Challenge

XMAS park
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, 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. Edmundo Espiga started the match with the kick off. Milagros Cabal's late challenge caught a XMAS's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Milagros Cabal helped the player get up and apologised. XMAS made a substitution. Domenico Mantini replaced Alberigo Gianfrancesco. After having played for 6 minutes, Edmundo Espiga managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Honduras's supporters crossed their fingers, but Edmundo Espiga was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Armando Polidori came out of the goal in the 7th minute to try and stop a shot by Honduras's Edmundo Espiga. But to his dismay, Edmundo Espiga quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. If Sebastian Villa had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 11th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. A throw-in in the 13th minute of the game was made by Comunardo Quadrini with Ennio De Nardis as target, who quickly passed the ball forward. The throw-in from Ferruccio Cesaroni in the 16th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Honduras's Christian Sancho. After a defensive mix-up in XMAS's zone, Edmundo Espiga stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Armando Polidori came out of the goal and Edmundo Espiga tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. The supporters of XMAS booed when Honduras was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 20 match minutes in a wonderful position. Sebastian Villa didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 22nd minute, Edmundo Espiga got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Emanuel Ocampo hit a great freekick 25 minutes into the match. If Ernesto Minichiello had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 28th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Honduras's Christian Sancho quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Ferruccio Cesaroni, made in the 32nd minute of the game. Edmundo Espiga sent away a hard shot on goal in the 33rd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. The audience was convinced that Ernesto Minichiello's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Lautaro Navarro was relentless in the 35th minute of the game. In the 37th minute Edmundo Espiga shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Armando Polidori saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After a rather tough play, XMAS's Christian Zaccardi got a free kick in the 39th minute. Lautaro Navarro stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ernesto Minichiello's shot from short distance in the 43rd minute. When the match clock showed 44 minutes, the score became 0-2 when Edmundo Espiga sped through XMAS's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Armando Polidori. After a defensive mix-up in Honduras's zone, Ernesto Minichiello stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Lautaro Navarro came out of the goal and Ernesto Minichiello tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ernesto Minichiello to make the kick off. Lautaro Navarro stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ennio De Nardis's shot from short distance in the 53rd minute. Edmundo Espiga fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 57th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Armando Polidori having to interfere. Edmundo Espiga blasted a shot towards the goal in the 58th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Armando Polidori having to make a save. The audience thought a goal was coming when Edmundo Espiga got free with Armando Polidori in the 63rd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Armando Polidori showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sebastian Villa, who was totally free with the ball in the 64th minute. When Bruno Alessandrini fell near the penalty area in the 64th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored XMAS's protests and gave Bruno Alessandrini a yellow card for diving instead. The supporters of Honduras booed when XMAS was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 64 match minutes in a wonderful position. Bruno Alessandrini didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 67th minute of the game Ferruccio Cesaroni made a throw-in which Ennio De Nardis played forward. If Edmundo Espiga had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 72nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 74th minute, Sebastian Villa ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Armando Polidori was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-3. Armando Polidori made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Moises Tafalla in the 76th minute of play. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Ernesto Minichiello in the 79th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Lautaro Navarro prevented the ball from getting in the gole. After 81 played minutes XMAS got a freekick which was hit by Ferruccio Cesaroni. Armando Polidori showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Edmundo Espiga, who was totally free with the ball in the 84th minute. With a little luck, XMAS's Armando Polidori got control of the ball when Edmundo Espiga tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 90th minute Ernesto Minichiello shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lautaro Navarro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After 93 played minutes Honduras got a freekick which was hit by Emanuel Ocampo. After some fancy dribbling in the 95th minute, Edmundo Espiga managed to get in a good position for a shot. Honduras's supporters rose to their feet, but Edmundo Espiga was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Armando Polidori breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. When the final whistle sounded Honduras left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than XMAS.