League

Nilton Santos
Spectators: 7231 (Terracing: 5425, Seating: 1663, VIP seats: 143) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Flavinho de Senna made the kick off which started today's match. After 3 minutes, Alfredão da Cunha mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Palmas FR and the U. S. Soccer players grew even worse after the yellow card. 3 minutes into the game, one of Palmas FR:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave U. S. Soccer a penalty, 5 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Hernani Gaspar, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Palmas FR's Gláuber Sá. 0-1. When Evaristo Mendonça came up free with the goalie in the 8th minute, the U. S. 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 Evaristo Mendonça couldn't finish the play. 12 minutes into the game, Evaristo Mendonça cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-2. Gláuber Sá was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Gláuber Sá made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jairo Breckenfeld in the 17th minute of play. Kléberson Medeiros fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 25th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Benedito Neto having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Flavinho de Senna in the 33rd minute of play forced U. S. Soccer's goalkeeper Benedito Neto to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Evaristo Mendonça received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 36th minute. Gláuber Sá tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Palmas FR were furious when Filipe Negri was red carded, 38 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. 38 minutes into the game, one of Palmas FR:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave U. S. Soccer a penalty, 40 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Hernani Gaspar, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Palmas FR's Gláuber Sá. 0-3. 44 minutes into the match, Palmas FR's goal looked a bit too open when Jairo Breckenfeld came free, but Gláuber Sá reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 46 minutes into the match, Palmas FR's goal looked a bit too open when Jairo Breckenfeld came free, but Gláuber Sá reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Disappointed in the 0-3 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

An unexpectedly hard shot by Evaristo Mendonça in the 59th minute of play forced Palmas FR's goalkeeper Gláuber Sá to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Vinícius Vianna fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 61st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Benedito Neto having to interfere. In the 65th minute Evaristo Mendonça shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Gláuber Sá saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The audience was convinced that Evaristo Mendonça's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Gláuber Sá was relentless in the 66th minute of the game. Gláuber Sá made an important save on a dangerous shot by Jairo Breckenfeld in the 72nd minute. Evaristo Mendonça sent away a hard shot on goal in the 75th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. Jairo Breckenfeld had several of the Palmas FR's defenders around him in the penalty area when he, after 76 minutes of play, received a pass and succeeded in some way to shoot a shot which went straight ahead into goal. This resulted in a 0-4 score and a disappointed Gláuber Sá as he didn't even see the shot coming. In the 79th match minute, Palmas FR was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kléberson Medeiros to maneuver through the defense. Jairo Breckenfeld could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 81st minute of the match, but Gláuber Sá made a huge save. Guga Borges received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 82nd minute. Benedito Neto tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Kléberson Medeiros succeeded in the game's 84th minute to shoot an unreachable shot under the crossbar and scored - 1-4. Palmas FR's Gláuber Sá played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Bernardinho Penha in the 90th minute of play. In the 91st minute, Jairo Breckenfeld 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. When Evaristo Mendonça came up free with the goalie in the 93rd minute, the U. S. 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 Evaristo Mendonça couldn't finish the play. Jairo Breckenfeld fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 94th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Gláuber Sá having to interfere. In the 95th minute, Evaristo Mendonça fired away a shot on goal. He put a little to much spin on the ball and sent it just wide of the right post. In the 97th minute Evaristo Mendonça shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Gláuber Sá saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. When the final whistle was heard the away supporters stood up and showed their joy. U. S. Soccer had managed to secure a win in what was a close match throughout.