U23 World League

GENTI KULE
Spectators: 7398 (Terracing: 5609, Seating: 1719, VIP seats: 70) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Emanuel Tiberiu got the match started through his kick off. After a rather tough play, ΟΦΗ's Giannis Tzanetos got a free kick in the 2nd minute. In the 4th minute the ball was on its way in behind Delphine Stars's goalkeeper Petruț Ţopescu, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. When the match had gone on for 4 minutes, Giannis Tzanetos took a quick shot and it went in 1-0 without a chance for Petruț Ţopescu to make any attempt to save it. Petruț Ţopescu took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Nikos Kalkavouras, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Theofanis Marinakis stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Emanuel Tiberiu's shot from short distance in the 26th minute. In the 26thth minute of the game Emanuel Tiberiu who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but ΟΦΗ's Theofanis Marinakis was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Fanis Kokkinopoulos fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 34th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Petruț Ţopescu having to interfere. The supporters of Delphine Stars booed when ΟΦΗ was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 42 match minutes in a wonderful position. Antonis Papagrigoriou didn't get a good kick on the ball.

The wind increased when Nikos Kalkavouras made the kick off in the second half. When Sofoklis Stathatos came up free with the goalie in the 51st minute, the ΟΦΗ 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 Sofoklis Stathatos couldn't finish the play. In the 52nd match minute, Delphine Stars was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Mircea Moșneanu to maneuver through the defense. In the 53rd minute Nikos Kalkavouras shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Petruț Ţopescu saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 54 minutes into the match, Delphine Stars's goal looked a bit too open when Nikos Kalkavouras came free, but Petruț Ţopescu reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Mugur Gorcea sent away a hard shot on goal in the 62nd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. After having played for 64 minutes, Nikos Kalkavouras managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. ΟΦΗ's supporters crossed their fingers, but Nikos Kalkavouras was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After a rather tough play, Delphine Stars's Denis Nenciu got a free kick in the 65th minute. If Themis Seitaridis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 68th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nikos Kalkavouras in the 70th minute of play forced Delphine Stars's goalkeeper Petruț Ţopescu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 74th match minute, ΟΦΗ was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Nikos Kalkavouras to maneuver through the defense. After a defensive mix-up in ΟΦΗ's zone, Emanuel Tiberiu stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Theofanis Marinakis came out of the goal and Emanuel Tiberiu tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nikos Kalkavouras in the 77th minute of play forced Delphine Stars's goalkeeper Petruț Ţopescu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 78th match minute, Delphine Stars was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Mugur Gorcea to maneuver through the defense. Giannis Tzanetos received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 82nd minute. Petruț Ţopescu tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 89 minutes into the match, Delphine Stars's goal looked a bit too open when Nikos Kalkavouras came free, but Petruț Ţopescu reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Mugur Gorcea charged in rather forcefully in the 91st minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Mugur Gorcea the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Mugur Gorcea hit a great freekick 91 minutes into the match. When Antonis Papagrigoriou fell near the penalty area in the 96th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored ΟΦΗ's protests and gave Antonis Papagrigoriou a yellow card for diving instead. Antonis Papagrigoriou hit a great freekick 96 minutes into the match. When the referee ended the match the ΟΦΗ players were able to celebrate. They had won a fair victory and recieved the ovations of their fans.