Challenge

Old Trafford
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Daniel Zorita took the kick off in the first half of the match. Edwin van der Sar stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Daniel Zorita's shot from short distance in the 14th minute. Taisto Pentsinen received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 17th minute. Julio Vera tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Valdemar Kuoppala could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 18th minute of the match, but Julio Vera made a huge save. In the 20th minute Ecuador were awarded a corner. Daniel Zorita went to the cornerflag to take it. 22 minutes into the match, Valdemar Kuoppala had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Julio Vera. Ecuador's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Valdemar Kuoppala was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. Valdemar Kuoppala fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 25th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Julio Vera having to interfere. 27 minutes into the match, Manchester United FC's goal looked a bit too open when Cristian Sancho came free, but Edwin van der Sar reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in Manchester United FC's zone, Agustín Saelices stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Edwin van der Sar came out of the goal and Agustín Saelices tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Edwin van der Sar showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Felix Montenegro in the 31st minute of the match. Valdemar Kuoppala struck a weak shot in the 32nd minute. Julio Vera didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Manchester United FC. Edwin van der Sar made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Daniel Zorita in the 35th minute of play. Edwin van der Sar took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Daniel Zorita, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. A hard and well directed shot from Taisto Pentsinen led 38 minutes into the game to a goal after the ball had bounced deceptively just in front of the goal. Ecuador's Julio Vera became a little unsure and couldn't grip the ball before it was over the goalline. Thus it was 2-0. After a rather tough play, Manchester United FC's Valdemar Kuoppala got a free kick in the 40th minute. The audience was convinced that Cristian Sancho's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Edwin van der Sar was relentless in the 42nd minute of the game. Edwin van der Sar made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Agustín Saelices in the 46th minute of play. After 48 minutes, Taisto Pentsinen mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Manchester United FC and the Ecuador players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 48th match minute, Manchester United FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Taisto Pentsinen to maneuver through the defense. Manchester United FC's Eeli Niinimäki was substituted for Taisto Pentsinen. In the 49th minute, Taisto Pentsinen hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Af the end of the first half the score was 2-0. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

In the 55th minute, Eeli Niinimäki left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Manchester United FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 3-0. Eeli Niinimäki received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 57th minute. Julio Vera tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When Eero Uusipaavalniemi came up free with the goalie in the 64th minute, the Manchester United FC 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 Eero Uusipaavalniemi couldn't finish the play. Davide Beckham hit a great freekick 65 minutes into the match. In the 70th minute, Ecuador's Daniel Zorita ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Edwin van der Sar. Edwin van der Sar yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 4-1. Julio Vera showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Eeli Niinimäki, who was totally free with the ball in the 74th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Valdemar Kuoppala in the 77th minute of play forced Ecuador's goalkeeper Julio Vera to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When Valdemar Kuoppala came up free with the goalie in the 84th minute, the Manchester United FC 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 Valdemar Kuoppala couldn't finish the play. With his leg Edwin van der Sar managed to avoid a goal in the 87thth minute, when Ecuador's Felix Montenegro fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. In the 95th minute, Ecuador's Cristian Sancho ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Edwin van der Sar. Edwin van der Sar yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 4-2. The Manchester United FC players were eager to celebrate when the final whistle sounded. They had somehow managed to win, even though the away team had held the majority of the possession.