Challenge

Estadio Nacional
Spectators: 49 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Axel Tasis took the kick off in the first half of the match. In the 2nd minute, Ladislao Harriet left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Empire of Soccer fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. After a defensive mix-up in Costa Rica's zone, Ladislao Harriet stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Benito Sanz came out of the goal and Ladislao Harriet tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Benito Sanz came out of the goal in the 15th minute to try and stop a shot by Empire of Soccer's Ladislao Harriet. But to his dismay, Ladislao Harriet quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-3. Benito Sanz didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Ladislao Harriet went, in the 18th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-4 was the resulting score. After some careless play in the Costa Rica defense, Ladislao Harriet kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Benito Sanz. The Costa Rica fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Benito Sanz should have stopped the shot. In the 25th minute, Ladislao Harriet ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Benito Sanz was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-6. In the 30th minute Ladislao Harriet shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Benito Sanz saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After some careless play in the Costa Rica defense, Ladislao Harriet kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Benito Sanz. The Costa Rica fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Benito Sanz should have stopped the shot. Hugo Ferrant hit a great freekick 34 minutes into the match. Ladislao Harriet scored 0-8 in the 35th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Benito Sanz, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Xanthos Fikias sent away a hard shot on goal in the 37th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Benito Sanz showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ladislao Harriet, who was totally free with the ball in the 41st minute. The audience was convinced that Ladislao Harriet's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Benito Sanz was relentless in the 44th minute of the game. Benito Sanz stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ladislao Harriet's shot from short distance in the 47th minute. After the first half Empire of Soccer were leading 0-8. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Ladislao Harriet stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 50th minute, Empire of Soccer's Xanthos Fikias ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Benito Sanz. Benito Sanz yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 0-9. Alan Moruga kicked well hit freekick during the 55th minute of the match. Ladislao Harriet let the left foot speak when in front of goal in the 60th minute shot 0-11 at rihgt post. After a defensive mix-up in Costa Rica's zone, Xanthos Fikias stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Benito Sanz came out of the goal and Xanthos Fikias tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. The audience was convinced that Pavlos Galanopoulos's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Benito Sanz was relentless in the 70th minute of the game. Empire of Soccer's Uriel Malvin played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Axel Tasis in the 72nd minute of play. When Pavlos Galanopoulos came up free with the goalie in the 78th minute, the Empire of Soccer 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 Pavlos Galanopoulos couldn't finish the play. Xanthos Fikias scored 0-14 in the 80th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Benito Sanz, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Benito Sanz was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Pavlos Galanopoulos showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 0-15 in the 83 minute of play. Alan Moruga kicked well hit freekick during the 85th minute of the match. Benito Sanz made a fantastic save in the 88th minute, when Pavlos Galanopoulos sent off a good shot on target. 90 minutes into the game, Empire of Soccer's Xanthos Fikias nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Benito Sanz made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-16. Empire of Soccer's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.