Challenge

El Monumental
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Niki Lauda took the kick off in the first half of the match. 4 minutes into the match, Eric Târban had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Jonathan Ferrant. Venezuela's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Eric Târban was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. Marcial Lordi showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tomas Illescas in the 13th minute of the match. 15 minutes into the match, Bruno Oxarra notched a goal, 3-0, 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. Fidel Gora made in the 19th minute of the game a sloppy throw-in which Marco Rudolfo however managed to control. 27 minutes into the match, Venezuela's goal looked a bit too open when Niki Lauda came free, but Jonathan Ferrant reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 35th minute the ball was on its way in behind Venezuela's goalkeeper Jonathan Ferrant, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. After some fancy dribbling in the 41st minute, Niki Lauda managed to get in a good position for a shot. RIVER's supporters rose to their feet, but Niki Lauda 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. The supporters of Venezuela booed when RIVER was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 43 match minutes in a wonderful position. Niki Lauda didn't get a good kick on the ball. RIVER made a substitution. Tobias Belmiro replaced Bruno Oxarra. After a rather tough play, RIVER's Niki Lauda got a free kick in the 44th minute. In the 48th minute Niki Lauda 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. Af the end of the first half the score was 4-0. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

The wind increased when Tomas Illescas made the kick off in the second half. An unexpectedly hard shot by Niki Lauda in the 52nd minute of play forced Venezuela's goalkeeper Jonathan Ferrant to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. RIVER's Marcial Lordi proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 53rd minute of the match, managed to save RIVER from getting a goal against them. Jonathan Ferrant stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Niki Lauda's shot from short distance in the 56th minute. After 57 played minutes RIVER got a freekick which was hit by Domingo Remigio. RIVER's Pipo Benedetto was substituted for Eric Târban. After 58 played minutes RIVER got a freekick which was hit by Domingo Remigio. Patricio Costa fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 59th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Marcial Lordi having to interfere. The throw-in from Guillermo Mariano in the 61st minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by RIVER's Marco Rudolfo. After 63 minutes, Fidel Gora mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the RIVER and the Venezuela players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, RIVER's Fidel Gora got a free kick in the 63rd minute. Jonathan Ferrant took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Niki Lauda, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Jonathan Ferrant showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Niki Lauda, who was totally free with the ball in the 67th minute. 74 minutes into the match, Venezuela's goal looked a bit too open when Tobias Belmiro came free, but Jonathan Ferrant reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 76th minute, Tomas Illescas reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Marcial Lordi. The goal made the score 4-1. RIVER's Wu Li Zhi was substituted for Niki Lauda. In the 85th minute RIVER were awarded a corner. Giovanni Lenhardt went to the cornerflag to take it. A well-hit corner resulted in Domingo Remigio heading the ball towards the goal, but to his dismay he misdirected it and missed the goal completely. In the 90th minute, one of Venezuela:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Venezuela. After some careless play in the Venezuela defense, Giovanni Lenhardt kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Jonathan Ferrant. The Venezuela fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Jonathan Ferrant should have stopped the shot. Venezuela's Tomas Illescas got a good chance for a goal in the 97th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. RIVER were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Venezuela for a fine match.