Challenge

Ricardo Vidovi
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. Francesco Totti started the match with the kick off. Julio Vera made an important save on a dangerous shot by Hieronim Siwy in the 5th minute. Felix Montenegro might have been able to make a better finish in the 7th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Federico Jaizki. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Felix Montenegro ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 19thth minute of the game Francesco Totti who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Ecuador's Julio Vera was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Julio Vera showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Francesco Totti in the 23rd minute of the match. Federico Jaizki made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Daniel Zorita in the 26th minute of play. In the 30th match minute, Ecuador was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Antonio Arias to maneuver through the defense. 31 minutes into the match, Abel Calvet had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Julio Vera. Ecuador's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Abel Calvet was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-0. With his leg Julio Vera managed to avoid a goal in the 34thth minute, when Los Mega's Francesco Totti fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Federico Jaizki took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Daniel Zorita, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Ecuador were awarded a corner in the 36th minute after Los Mega's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Daniel Zorita took the corner. A nice corner shot did that Daniel Zorita got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Federico Jaizki quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. In the 38th match minute, Los Mega was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Miroslaw Resel to maneuver through the defense. In the 39th minute, Cristian Sancho ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Federico Jaizki was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-1. In the 47th minute, Daniel Zorita left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Ecuador fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-2. The first half was very even, with the score at 2-2 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Daniel Zorita to make the kick off. The audience was convinced that Francesco Totti's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Julio Vera was relentless in the 52nd minute of the game. After having played for 54 minutes, Francesco Totti managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Los Mega's supporters crossed their fingers, but Francesco Totti was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After a defensive mix-up in Los Mega's zone, Cristian Sancho stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Federico Jaizki came out of the goal and Cristian Sancho tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Federico Jaizki made a fantastic save in the 57th minute, when Daniel Zorita sent off a good shot on target. An unexpectedly hard shot by Francesco Totti in the 62nd minute of play forced Ecuador's goalkeeper Julio Vera to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Julio Vera showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Stig-Arne Melberg in the 65th minute of the match. In the 66th minute of the match, Daniel Zorita got a very nice opportunity to score, but Federico Jaizki was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. When Angel Valerio fell near the penalty area in the 68th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Los Mega's protests and gave Angel Valerio a yellow card for diving instead. After a rather tough play, Los Mega's Angel Valerio got a free kick in the 68th minute. Luis Andino sent away a hard shot on goal in the 77th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Daniel Zorita received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 79th minute. Federico Jaizki tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After 81 minutes, Francesco Totti made it 3-2 with a short kick to the right side. Ecuador's Julio Vera tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. Francesco Totti struck a weak shot in the 84th minute. Julio Vera didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Los Mega. In the 87th minute Francesco Totti shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Julio Vera saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The Los Mega fans cheered their team off the field, for while Ecuador had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.