Challenge

Escobedo Stadium
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Santa Fe's Romulo Lalla 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. Santa Fe's Shao Jing Yuan played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Patricio Costa in the 3rd minute of play. Venezuela were awarded a corner in the 4th minute after Santa Fe's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Tomas Illescas took the corner. Tomas Illescas shot the penalty kick right outside the post. In the 10th minute, Romulo Lalla made a precise shot to the right of Jonathan Ferrant. Venezuela's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-0. In the 12th minute, Tomas Illescas hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 14 minutes into the match, Romulo Lalla notched a goal, 2-0, to the right of Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant. Jonathan Ferrant was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After a rather tough play, Santa Fe's Eraldo Lalli got a free kick in the 21st minute. After 21 played minutes, Venezuela's Tomas Illescas shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Shao Jing Yuan came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Venezuela reached it. Jonathan Ferrant stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Romulo Lalla's shot from short distance in the 26th minute. In the 28th minute Romulo Lalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jonathan Ferrant saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Roque Roso could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 29th minute of the match, but Jonathan Ferrant made a huge save. After 30 played minutes Santa Fe got a freekick which was hit by Steve Rogers. Shao Jing Yuan showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tomas Illescas in the 31st minute of the match. Tomas Illescas spun around in front of the goal 31 minutes in the game, and got away a shot that, to his disappointment, went to the left of Santa Fe's goal. 37 minutes into the match, Venezuela's goal looked a bit too open when Romulo Lalla came free, but Jonathan Ferrant reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Jonathan Ferrant made a fantastic save in the 41st minute, when Juan Fernando Pratto sent off a good shot on target. Romulo Lalla fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 46th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jonathan Ferrant having to interfere. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 2-0 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Tomas Illescas to make the kick off. Jonathan Ferrant showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Juan Fernando Pratto in the 60th minute of the match. Santa Fe's Eliott Pépin was substituted for Rolando Madaleno. Sandro Coisne got a throw-in 64 minutes in the game and the ball was received by Steve Rogers. Tomas Illescas could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 68th minute of the match, but Shao Jing Yuan made a huge save. In the 69th minute the ball was on its way in behind Santa Fe's goalkeeper Shao Jing Yuan, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 71st minute, Patricio Costa made a precise shot to the right of Shao Jing Yuan. Santa Fe's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-1. Jonathan Ferrant came out of the goal in the 76th minute to try and stop a shot by Santa Fe's Steve Rogers. But to his dismay, Steve Rogers quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-1. 83 minutes had been played when some careless play by Santa Fe's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Tomas Illescas was slow to take the kick. During this time Venezuela's players had a chance to rest. In the 86th minute Juan Fernando Pratto shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jonathan Ferrant saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Jonathan Ferrant showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Juan Fernando Pratto, who was totally free with the ball in the 90th minute. A collision led to Venezuela getting a freekick after 94 minutes play. Rigoberto Mina hit a great ball. After some fancy dribbling in the 96th minute, Roque Roso managed to get in a good position for a shot. Santa Fe's supporters rose to their feet, but Roque Roso was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Jonathan Ferrant breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. Santa Fe had played much better football throughout.