U18 World League

Gigante de Phoenix
Spectators: 7523 (Terracing: 5643, Seating: 1730, VIP seats: 150) Alketas Vertsotis started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Panos Karnezis hit a great freekick 2 minutes into the match. Roosevelt Guthrie showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Anastasios Karidis, who was totally free with the ball in the 8th minute. Joseph Marquez kicked well hit freekick during the 14th minute of the match. Panos Karnezis's late challenge caught a El Canalla de Chicago's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Panos Karnezis helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to GOD OF WAR getting a freekick after 15 minutes play. Panos Karnezis hit a great ball. After a rather tough play, GOD OF WAR's Makis Efthimiadis got a free kick in the 22nd minute. A hard shot by Kasey Frederick from long distance, 23 minutes into the match, got Michalis Bouras's attention. Through a fast twist with his body, he could stop the ball from going in on his right side. In the 24th minute, Orestis Koskinopoulos hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 26th minute, Stamatis Kazatzidis ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Roosevelt Guthrie was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. When Makis Efthimiadis fell near the penalty area in the 29th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored GOD OF WAR's protests and gave Makis Efthimiadis a yellow card for diving instead. In the 30th match minute, GOD OF WAR was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kostas Tassakos to maneuver through the defense. In the 35th minute, Alketas Vertsotis 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. Michalis Bouras stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Scott Souza's shot from short distance in the 39th minute. Michalis Bouras made a fantastic save in the 45th minute, when Kent Carney sent off a good shot on target. Disappointed in the 0-1 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

In the 53rd minute, Scott Souza left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The El Canalla de Chicago fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-1. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Vince Potts in the 57th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Michalis Bouras prevented the ball from getting in the gole. El Canalla de Chicago's Roosevelt Guthrie proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 64th minute of the match, managed to save El Canalla de Chicago from getting a goal against them. Michalis Bouras took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Kent Carney, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 69th minute of the game. One of GOD OF WAR:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of El Canalla de Chicago:s goal. After 73 played minutes GOD OF WAR got a freekick which was hit by Kostas Tassakos. After 76 played minutes GOD OF WAR got a freekick which was hit by Anastasios Karidis. In the 78th minute, Tim Coates hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Roosevelt Guthrie made an important save on a dangerous shot by Orestis Koskinopoulos in the 80th minute. After 89 minutes of play, El Canalla de Chicago's Scott Souza made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Michalis Bouras was left in no man's land by his defense there! Orestis Koskinopoulos kicked well hit freekick during the 98th minute of the match. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The El Canalla de Chicago fans cheered their team off the field, for while GOD OF WAR had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.