U23 World League

SPARTA® Stadium
Spectators: 7486 (Terracing: 5615, Seating: 1722, VIP seats: 149) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Sergio Caitano made the kick off which started today's match. When Benicio Danel came up free with the goalie in the 3rd minute, the Velez Sarsfield 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 Benicio Danel couldn't finish the play. The supporters of Velez Sarsfield booed when GOD OF WAR was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 6 match minutes in a wonderful position. Anthimos Chatzikostas didn't get a good kick on the ball. 7 minutes into the match, Benicio Danel had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Makis Efthimiadis. GOD OF WAR's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Benicio Danel was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. Velez Sarsfield's Uriel Raymon played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alketas Vertsotis in the 14th minute of play. The audience was convinced that Benicio Danel's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Makis Efthimiadis was relentless in the 15th minute of the game. A collision led to GOD OF WAR getting a freekick after 24 minutes play. Alketas Vertsotis hit a great ball. Velez Sarsfield were furious when Rodolfo Flores was red carded, 32 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. In the 31st minute, one of Velez Sarsfield:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Velez Sarsfield. Velez Sarsfield's Uriel Raymon proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 36th minute of the match, managed to save Velez Sarsfield from getting a goal against them. Braulio Pierres received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 37th minute. Makis Efthimiadis tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Uriel Raymon made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Anthimos Farmakatos in the 45th minute of play. Anthimos Farmakatos could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 47th minute of the match, but Uriel Raymon made a huge save. After the first half Velez Sarsfield were leading 1-3. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Anthimos Farmakatos stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. The supporters of Velez Sarsfield booed when GOD OF WAR was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 50 match minutes in a wonderful position. Anthimos Farmakatos didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 60th minute Anthimos Farmakatos shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Uriel Raymon saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Kostas Tassakos kicked well hit freekick during the 63rd minute of the match. Makis Efthimiadis made a fantastic save in the 65th minute, when Benicio Danel sent off a good shot on target. 67 minutes into the game, Anthimos Farmakatos cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-3. Uriel Raymon was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 71st minute of the match Panos Tsiabras sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Uriel Raymon skillfully saved the ball. 72 minutes into the game, Panos Karnezis was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. GOD OF WAR's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Velez Sarsfield the free kick. A collision led to GOD OF WAR getting a freekick after 73 minutes play. Panos Karnezis hit a great ball. Isaac Marcones might have been able to make a better finish in the 75th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Makis Efthimiadis. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Isaac Marcones ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 76th minute, Braulio Pierres 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. Uriel Raymon came out of the goal in the 87th minute to try and stop a shot by GOD OF WAR's Anthimos Farmakatos. But to his dismay, Anthimos Farmakatos quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-3. After having played for 93 minutes, Benicio Danel managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Velez Sarsfield's supporters crossed their fingers, but Benicio Danel was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Jeers came from both ends of the stadium when the final whistle went. Neither team had looked impressive and the draw seeemd a fair result.