Challenge

Katsilimaνika Stadiu
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Marinos Kisemlis made the kick off which started today's match. A collision led to Costa Rica getting a freekick after 5 minutes play. Efrain Moruga hit a great ball. 8 minutes into the game, Juan Rubio was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Costa Rica's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Katsilimaνika the free kick. In the 7th minute, one of Costa Rica: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 Costa Rica. An unexpectedly hard shot by Aaron Alcocer in the 12th minute of play forced Katsilimaνika's goalkeeper Kostas Nikolaidis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Costa Rica's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Axel Tasis in the 13th minute. The corner ended in Axel Tasis almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Katsilimaνika's Kostas Nikolaidis did a great save. Benito Sanz showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Theofilos Stamatellis in the 17th minute of the match. In the 18th minute, Nestoras Tsatsoulis got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Alan Moruga hit a great freekick 19 minutes into the match. Grigoris Moustakidis fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 21st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Benito Sanz having to interfere. Loukas Adamos charged in rather forcefully in the 23rd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Loukas Adamos the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of Costa Rica booed when Katsilimaνika was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 23 match minutes in a wonderful position. Loukas Adamos didn't get a good kick on the ball. Theofilos Stamatellis hit a great freekick 31 minutes into the match. 33 minutes into the game, Theofilos Stamatellis cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-0. Benito Sanz was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Benito Sanz showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Theofilos Stamatellis, who was totally free with the ball in the 36th minute. After 38 minutes of play, Costa Rica's Eliseo Noboa made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Kostas Nikolaidis was left in no man's land by his defense there! If Theofilos Stamatellis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 42nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 47th minute, Axel Tasis left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Costa Rica fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-2. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 1-2 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Axel Tasis to make the kick off. Paris Tsiaris kicked well hit freekick during the 53rd minute of the match. 55 minutes into the game, Eliseo Noboa recieved a splendid long ball, split the defenders, and gently placed the ball to the left of Kostas Nikolaidis. Eliseo Noboa showed that you don't have to tear a hole in the net to score, 1-3. In the 57th match minute, Katsilimaνika was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Paris Tsiaris to maneuver through the defense. Alan Moruga hit a great freekick 60 minutes into the match. Benito Sanz stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Theofilos Stamatellis's shot from short distance in the 64th minute. Kostas Nikolaidis showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Axel Tasis in the 67th minute of the match. If Nestoras Tsatsoulis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 70th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The crowd rose to their feet as Axel Tasis kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Kostas Nikolaidis. That made the score 1-4 in the 76 minute of play. In the 79th minute, Lautaro Puig hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When the match had gone on for 88 minutes, Eliseo Noboa took a quick shot and it went in 1-5 without a chance for Kostas Nikolaidis to make any attempt to save it. The supporters of Costa Rica booed when Katsilimaνika was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 95 match minutes in a wonderful position. Dimitris Kakratsas didn't get a good kick on the ball. Katsilimaνika's Kostas Nikolaidis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eliseo Noboa in the 97th minute of play. Costa Rica were delighted with the way they had won the match. They had held their defensive line well and made the most of their chances, to claim a victory over Katsilimaνika's much stronger midfield.