Estadio Azteca
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35,
Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Velichko Trenkov got the match started through his kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 7th minute of play forced ПФК Берое's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When Joel Gaona came up free with the goalie in the 9th minute, the Mexico 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 Joel Gaona couldn't finish the play. ПФК Берое's Yanko Gurmev got a good chance for a goal in the 11th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. After having played for 16 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. With a little luck, ПФК Берое's Hugo Lloris got control of the ball when Alberto Tafalla tried to sneak it across the goal line. After some fancy dribbling in the 20th minute, Alberto Tafalla managed to get in a good position for a shot. Mexico's supporters rose to their feet, but Alberto Tafalla was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Hugo Lloris breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. In the 26th minute of the match Mexico got a corner. ПФК Берое's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Joel Gaona ran over to the corner to take the kick. The corner led to Mexico's Luca Zorita getting away a dangerous shot that went just outside the goal. Hugo Lloris made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luca Zorita in the 28th minute of play. After a defensive mix-up in ПФК Берое's zone, Luca Zorita stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Hugo Lloris came out of the goal and Luca Zorita tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 34th minute of play forced ПФК Берое's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpected shot in the 35th minute by Alberto Tafalla got the crowd on their feet, but to their dismay it went out on the left side. In the 38th minute the ball was on its way in behind ПФК Берое's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. After 44 minutes of play, Mexico's Joel Gaona made it 1-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Hugo Lloris was left in no man's land by his defense there!
When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Joel Gaona made a kick off. Hugo Lloris made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 51st minute of play. Mihail Stamboldzhiev charged in rather forcefully in the 53rd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Mihail Stamboldzhiev the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 53rd match minute, ПФК Берое was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Mihail Stamboldzhiev to maneuver through the defense. Luca Zorita received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 56th minute. Hugo Lloris tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Hugo Lloris made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 60th minute of play. Lautaro Mancebo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 62nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Hugo Lloris took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Lautaro Mancebo, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 81 minutes into the match, Vancho Paleshutski sent off a long shot that looked like it was going straight into the goal, but because Dante Lacasa threw himself in his full length he managed to grip the ball by the left post, and there was no goal for Vancho Paleshutski this time. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Yanko Gurmev, who was totally free with the ball in the 84th minute. In the 87th minute Lautaro Mancebo shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Hugo Lloris saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 87 minutes into the match, Lautaro Mancebo notched a goal, 2-0, to the right of ПФК Берое's Hugo Lloris. Hugo Lloris was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Joel Gaona might have been able to make a better finish in the 93rd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Hugo Lloris. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Joel Gaona ran back to his position shaking his head. There were very few away supporters still in the ground by the end of the match. Most of them had left early, disgusted by the way their team had been torn apart. Mexico fully deserved thier win.
Change language
