Challenge

Commandos FC Arena
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Venezuela's Tomas Illescas started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. In the 2nd match minute, Venezuela was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Camilo Gaos to maneuver through the defense. Dumitru Moraru made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Patricio Costa in the 6th minute of play. Rigoberto Mina charged in rather forcefully in the 7th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Rigoberto Mina the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Joshua Secada kicked well hit freekick during the 13th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 18th minute, Tomas Illescas managed to get in a good position for a shot. Venezuela's supporters rose to their feet, but Tomas Illescas was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Dumitru Moraru breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Jonathan Ferrant made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Paris Braoudakis in the 21st minute of play. Tomas Illescas might have been able to make a better finish in the 24th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Dumitru Moraru. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Tomas Illescas ran back to his position shaking his head. A collision led to The Commandos getting a freekick after 27 minutes play. Sokratis Tsardikos hit a great ball. In the 33rd minute, Sokratis Tsardikos hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 35 played minutes Venezuela got a freekick which was hit by Jose Correa. The Commandos's Antti Ariva pulled a muscle in his leg after 42 minutes and couldn't finish the game. The Commandos's Stelios Belidis was substituted for Antti Ariva. After a rather tough play, Venezuela's Patricio Costa got a free kick in the 44th minute. With a little luck, Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant got control of the ball when Thanos Kalfakis tried to sneak it across the goal line.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Thanos Kalfakis stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Thanos Kalfakis's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Jonathan Ferrant read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 52nd minute of play. The crowd rose to their feet as Venezuela's Tomas Illescas slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Dumitru Moraru. That made the score 0-1 after 55 minutes of play. After 58 played minutes Venezuela got a freekick which was hit by Patricio Costa. Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Paris Braoudakis in the 62nd minute of play. In the 64thth minute of the game Thanos Kalfakis who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Venezuela's Jonathan Ferrant was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 66 minutes had been played when some careless play by Venezuela's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Fondas Papadogiannakis was slow to take the kick. During this time The Commandos's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Fondas Papadogiannakis got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Jonathan Ferrant quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. In the 69th match minute, The Commandos was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Stelios Belidis to maneuver through the defense. Jose Correa hit a great freekick 71 minutes into the match. The Commandos's Grigoris Sourmelis was substituted for Thanos Kalfakis. After 72 played minutes Venezuela got a freekick which was hit by Jose Correa. Fondas Papadogiannakis took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 73rd minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Jonathan Ferrant. Venezuela's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The supporters of The Commandos booed when Venezuela was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 75 match minutes in a wonderful position. Jose Correa didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 83rd match minute, Venezuela was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Patricio Costa to maneuver through the defense. Dumitru Moraru made an important save on a dangerous shot by Tomas Illescas in the 88th minute. The Commandos's attack was well implemented in the 90th minute, but when Grigoris Sourmelis was about to shoot he didn't get a good hit on the ball and it hit the crossbar and flew over. Goal Kick. In the 94th match minute, The Commandos was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Sokratis Tsardikos to maneuver through the defense. When Sokratis Tsardikos fell near the penalty area in the 95th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored The Commandos's protests and gave Sokratis Tsardikos a yellow card for diving instead. After 95 played minutes The Commandos got a freekick which was hit by Sokratis Tsardikos. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Venezuela walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.