Challenge

FC Riga Arena
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Marin Ailenei kicked off to start the match. Saivis Kikals made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Daniel Zorita in the 5th minute of play. Marin Ailenei could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 6th minute of the match, but Julio Vera made a huge save. Saivis Kikals showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Felix Montenegro in the 12th minute of the match. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Cristian Sancho in the 15th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Saivis Kikals saved FC Riga from getting behind. Julio Vera came out of the goal in the 20th minute to try and stop a shot by FC Riga's Kaspars Ketris. But to his dismay, Kaspars Ketris quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-0. Agustín Saelices hit a great freekick 24 minutes into the match. Julio Vera made an important save on a dangerous shot by Marin Ailenei in the 25th minute. Saivis Kikals made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristian Sancho in the 26th minute of play. Saivis Kikals showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cristian Sancho in the 30th minute of the match. In the 31st minute Marin Ailenei 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. After 33 minutes Ecuador's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Voldemārs Cariņš who took care of the corner kick. In the 34th minute of the match, Marin Ailenei tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Julio Vera saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. When Marin Ailenei came up free with the goalie in the 43rd minute, the FC Riga fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Marin Ailenei couldn't finish the play.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Daniel Zorita to strike the kick off in the second half. Thanks to some nice moves Daniel Zorita could shoot a difficult shot in the 54th minute, which Saivis Kikals however easily saved by the left post. Julio Vera showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Jimmy Svenningsted, who was totally free with the ball in the 55th minute. Julio Vera took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Marin Ailenei, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 61 minutes into the match, FC Riga's goalkeeper Saivis Kikals had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Daniel Zorita. Daniel Zorita fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 64th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Saivis Kikals having to interfere. In the 70th play minute Daniel Zorita came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Saivis Kikals. 2-1. Daniel Zorita fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 73rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Saivis Kikals having to interfere. In the 75th minute Marin Ailenei 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. When Cristian Sancho came up free with the goalie in the 76th minute, the Ecuador fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Cristian Sancho couldn't finish the play. With his leg Saivis Kikals managed to avoid a goal in the 84thth minute, when Ecuador's Cristian Sancho fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Laimiņs Veterbergs hit a great freekick 86 minutes into the match. With a little luck, FC Riga's Saivis Kikals got control of the ball when Daniel Zorita tried to sneak it across the goal line. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Marin Ailenei in the 92nd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Julio Vera prevented the ball from getting in the gole. 95 minutes into the match, Marin Ailenei had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Julio Vera. Ecuador's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Marin Ailenei was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-1. The home crowd let out a huge roar when the referee blew for the end of the game. FC Riga were victorious despite being under pressure from Ecuador for much of the match.