Challenge

RFK Stadium
Spectators: 49 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Ali Nurettin took the kick off in the first half of the match. In the 6th minute Monty Rogers shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jalmari Mikkonen saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 7th minute, Edward Mcdonald hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Pinner Cluj-Napoca's Jalmari Mikkonen proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 9th minute of the match, managed to save Pinner Cluj-Napoca from getting a goal against them. With his leg Jalmari Mikkonen managed to avoid a goal in the 11thth minute, when USA's Cassius Byrne fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Jalmari Mikkonen showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Edward Mcdonald in the 14th minute of the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Cassius Byrne got free with Jalmari Mikkonen in the 16th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 17th minute, USA's Cassius Byrne ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Jalmari Mikkonen. Jalmari Mikkonen yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 1-0. With a little luck, Pinner Cluj-Napoca's Jalmari Mikkonen got control of the ball when Cassius Byrne tried to sneak it across the goal line. The audience thought a goal was coming when Cassius Byrne got free with Jalmari Mikkonen in the 33rd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Pinner Cluj-Napoca's Ali Nurettin got a good chance for a goal in the 35th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Ali Nurettin in the 37th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Marco Day saved USA from getting behind. USA's Marco Day played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ali Nurettin in the 45th minute of play. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

After 51 minutes of play, USA's Monty Rogers made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Jalmari Mikkonen was left in no man's land by his defense there! Marco Day made an important save on a dangerous shot by Ali Nurettin in the 54th minute. Jalmari Mikkonen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Edward Mcdonald, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. An unexpectedly hard shot by Jenson Smith in the 59th minute of play forced Pinner Cluj-Napoca's goalkeeper Jalmari Mikkonen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Jalmari Mikkonen showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Monty Rogers in the 64th minute of the match. Pinner Cluj-Napoca's Jalmari Mikkonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cassius Byrne in the 70th minute of play. 71 minutes into the match, Pinner Cluj-Napoca's goal looked a bit too open when Cassius Byrne came free, but Jalmari Mikkonen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The referee felt a red card was in order, 78 minutes into the game, when Mugurel Gârniceanu put in a rough tackle. Pinner Cluj-Napoca made a substitution. Petruț Mircescu replaced Adam Vasilache. USA's Sam Campbell was substituted for Cassius Byrne. In the 77th minute, one of Pinner Cluj-Napoca:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Pinner Cluj-Napoca. In the 84th minute, Marco Baker 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: 4-1. Pinner Cluj-Napoca's Franco Vázquez managed, thanks to a brazen rush, stole the ball on a throw-in made by Diego Bradley in the 87 minute of the game. 96 minutes into the match, Marco Baker had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Jalmari Mikkonen. Pinner Cluj-Napoca's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Marco Baker was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 5-1.