Challenge

Arena da Baixada
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Joel Gaona took the kick off in the first half of the match. With a little luck, Mexico's Dante Lacasa got control of the ball when Valdir Cavalcante tried to sneak it across the goal line. The supporters of Grêmio 20 Julho booed when Mexico was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 8 match minutes in a wonderful position. Alberto Tafalla didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 12th minute, Joel Gaona ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Sylwester Zarobski was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. Sylwester Zarobski took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Alberto Tafalla, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Gilmar Romero came free with the goalkeeper in the 17th minute of the match, and shot straight on target. The shot was a little too simple and Dante Lacasa could save by the left post. A collision led to Grêmio 20 Julho getting a freekick after 22 minutes play. Kléber Borges hit a great ball. 33 minutes into the match, Valdir Cavalcante had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Dante Lacasa. Mexico's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Valdir Cavalcante was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-1. 38 minutes had been played when some careless play by Mexico's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Humberto Soeiro was slow to take the kick. During this time Grêmio 20 Julho's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Zé Carlos Pernambucano got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Dante Lacasa quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Valdemar de Amaral in the 44th minute of play. 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 hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Valdemar de Amaral to strike the kick off in the second half. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 53rd minute of play forced Grêmio 20 Julho's goalkeeper Sylwester Zarobski to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The crowd rose to their feet as Facundo Cadaval kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Sylwester Zarobski. That made the score 1-2 in the 57 minute of play. Luca Zorita fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 63rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Sylwester Zarobski having to interfere. Grêmio 20 Julho's Sylwester Zarobski played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 66th minute of play. The supporters of Mexico booed when Grêmio 20 Julho was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 68 match minutes in a wonderful position. Ma Xi Kang didn't get a good kick on the ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Lautaro Mancebo got free with Sylwester Zarobski in the 69th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gilmar Romero, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Grêmio 20 Julho's Amílton de Andrade got a free kick in the 79th minute. After a rather tough play, Mexico's Lautaro Mancebo got a free kick in the 83rd minute. Dante Lacasa didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Valdemar de Amaral went, in the 84th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-2 was the resulting score. Sylwester Zarobski didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alberto Tafalla went, in the 90th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-3 was the resulting score. When the match was over Mexico could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Grêmio 20 Julho throughout the match.