Challenge

Estadio Azteca
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Conrado Romero took the kick off in the first half of the match. An unexpected shot in the 5th minute by Alberto Tafalla got the crowd on their feet, but to their dismay it went out on the left side. In the 7thth minute of the game Luca Zorita who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Gençlerbirliği's Dursun Ekinci was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. When Alberto Tafalla fell near the penalty area in the 7th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Mexico's protests and gave Alberto Tafalla a yellow card for diving instead. Alberto Tafalla kicked well hit freekick during the 7th minute of the match. Dursun Ekinci 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 10th minute. With an all-out effort, Mexico's Dursun Ekinci threw himself towards the right post 14 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Luca Zorita, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. Dursun Ekinci made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 19th minute of play. Dursun Ekinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Gaona in the 21st minute of the match. Mexico's Lautaro Mancebo was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Dursun Ekinci in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 30th minute of play forced Gençlerbirliği's goalkeeper Dursun Ekinci to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dursun Ekinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 35th minute of the match. Dursun Ekinci made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luca Zorita in the 36th minute of play. In the 41st match minute, Mexico was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Alberto Tafalla to maneuver through the defense. In the 44th minute, Gençlerbirliği's Sümer Müjdat seemed to kick out at an opponent. The referee saw this and, surprisingly, showed Sümer Müjdat the red card, dismissing him from the pitch. The coaching staff of Gençlerbirliği protested bitterly, but the referee would have none of it, and Sümer Müjdat had no choice but to slowly walk off the pitch. After 43 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Gençlerbirliği! Gençlerbirliği:s Dursun Ekinci showed great skill when he stopped Joel Gaona:s penalty. Dursun Ekinci came out of the goal in the 45th minute to try and stop a shot by Mexico's Joel Gaona. But to his dismay, Joel Gaona quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-0. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Joel Gaona to make the kick off. Dursun Ekinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 56th minute of the match. In the 58th minute Luca Zorita shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dursun Ekinci saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After a rather tough play, Gençlerbirliği's Conrado Romero got a free kick in the 65th minute. In the 66th minute, Conrado Romero hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Jean-Claude van Damme kicked well hit freekick during the 69th minute of the match. Dursun Ekinci showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lautaro Mancebo, who was totally free with the ball in the 70th minute. Gençlerbirliği's Dursun Ekinci played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Gaona in the 74th minute of play. In the 75th minute, Macos Graciani hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Dante Lacasa was in exellent shape and made a fantastic save when he, in the 77th minute of the match, managed to get hold of the ball after a long shot from Stanislaw Rekowski. Stanislaw Rekowski got in the 77th minute a good position and tried a long shot which to a great surprise passed a very astonished Dante Lacasa. This was a shot which ended in a score of 1-1. Gençlerbirliği's İhsan Temizkanoğlu was substituted for Filiph Låsberg. 87 minutes into the game, Facundo Cadaval was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Mexico's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Gençlerbirliği the free kick. In the 89th minute Joel Gaona shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dursun Ekinci saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 93 minutes into the game, Joel Gaona cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 3-1. Dursun Ekinci was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. Mexico had played much better football throughout.