Challenge

Grugliasco Olimpico
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Grugliasco's Achille Palone 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 5 minutes of play, Panama's Tomas Berganza made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ercole Trombetta was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 12th minute, Grugliasco's Stratos Papandreou dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-1. In the 16th minute, Tomas Berganza left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Panama fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-2. Marcos Cotilla showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Achille Palone, who was totally free with the ball in the 21st minute. Ercole Trombetta made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomas Berganza in the 26th minute of play. In the 33rd minute Isidoro Sarmiento shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ercole Trombetta saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 41st minute, Matthew Garrido hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Marcos Cotilla showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Rogelio Mercurio, who was totally free with the ball in the 46th minute.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Tomas Berganza stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Panama's Marcos Cotilla played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Achille Palone in the 51st minute of play. Tomas Berganza fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 52nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ercole Trombetta having to interfere. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Achille Palone during the 57th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 57th minute, Achille Palone hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Tomas Berganza recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 59th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. With an all-out effort, Panama's Ercole Trombetta threw himself towards the right post 68 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Tomas Berganza, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. After a defensive mix-up in Grugliasco's zone, Tomas Berganza stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ercole Trombetta came out of the goal and Tomas Berganza tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 74th minute, Stratos Papandreou managed to get in a good position for a shot. Grugliasco's supporters rose to their feet, but Stratos Papandreou was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Marcos Cotilla breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The audience thought a goal was coming when Isidoro Sarmiento got free with Ercole Trombetta in the 89th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. With his leg Ercole Trombetta managed to avoid a goal in the 90thth minute, when Panama's Abraham Alguacil fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Grugliasco's Ercole Trombetta played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tomas Berganza in the 92nd minute of play. Panama were clearly unhappy with the draw, as they felt they had done enough to earn themselves a victory.