Challenge

Estadio Azteca
Spectators: 49 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Scott Bradbury started the match with the kick off. In the 6th minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Elia Di Ianni saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. El Expreso's Elia Di Ianni proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 7th minute of the match, managed to save El Expreso from getting a goal against them. El Expreso's Elia Di Ianni proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 9th minute of the match, managed to save El Expreso from getting a goal against them. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Scott Bradbury, who was totally free with the ball in the 13th minute. Mexico's Alberto Tafalla got a good chance for a goal in the 14th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Lautaro Mancebo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 17th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After having played for 21 minutes, Alberto Tafalla managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Mexico's supporters crossed their fingers, but Alberto Tafalla was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mikhail Horoshevskiy in the 26th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 28th minute of play forced El Expreso's goalkeeper Elia Di Ianni to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 29 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Scott Bradbury came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 33 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Mikhail Horoshevskiy came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Mexico's Joel Gaona got a good chance for a goal in the 34th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mikhail Horoshevskiy in the 39th minute of play. Facundo Cadaval sent away a hard shot on goal in the 41st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 46th minute. Elia Di Ianni tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Joel Gaona struck a weak shot in the 47th minute. Elia Di Ianni didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Mexico. 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 Joel Gaona to strike the kick off in the second half. In the 51st minute, Tacettin Öksüzoğlu hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. El Expreso's Elia Di Ianni played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Gaona in the 59th minute of play. Through an outstanding action, after 60 minutes, Dante Lacasa successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. Elia Di Ianni 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 62nd minute. 63 minutes had been played when some careless play by El Expreso's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Joel Gaona was slow to take the kick. During this time Mexico's players had a chance to rest. In the 63rd match minute, Mexico was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Luca Zorita to maneuver through the defense. Alberto Tafalla might have been able to make a better finish in the 65th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Elia Di Ianni. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Alberto Tafalla ran back to his position shaking his head. When Lautaro Mancebo got free in front of the goal in the 66th minute he wasn't very focused and chipped the ball just over the goal. Elia Di Ianni was delighted since he was out of position and the ball would have got in if it had gone under the crossbar. In the 72nd minute, Zhu Quan got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Lautaro Mancebo in the 76th minute of play forced El Expreso's goalkeeper Elia Di Ianni to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Elia Di Ianni showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 79th minute of the match. Luca Zorita received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 82nd minute. Elia Di Ianni tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 84 minutes into the match, Mexico's Alberto Tafalla sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Elia Di Ianni narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Joel Gaona's late challenge caught a El Expreso's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Joel Gaona helped the player get up and apologised. The supporters of El Expreso booed when Mexico was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 88 match minutes in a wonderful position. Joel Gaona didn't get a good kick on the ball. Despite being the better team, Mexico failed to find the winning goal and were forced to settle for a single point.