U23 World League

Estadio Teo Valerio
Spectators: 7550 (Terracing: 5664, Seating: 1736, VIP seats: 150) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Froilan Joey took the kick off in the first half of the match. The audience was convinced that Demis Laggizos's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Saul Montez was relentless in the 3rd minute of the game. After 5 minutes of play, GREEN LIONS's Demis Laggizos made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Saul Montez was left in no man's land by his defense there! If Froilan Joey had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 7th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Demis Laggizos in the 12th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Saul Montez saved Lyons from getting behind. In the 13th minute, Demis Laggizos left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The GREEN LIONS fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-2. Ignatios Papachronakis took the ball and in the 16 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Saul Montez. Saul Montez dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-3. 20 minutes into the game, Froilan Joey was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Lyons's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave GREEN LIONS the free kick. After 20 played minutes Lyons got a freekick which was hit by Froilan Joey. Lyons's Saul Montez played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Demis Laggizos in the 28th minute of play. Vaggelis Pantelidis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Marco Quirze, who was totally free with the ball in the 29th minute. Saul Montez didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Ignatios Papachronakis went, in the 31st minute, to the upper right corner, 0-4 was the resulting score. GREEN LIONS's Vaggelis Pantelidis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Vladimiro Haitz in the 33rd minute of play. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Demis Laggizos in the 35th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Saul Montez prevented the ball from getting in the gole. After a defensive mix-up in Lyons's zone, Demis Laggizos stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Saul Montez came out of the goal and Demis Laggizos tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. When Demis Laggizos fell near the penalty area in the 43rd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored GREEN LIONS's protests and gave Demis Laggizos a yellow card for diving instead. The supporters of Lyons booed when GREEN LIONS was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 43 match minutes in a wonderful position. Demis Laggizos didn't get a good kick on the ball.

The audience was convinced that Demis Laggizos's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Saul Montez was relentless in the 51st minute of the game. The supporters of GREEN LIONS booed when Lyons was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 51 match minutes in a wonderful position. Salvador Maule didn't get a good kick on the ball. 58 minutes had been played when some careless play by GREEN LIONS's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Severino Iruinea was slow to take the kick. During this time Lyons's players had a chance to rest. After a rather tough play, GREEN LIONS's Kostas Vakaros got a free kick in the 59th minute. Severino Iruinea hit a great freekick 63 minutes into the match. When the match had gone on for 67 minutes, Filippos Kopelis took a quick shot and it went in 0-6 without a chance for Saul Montez to make any attempt to save it. Vladimiro Haitz recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 71st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. The referee felt a red card was in order, 73 minutes into the game, when Severino Iruinea put in a rough tackle. In the 72nd minute, one of Lyons: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 Lyons. Filippos Kopelis walked up to take care of the penalty kick. He was aiming for the top corner, but the ball went just outside the post. In the 76th minute, Demis Laggizos left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The GREEN LIONS fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-7. When Filippos Kopelis came up free with the goalie in the 79th minute, the GREEN LIONS 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 Filippos Kopelis couldn't finish the play. Salvador Maule kicked well hit freekick during the 82nd minute of the match. In the 83rd minute Demis Laggizos shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Saul Montez saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After a rather tough play, Lyons's Melquiades Frascuelo got a free kick in the 91st minute. Filippos Kopelis sent away a hard shot on goal in the 95th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 96th minute the ball was on its way in behind GREEN LIONS's goalkeeper Vaggelis Pantelidis, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Ignatios Papachronakis struck a weak shot in the 98th minute. Saul Montez didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for GREEN LIONS. The GREEN LIONS supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing GREEN LIONS would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.