Challenge

Johan Cruyff Arena
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Nikos Sterpis started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. An unexpectedly hard shot by German Sarracino in the 7th minute of play forced Colombia's goalkeeper Pedro Manzanares to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Kevin Mastache sent away a hard shot on goal in the 8th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The audience was convinced that Abram Sarmiento's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Akis Sarafis was relentless in the 12th minute of the game. After 12 minutes, Abram Sarmiento made it 1-1 with a short kick to the right side. AFC Ajax's Akis Sarafis tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. AFC Ajax's Akis Sarafis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Abram Sarmiento in the 16th minute of play. Akis Sarafis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Santino Seco, who was totally free with the ball in the 19th minute. Through an outstanding action, after 25 minutes, Pedro Manzanares successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. 36 minutes into the game, Aleksander Petka recieved a splendid long ball, split the defenders, and gently placed the ball to the left of Pedro Manzanares. Aleksander Petka showed that you don't have to tear a hole in the net to score, 2-1. Pedro Manzanares made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Michelangelo Merganiotis in the 42nd minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Santino Seco in the 43rd minute of play forced AFC Ajax's goalkeeper Akis Sarafis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 46 minutes into the match, Colombia's goalkeeper Pedro Manzanares had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Nikos Sterpis. An unexpectedly hard shot by Abram Sarmiento in the 48th minute of play forced AFC Ajax's goalkeeper Akis Sarafis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

Axel Montenegro in the 51stth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Akis Sarafis, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. In the 54th minute Nikos Sterpis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Pedro Manzanares saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 57 minutes into the match, Colombia's goal looked a bit too open when Michelangelo Merganiotis came free, but Pedro Manzanares reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Akis Sarafis showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Abram Sarmiento in the 60th minute of the match. Pedro Manzanares took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Markos Seremetidis, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Pedro Manzanares made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Markos Seremetidis in the 66th minute of play. Akis Sarafis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Kevin Mastache, who was totally free with the ball in the 67th minute. When the match had gone on for 69 minutes, Abram Sarmiento took a quick shot and it went in 2-2 without a chance for Akis Sarafis to make any attempt to save it. 77 minutes into the match, Santino Seco notched a goal, 2-3, to the right of AFC Ajax's Akis Sarafis. Akis Sarafis was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Markos Seremetidis might have been able to make a better finish in the 80th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Pedro Manzanares. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Markos Seremetidis ran back to his position shaking his head. Pedro Manzanares showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Markos Seremetidis, who was totally free with the ball in the 80th minute. AFC Ajax's attentive Thomas Kallergis managed to snatch the ball when Luis Cazalla made a throw-in in the 81st minute of the game. After some careless play in the Colombia defense, Markos Seremetidis kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Pedro Manzanares. The Colombia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Pedro Manzanares should have stopped the shot. Pedro Manzanares made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Markos Seremetidis in the 85th minute of play. In the 88th match minute, AFC Ajax was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Omiros Fasoulas to maneuver through the defense. If Markos Seremetidis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 91st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The AFC Ajax fans' excitement grew in the 94th match minute when AFC Ajax's Markos Seremetidis looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 4-3 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. AFC Ajax's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.