Challenge

Diamond Parck
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Mexico's Joel Gaona 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. After 8 minutes of play, Mexico's Alberto Tafalla made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Sören Malmberg was left in no man's land by his defense there! Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Liu Chao Xiao in the 18th minute of play. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 20th minute. Sören Malmberg tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Mexico's Joel Gaona got a good chance for a goal in the 22nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. In the 25th minute the ball was on its way in behind Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 27th minute of play forced Club 23's goalkeeper Sören Malmberg to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After some careless play in the Mexico defense, Bogdan Bogdanović kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Dante Lacasa. The Mexico fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Dante Lacasa should have stopped the shot. Sören Malmberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luca Zorita in the 42nd minute of play. Macos Graciani made in the 45th minute of the game a sloppy throw-in which Luca Zorita however managed to control. Sören Malmberg showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 46th minute of the match.

The wind increased when Bogdan Bogdanović made the kick off in the second half. After 50 played minutes Club 23 got a freekick which was hit by Leonard Chodzinski. In the 53rdth minute of the game Liu Chao Xiao who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Mexico's Dante Lacasa was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Sören Malmberg made an important save on a dangerous shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 60th minute. Sören Malmberg made an important save on a dangerous shot by Lautaro Mancebo in the 62nd minute. Bogdan Bogdanović took the ball and in the 64 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Dante Lacasa. Dante Lacasa dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-2. After 68 played minutes Club 23 got a freekick which was hit by Ferdinand Voicu. 72 minutes into the match, Club 23's goalkeeper Sören Malmberg had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Lautaro Mancebo. An unexpectedly hard shot by Luca Zorita in the 77th minute of play forced Club 23's goalkeeper Sören Malmberg to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Through an outstanding action, after 88 minutes, Sören Malmberg successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. A collision led to Club 23 getting a freekick after 91 minutes play. Emanuel Robescu hit a great ball. In the 92nd minute, Alberto Tafalla got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Sören Malmberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 95th minute of play. When the match was over Mexico could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Club 23 throughout the match.