Challenge

Phoenix Field
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Traian Moldovan started the match with the kick off. Julio Vera showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ivan Galtero in the 2nd minute of the match. Ionel Panaitoiu took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Daniel Zorita, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Ecuador's Daniel Zorita was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Ionel Panaitoiu in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. Ionel Panaitoiu showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Daniel Zorita in the 11th minute of the match. Cristinel Eftimiu hit a great freekick 14 minutes into the match. 17 minutes into the game, Felix Montenegro cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Ionel Panaitoiu was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 25th minute Cristian Sancho shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ionel Panaitoiu saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Daniel Zorita in the 29th minute of play forced Phoenix Strikers's goalkeeper Ionel Panaitoiu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 32 minutes of play, Ecuador's Luis Andino made it 0-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ionel Panaitoiu was left in no man's land by his defense there! Ionel Panaitoiu stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Daniel Zorita's shot from short distance in the 38th minute. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Cristinel Eftimiu during the 39th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 39th match minute, Phoenix Strikers was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cristinel Eftimiu to maneuver through the defense. Through an outstanding action, after 41 minutes, Julio Vera successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. When Luis Andino came up free with the goalie in the 44th minute, the Ecuador 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 Luis Andino couldn't finish the play. Eric Aanuţei's late challenge caught a Ecuador's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Eric Aanuţei helped the player get up and apologised. Eric Aanuţei hit a great freekick 47 minutes into the match. The Phoenix Strikers players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. Ecuador were winning 0-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Daniel Zorita to make the kick off. Daniel Zorita sent away a hard shot on goal in the 55th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Ecuador's Daniel Zorita got a good chance for a goal in the 63rd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Julio Vera came out of the goal in the 70th minute to try and stop a shot by Phoenix Strikers's Olimpiu Mustea. But to his dismay, Olimpiu Mustea quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-2. In the 82nd match minute, Phoenix Strikers was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Toader Ghișe to maneuver through the defense. After some careless play in the Phoenix Strikers defense, Felix Montenegro kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Ionel Panaitoiu. The Phoenix Strikers fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Ionel Panaitoiu should have stopped the shot. In the 89th minute, Agustín Saelices reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Ionel Panaitoiu. The goal made the score 1-4. Daniel Zorita received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 98th minute. Ionel Panaitoiu tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Ecuador's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.