 4 minutes into the game, Nacional Club Saba's Luís Paulo Barral nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Raúl Tasso made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-1. Sílvio Meirelles received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 8th minute. João Pedro Machado tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 11th minute, Jorge Pitta managed to get in a good position for a shot. Joinville City's supporters rose to their feet, but Jorge Pitta was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. João Pedro Machado breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. João Pedro Machado made an important save on a dangerous shot by Jorge Pitta in the 13th minute. 22 minutes into the match, Jorge Pitta notched a goal, 1-1, to the right of Nacional Club Saba's João Pedro Machado. João Pedro Machado was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Sílvio Meirelles fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 28th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without João Pedro Machado having to interfere. Nacional Club Saba's João Pedro Machado played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Sílvio Meirelles in the 29th minute of play. João Pedro Machado stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Jorge Pitta's shot from short distance in the 31st minute. After a rather tough play, Nacional Club Saba's Oswaldo Jacinto got a free kick in the 31st minute. Sílvio Meirelles kicked well hit freekick during the 33rd minute of the match. 34 minutes into the game, Oscar Brasil threw the ball into play from the sideline. Joinville City's Oswaldo Paraibano quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. When Jorge Pitta came up free with the goalie in the 35th minute, the Joinville City 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 Jorge Pitta couldn't finish the play. In the 39th minute, Luís Paulo Barral got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. 41 minutes into the match, Jorge Pitta had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of João Pedro Machado. Nacional Club Saba's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Jorge Pitta was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-1. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 2-1 at half-time.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Luís Paulo Barral was the one to do the kick off. Jorge Pitta fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 53rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without João Pedro Machado having to interfere. If Sílvio Meirelles had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 58th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a rather tough play, Nacional Club Saba's Adelino de Queiroz got a free kick in the 59th minute. João Pedro Machado didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Sílvio Meirelles went, in the 60th minute, to the upper right corner, 3-1 was the resulting score. After a rather tough play, Nacional Club Saba's Oswaldo Jacinto got a free kick in the 64th minute. Joinville City's Raúl Tasso proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 72nd minute of the match, managed to save Joinville City from getting a goal against them. João Pedro Machado took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Oswaldo Paraibano, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The supporters of Joinville City booed when Nacional Club Saba was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 75 match minutes in a wonderful position. Oscar Brasil didn't get a good kick on the ball. Sílvio Meirelles 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. In the 80th minute of the match Roger Teixeira sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but João Pedro Machado skillfully saved the ball. Nacional Club Saba's João Pedro Machado played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Sílvio Meirelles in the 84th minute of play. Sílvio Meirelles received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 86th minute. João Pedro Machado tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When Sílvio Meirelles came up free with the goalie in the 90th minute, the Joinville City 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 Sílvio Meirelles couldn't finish the play. In the 91st minute Sílvio Meirelles shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but João Pedro Machado saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sílvio Meirelles in the 95th minute of play forced Nacional Club Saba's goalkeeper João Pedro Machado to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Jorge Pitta received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 96th minute. João Pedro Machado tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Joinville City's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.