Challenge

Arena das Cavernas
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Joel Gaona got the match started through his kick off. Austra 04 VFC's Hudson Gaúcho played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 3rd minute of play. In the 5th minute of the match Mexico got a corner. Austra 04 VFC'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. 12 minutes into the match, Austra 04 VFC's goal looked a bit too open when Luca Zorita came free, but Hudson Gaúcho reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Hudson Gaúcho showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 18th minute. Hudson Gaúcho took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. A collision led to Mexico getting a freekick after 23 minutes play. Facundo Cadaval hit a great ball. Wellington Pires scored 1-0 in the 24th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Dante Lacasa, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. After 30 minutes of play, Mexico's Joel Gaona made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Hudson Gaúcho was left in no man's land by his defense there! 33 minutes into the match, Austra 04 VFC's goal looked a bit too open when Alberto Tafalla came free, but Hudson Gaúcho reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Hudson Gaúcho took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 43 minutes into the match, Lautaro Mancebo notched a goal, 1-2, to the right of Austra 04 VFC's Hudson Gaúcho. Hudson Gaúcho was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After a rather tough play, Mexico's Luca Rouco got a free kick in the 46th minute. The audience was convinced that Beila Mora's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Dante Lacasa was relentless in the 47th minute of the game. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 1-2 lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Wellington Pires stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Wellington Pires in the 52nd minute of play. The crowd rose to their feet as Alberto Tafalla kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Hudson Gaúcho. That made the score 1-3 in the 57 minute of play. 65 minutes into the game, Austra 04 VFC's Beila Mora nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Dante Lacasa made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 2-3. Alberto Tafalla sent away a hard shot on goal in the 70th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Austra 04 VFC's Marcus Pollard was substituted for Sócrates Silva. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Wellington Pires in the 74th minute of play. 77 minutes into the match, Austra 04 VFC's goal looked a bit too open when Alberto Tafalla came free, but Hudson Gaúcho reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 77th minute of the match, Alberto Tafalla tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Hudson Gaúcho saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. Dante Lacasa came out of the goal in the 78th minute to try and stop a shot by Austra 04 VFC's Marcus Pollard. But to his dismay, Marcus Pollard quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-3. Austra 04 VFC's Hudson Gaúcho proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 81st minute of the match, managed to save Austra 04 VFC from getting a goal against them. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Wellington Pires, who was totally free with the ball in the 85th minute. In the 87th minute Wellington Pires 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. Beila Mora's late challenge caught a Mexico's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Beila Mora helped the player get up and apologised. After some fancy dribbling in the 89th 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. Hudson Gaúcho breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marcus Pollard in the 92nd minute of play. Mexico were unable to convert their possession into goals, allowing Austra 04 VFC to leave the ground with a draw.