League Play-Off

Estádio Marreca
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Marco Mello started the match with the kick off. In the 4th minute Tomé Ortiz shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Haroldo Pinheiro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Washington de Brito received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 5th minute. Haroldo Pinheiro tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. With his leg Rafael Batista managed to avoid a goal in the 7thth minute, when Marreca's José Paulo Leão fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. José Paulo Leão sent away a hard shot on goal in the 10th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. José Paulo Leão sent away a hard shot on goal in the 12th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Rafael Batista made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marco Mello in the 13th minute of play. Tomás Pena's late challenge caught a Marreca's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Tomás Pena helped the player get up and apologised. After 14 played minutes Itabira got a freekick which was hit by Tomás Pena. José Paulo Leão could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 17th minute of the match, but Rafael Batista made a huge save. Adrianinho Coelho hit a great freekick 18 minutes into the match. Valdemar Paraibano, 19 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. Rafael Batista made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marco Mello in the 28th minute of play. With his leg Rafael Batista managed to avoid a goal in the 32ndth minute, when Marreca's José Paulo Leão fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. An unexpectedly hard shot by Marco Mello in the 33rd minute of play forced Itabira's goalkeeper Rafael Batista to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a rather tough play, Marreca's Marco Mello got a free kick in the 34th minute. When Tomás Pena came up free with the goalie in the 36th minute, the Itabira 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 Tomás Pena couldn't finish the play. If Tomé Ortiz had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 38th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Washington de Brito received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 44th minute. Haroldo Pinheiro tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After fighting hard for a draw in the first half, the players were able to take a much needed rest.

The wind increased when Washington de Brito made the kick off in the second half. Geovânio Cavalcante sent away a hard shot on goal in the 56th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. José Paulo Leão sent away a hard shot on goal in the 58th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. José Paulo Leão received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 61st minute. Rafael Batista tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If Marco Mello had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 63rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Washington de Brito sent away a hard shot on goal in the 70th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by José Paulo Leão in the 72nd minute of play forced Itabira's goalkeeper Rafael Batista to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Haroldo Pinheiro made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Washington de Brito in the 74th minute of play. In the 77th match minute, Marreca was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Dida Favoretto to maneuver through the defense. Haroldo Pinheiro was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Washington de Brito showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 0-1 in the 81 minute of play. Tadeu Luz hit a great freekick 84 minutes into the match. Ronaldinho Viana was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 85th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. Washington de Brito fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 87th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Haroldo Pinheiro having to interfere. Haroldo Pinheiro took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Washington de Brito, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Washington de Brito received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 95th minute. Haroldo Pinheiro tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere.