Challenge

RFK Stadium
Spectators: 49 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Thodoris Tassoulis started the match with the kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Monty Rogers in the 10th minute of play forced Sheriff's goalkeeper Yahia van der Saar to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Monty Rogers sent away a hard shot on goal in the 12th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Thodoris Tassoulis in the 16th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Marco Day prevented the ball from getting in the gole. An unexpectedly hard shot by Edward Mcdonald in the 17th minute of play forced Sheriff's goalkeeper Yahia van der Saar to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Marco Day showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Thodoris Tassoulis in the 18th minute of the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Cassius Byrne got free with Yahia van der Saar in the 21st minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 24 minutes into the match, USA's goal looked a bit too open when Damaso Xacintu came free, but Marco Day reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Yahia van der Saar was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Monty Rogers showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 1-0 in the 26 minute of play. The audience thought a goal was coming when Cassius Byrne got free with Yahia van der Saar in the 29th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Marco Day showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Natalio Dominguez, who was totally free with the ball in the 30th minute. 34 minutes into the match, USA's Cassius Byrne sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Yahia van der Saar narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 35 minutes had been played when some careless play by Sheriff's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Cassius Byrne was slow to take the kick. During this time USA's players had a chance to rest. In the 38th minute Monty Rogers shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Yahia van der Saar saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Edward Mcdonald in the 39th minute of play forced Sheriff's goalkeeper Yahia van der Saar to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thodoris Tassoulis sent away a hard shot on goal in the 46th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 47th minute Monty Rogers shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Yahia van der Saar saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 49th minute of the match USA got a corner. Sheriff's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Cassius Byrne ran over to the corner to take the kick. After taking down the ball on USA's corner Jenson Smith fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Yahia van der Saar quite easily take care of the ball.

The wind increased when Cassius Byrne made the kick off in the second half. Sheriff's Yahia van der Saar played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Monty Rogers in the 52nd minute of play. Yahia van der Saar showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Cassius Byrne, who was totally free with the ball in the 54th minute. Natalio Dominguez who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 63rdth minute tested the skills of Marco Day when he managed to save the team from getting behind. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cassius Byrne in the 67th minute of play forced Sheriff's goalkeeper Yahia van der Saar to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Marco Day made an important save on a dangerous shot by Akakios Trachanas in the 69th minute. Sheriff's Yahia van der Saar played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Edward Mcdonald in the 71st minute of play. Giannis Polizos kicked well hit freekick during the 72nd minute of the match. After a rather tough play, Sheriff's Giannis Polizos got a free kick in the 73rd minute. Damaso Xacintu's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 78thth minute, Marco Day skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. USA's Marco Baker was substituted for Edward Mcdonald. USA's Sam Campbell got a good chance for a goal in the 85th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Yahia van der Saar showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sam Campbell, who was totally free with the ball in the 88th minute. In the 89th minute, Khalid Parry left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The USA fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-0. In the 92nd minute Sam Campbell shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Yahia van der Saar saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. USA had played much better football throughout.