Challenge

Marcelo Gallardo
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Cridas FC's Lucio Hori 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. Jonathan Ferrant made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lucio Hori in the 3rd minute of play. 4 minutes had been played when some careless play by Venezuela's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Cristian Sánchez was slow to take the kick. During this time Cridas FC's players had a chance to rest. The corner ended in Cristian Sánchez almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant did a great save. Cridas FC's Herminio Otsando played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tomas Illescas in the 6th minute of play. Herminio Otsando came out of the goal in the 10th minute to try and stop a shot by Venezuela's Tomas Illescas. But to his dismay, Tomas Illescas quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. Jonathan Ferrant made an important save on a dangerous shot by Lucio Hori in the 14th minute. Jose Correa hit a great freekick 16 minutes into the match. Lucio Hori fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 18th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jonathan Ferrant having to interfere. 19 minutes into the match, Venezuela's Tomas Illescas sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Herminio Otsando narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 22nd minute, Cridas FC's Lucio Hori ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Jonathan Ferrant. Jonathan Ferrant yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 1-1. With his leg Jonathan Ferrant managed to avoid a goal in the 28thth minute, when Cridas FC's Lucio Hori fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. With a little luck, Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant got control of the ball when Cristian Sánchez tried to sneak it across the goal line. Venezuela's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Tomas Illescas in the 37th minute. The goalkeeper smacked the ball away after a great corner, but Jonathan Venegas advanced and headed the ball into goal, 1-2 in the 37th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Lucio Hori in the 41st minute of play forced Venezuela's goalkeeper Jonathan Ferrant to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Cristian Sánchez could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 44th minute of the match, but Jonathan Ferrant made a huge save. After 46 played minutes Venezuela got a freekick which was hit by Salvador Gisbert. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 1-2.

A collision led to Venezuela getting a freekick after 52 minutes play. Camilo Gaos hit a great ball. After a defensive mix-up in Venezuela's zone, Lucio Hori stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Jonathan Ferrant came out of the goal and Lucio Hori tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Cridas FC's Lucio Hori got a good chance for a goal in the 55th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. When Venezuela's Tomas Illescas in the 61st minute got a chance for a shot 61st didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Cridas FC's goalie prevented a goal. If Lucio Hori had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 62nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Herminio Otsando made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomas Illescas in the 65th minute of play. The throw-in from Eloy Sedeni in the 67th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Venezuela's Salvador Gisbert. After 69 minutes, Rigoberto Mina mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Venezuela and the Cridas FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Tomas Illescas in the 72nd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Herminio Otsando prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Tomas Illescas recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 76th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. When Tomas Illescas came up free with the goalie in the 82nd minute, the Venezuela 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 Tomas Illescas couldn't finish the play. Guillermo Mariano kicked well hit freekick during the 83rd minute of the match. Jonathan Ferrant showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cristian Sánchez in the 84th minute of the match. After having played for 93 minutes, Cristian Sánchez managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Cridas FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Cristian Sánchez was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 95th minute, Epifanio Urdaspal hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Despite being the better team, Cridas FC failed to find the winning goal and were forced to settle for a single point.