Challenge

Martin Palermo
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Joel Gaona kicked off to start the match. Jonathan Errapel didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alberto Tafalla went, in the 3rd minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. After 10 minutes Santa Maradona'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. In the 12th minute the ball was on its way in behind Santa Maradona's goalkeeper Jonathan Errapel, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 17th minute Joel Gaona shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jonathan Errapel saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 22nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Ratan Ayala hit a great freekick 27 minutes into the match. Jonathan Errapel took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Alberto Tafalla, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 30 minutes into the match, Santa Maradona's Rodolfo Cordeiro sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Dante Lacasa narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 32nd 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: 0-2. Miguel Transito could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 35th minute of the match, but Dante Lacasa made a huge save. 36 minutes into the game, Alberto Tafalla cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-3. Jonathan Errapel was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Jonathan Errapel made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 40th minute of play. Jonathan Errapel took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Mexico's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Joel Gaona in the 44th minute. Santa Maradona's Jonathan Errapel played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Lautaro Mancebo in the 45th minute of play. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-3.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Miguel Transito stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 51st minute the ball was on its way in behind Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Jonathan Errapel was a little too slow when Alberto Tafalla got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 52nd minute. The score was now 0-4. Jonathan Errapel made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luca Zorita in the 55th minute of play. Jonathan Errapel didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Luca Zorita went, in the 55th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-5 was the resulting score. Jonathan Errapel made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luca Zorita in the 60th minute of play. Jonathan Errapel made a fantastic save in the 62nd minute, when Lautaro Mancebo sent off a good shot on target. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Miguel Transito in the 71st minute of play. Joel Gaona might have been able to make a better finish in the 74th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Jonathan Errapel. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Joel Gaona ran back to his position shaking his head. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 79th minute. Jonathan Errapel tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Lautaro Mancebo came free with the goalkeeper in the 80th minute of the match, and shot straight on target. The shot was a little too simple and Jonathan Errapel could save by the left post. Alberto Tafalla received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 82nd minute. Jonathan Errapel tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Miguel Transito, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When the match was over Mexico could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Santa Maradona throughout the match.