Challenge

Feliciano Gambarte
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) El Expreso's Scott Bradbury started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. An unexpectedly hard shot by Lautaro Mancebo in the 2nd minute of play forced El Expreso's goalkeeper Elia Di Ianni to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 2 minutes into the match, Lautaro Mancebo had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Elia Di Ianni. El Expreso's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Lautaro Mancebo was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. In the 6th minute Joel Gaona 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. Mikhail Horoshevskiy could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 11th minute of the match, but Dante Lacasa made a huge save. Dante Lacasa was out of position in the 11 minute of play, and Mikhail Horoshevskiy capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Mikhail Horoshevskiy really showed his touch with that goal: 1-1. After 16 played minutes El Expreso got a freekick which was hit by Ilie Negrescu. Elia Di Ianni made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 16th minute of play. Elia Di Ianni showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lautaro Mancebo, who was totally free with the ball in the 19th minute. Elia Di Ianni showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 20th minute of the match. In the 21st match minute, El Expreso was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cosimo Haye de la to maneuver through the defense. After some fancy dribbling in the 23rd minute, Lautaro Mancebo managed to get in a good position for a shot. Mexico's supporters rose to their feet, but Lautaro Mancebo was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Elia Di Ianni breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. In the 25th match minute, Mexico was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Facundo Cadaval to maneuver through the defense. Ilie Negrescu hit a great freekick 28 minutes into the match. When Joel Gaona came up free with the goalie in the 29th 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. With a little luck, Mexico's Dante Lacasa got control of the ball when Edu de Sousa tried to sneak it across the goal line. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mikhail Horoshevskiy in the 34th minute of play. 37 minutes into the match, Zhu Quan dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Dante Lacasa, 2-1. Af the end of the first half the score was 3-2. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Joel Gaona was the one to do the kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Facundo Cadaval in the 53rd minute of play forced El Expreso's goalkeeper Elia Di Ianni to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 54th minute of the match Mexico got a corner. El Expreso'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. After 56 played minutes El Expreso got a freekick which was hit by Mikhail Horoshevskiy. In the 58th minute, Mikhail Horoshevskiy made a precise shot to the right of Dante Lacasa. Mexico's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 4-2. An unexpectedly hard shot by Mikhail Horoshevskiy in the 64th minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 69th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 73rd minute Edu de Sousa shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dante Lacasa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 74 minutes into the match, Joel Gaona notched a goal, 4-3, to the right of El Expreso's Elia Di Ianni. Elia Di Ianni was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. In the 82nd 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. Lautaro Mancebo could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 91st minute of the match, but Elia Di Ianni made a huge save. With a little luck, El Expreso's Elia Di Ianni got control of the ball when Facundo Cadaval tried to sneak it across the goal line. The home crowd let out a huge roar when the referee blew for the end of the game. El Expreso were victorious despite being under pressure from Mexico for much of the match.