Challenge

Parilla Colosseum
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) Heimo Heliskoski started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Esa Joenväärä in the 7th minute of play. Lautaro Mancebo received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 10th minute. Taavi Hulkkonen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Esa Joenväärä could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 11th minute of the match, but Dante Lacasa made a huge save. Dante Lacasa made an important save on a dangerous shot by Esa Joenväärä in the 13th minute. In the 18th minute, Heikki Sulonen left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The AC Sarsaparilla fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. 22 minutes into the match, AC Sarsaparilla's goal looked a bit too open when Joel Gaona came free, but Taavi Hulkkonen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With his leg Dante Lacasa managed to avoid a goal in the 23rdth minute, when AC Sarsaparilla's Heikki Sulonen fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. AC Sarsaparilla were awarded a corner in the 25th minute after Mexico's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Juha-Pekka Glad took the corner. A nice corner shot did that Juha-Pekka Glad got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Dante Lacasa quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. AC Sarsaparilla's Taavi Hulkkonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 31st minute of play. In the 38th minute, Rafael Laatikainen hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 42nd minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Taavi Hulkkonen saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Esa Joenväärä in the 43rd minute of play. In the 45th minute the ball was on its way in behind AC Sarsaparilla's goalkeeper Taavi Hulkkonen, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Joel Gaona made a kick off. Taavi Hulkkonen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 51st minute of play. Taavi Hulkkonen didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Joel Gaona went, in the 53rd minute, to the upper right corner, 1-1 was the resulting score. Mexico's Joel Gaona was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Taavi Hulkkonen in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Heikki Sulonen in the 61st minute of the match. Lautaro Mancebos short, quick shot in the 62ndth minute got Taavi Hulkkonen to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Heikki Sulonen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a defensive mix-up in AC Sarsaparilla's zone, Alberto Tafalla stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Taavi Hulkkonen came out of the goal and Alberto Tafalla tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Heikki Sulonen in the 69th minute of play. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Esa Joenväärä in the 71st minute of the match. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 75th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 77th minute, Luca Zorita hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Heimo Heliskoski, who was totally free with the ball in the 80th minute. In the 82nd minute, Luca Zorita left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Mexico fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-2. If Lautaro Mancebo had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 86th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The crowd rose to their feet as Mexico's Joel Gaona slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Taavi Hulkkonen. That made the score 1-3 after 88 minutes of play. Joel Gaona fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 95th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Taavi Hulkkonen having to interfere. Mexico'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.