Challenge

Stadio Miramare MF
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Mateusz Smolarek kicked off to start the match. Alfredo Torelli took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Cristian Sancho, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After 6 minutes Manfredonia Calcio 1932's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Daniel Zorita who took care of the corner kick. The corner led to Ecuador's Felix Montenegro getting away a dangerous shot that went just outside the goal. After 10 played minutes Ecuador got a freekick which was hit by Luis Andino. If Mateusz Smolarek had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 16th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 23 minutes into the match, Manfredonia Calcio 1932's goal looked a bit too open when Cristian Sancho came free, but Alfredo Torelli reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Ecuador's Julio Vera played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alessandro Del Piero in the 26th minute of play. The corner led to Manfredonia Calcio 1932's Achille Barbato getting away a dangerous shot that went just outside the goal. 36 minutes into the match, Daniel Zorita had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Alfredo Torelli. Manfredonia Calcio 1932's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Daniel Zorita was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. Manfredonia Calcio 1932's Alfredo Torelli played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Luis Andino in the 40th minute of play. 40 minutes in the game, the ball went up into the seats when Ecuador's Luis Andino fired away a shot that was just a little bit too high. He walked away shaking his head. In the 42nd minute, Ernesto Giandomenico ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Julio Vera was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-1. After a rather tough play, Manfredonia Calcio 1932's Alessandro Del Piero got a free kick in the 47th minute. The fans had the chance to grab some refreshments as the whistle went for half-time. The score stood at 1-1 after a close first half.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Daniel Zorita stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After some fancy dribbling in the 52nd minute, Daniel Zorita managed to get in a good position for a shot. Ecuador's supporters rose to their feet, but Daniel Zorita was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Alfredo Torelli breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. In the 54th minute, Alessandro Del Piero 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. In the 57th minute, Felix Montenegro 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. An unexpected shot in the 59th minute by Daniel Zorita got the crowd on their feet, but to their dismay it went out on the left side. Julio Vera showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Mateusz Smolarek, who was totally free with the ball in the 61st minute. Mateusz Smolarek's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Julio Vera read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 64th minute of play. 65 minutes had been played when some careless play by Ecuador's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Alessandro Del Piero was slow to take the kick. During this time Manfredonia Calcio 1932's players had a chance to rest. It was a well-played corner which Arturo Borrelli managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. The audience was convinced that Mateusz Smolarek's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Julio Vera was relentless in the 68th minute of the game. In the 74th minute Mateusz Smolarek shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Julio Vera saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Alfredo Torelli didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Cristian Sancho went, in the 75th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-2 was the resulting score. Manfredonia Calcio 1932 made a substitution. Jagad Te Vrede replaced Ernesto Giandomenico. Thanks to some nice moves Daniel Zorita could shoot a difficult shot in the 84th minute, which Alfredo Torelli however easily saved by the left post. In the 85th minute, Florian Carafa hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Manfredonia Calcio 1932's Alfredo Torelli proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 87th minute of the match, managed to save Manfredonia Calcio 1932 from getting a goal against them. Julio Vera made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mateusz Smolarek in the 88th minute of play. Cristian Sancho took the ball and in the 95 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Alfredo Torelli. Alfredo Torelli dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-3. When the match was over Ecuador could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Manfredonia Calcio 1932 throughout the match.