Challenge

Wembley
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Den Cardwell started the match with the kick off. After 2 minutes of play, Panama's Isidoro Sarmiento made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Bogdan Ghimpu was left in no man's land by his defense there! After a defensive mix-up in London Lions's zone, Abraham Alguacil stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Bogdan Ghimpu came out of the goal and Abraham Alguacil tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Isidoro Sarmiento in the 9th minute of play forced London Lions's goalkeeper Bogdan Ghimpu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A nice corner shot did that Tomas Berganza got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Bogdan Ghimpu quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. In the 13th minute, Dylan Sarmiento hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 16 minutes into the game, London Lions's Den Cardwell nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Marcos Cotilla made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-1. Bogdan Ghimpu made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomas Berganza in the 21st minute of play. After a rather tough play, London Lions's Jamal Cavanagh got a free kick in the 26th minute. Rupert Rundle hit a great freekick 28 minutes into the match. If Abraham Alguacil had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 29th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Bogdan Ghimpu showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Abraham Alguacil, who was totally free with the ball in the 33rd minute. In the 37th minute of the match Panama got a corner. London Lions's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Abraham Alguacil ran over to the corner to take the kick. Marcos Cotilla stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Borys Jaworski's shot from short distance in the 39th minute. In the 43rd match minute, London Lions was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gaz Chandler to maneuver through the defense. In a very dangerous position, a player in London Lions fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 46th minute. Penalty! 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.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Tomas Berganza made a kick off. Marcos Cotilla showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Leandro Guerra in the 59th minute of the match. Tomas Berganza received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 62nd minute. Bogdan Ghimpu tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 69 minutes into the match, Panama's goal looked a bit too open when Leandro Guerra came free, but Marcos Cotilla reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. A collision led to London Lions getting a freekick after 72 minutes play. Jamal Cavanagh hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Isidoro Sarmiento in the 74th minute of play forced London Lions's goalkeeper Bogdan Ghimpu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Bogdan Ghimpu took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Isidoro Sarmiento, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 86 minutes into the match, Leandro Guerra notched a goal, 2-2, to the right of Panama's Marcos Cotilla. Marcos Cotilla was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After a rather tough play, Panama's Miguel Miralles got a free kick in the 90th minute. Tomas Berganza hit a great freekick 96 minutes into the match. The second half was just like the first, even and exciting. The match ended in a draw.