Challenge

Estadio del Rio
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Ecuador's Daniel Zorita 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. After a rather tough play, Independiente del Río's Fabian Baldaliso got a free kick in the 3rd minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cristian Sancho in the 6th minute of play forced Independiente del Río's goalkeeper Yin Cheng Han to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 6th minute, Ejder Sümer hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Yin Cheng Han showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Agustín Saelices, who was totally free with the ball in the 8th minute. Julio Vera took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Emanuel Sueiro, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The audience was convinced that Cristian Sancho's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Yin Cheng Han was relentless in the 11th minute of the game. An unexpectedly hard shot by Emanuel Sueiro in the 12th minute of play forced Ecuador's goalkeeper Julio Vera to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After having played for 18 minutes, Machado Santianes managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Independiente del Río's supporters crossed their fingers, but Machado Santianes was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Daniel Zorita in the 20th minute of play forced Independiente del Río's goalkeeper Yin Cheng Han to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Cristian Sancho fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 22nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Yin Cheng Han having to interfere. 28 minutes into the game, Ecuador's Felix Montenegro nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Yin Cheng Han made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-1. Ejder Sümer kicked well hit freekick during the 32nd minute of the match. 0-2 became the score in the 35th minute when Agustín Saelices elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. Yin Cheng Han made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristian Sancho in the 39th minute of play. If Machado Santianes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 41st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 43rd minute Machado Santianes 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.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Machado Santianes to make the kick off. In the 52ndth minute of the game Machado Santianes who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Ecuador's Julio Vera was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Emanuel Sueiro fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 54th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Julio Vera having to interfere. Yin Cheng Han made an important save on a dangerous shot by Agustín Saelices in the 58th minute. 60 minutes into the match, Independiente del Río's Emanuel Sueiro sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Julio Vera narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Independiente del Río's Yin Cheng Han proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 62nd minute of the match, managed to save Independiente del Río from getting a goal against them. Cristian Sancho sent away a hard shot on goal in the 69th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. Yin Cheng Han made a fantastic save in the 70th minute, when Cristian Sancho sent off a good shot on target. If Daniel Zorita had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 73rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Daniel Zorita sent away a hard shot on goal in the 78th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 80 minutes into the match, Agustín Saelices had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Yin Cheng Han. Independiente del Río's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Agustín Saelices was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-3. Daniel Zorita fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 87th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Yin Cheng Han having to interfere. After 90 played minutes Independiente del Río got a freekick which was hit by Rogelio Sarratea. Daniel Zorita's late challenge caught a Independiente del Río's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Daniel Zorita helped the player get up and apologised. In the 94th minute, Daniel Zorita hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Ecuador's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.