U23 World League

Nilton Santos
Spectators: 7579 (Terracing: 5685, Seating: 1743, VIP seats: 151) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Marco van Basten started the match with the kick off. Casimiro Asier scored 0-1 in the 3rd match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Anselmi Saksinen, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 13th minute the ball was on its way in behind Plumerillo's goalkeeper Honorio Serafo, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 18 minutes into the match, Estrela Solitária's goal looked a bit too open when Casimiro Asier came free, but Anselmi Saksinen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Anselmi Saksinen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Casimiro Asier, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Hugo Almeida charged in rather forcefully in the 18th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Hugo Almeida the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Hugo Almeida hit a great freekick 18 minutes into the match. The audience was convinced that Túlio Maravilha's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Honorio Serafo was relentless in the 24th minute of the game. When the match had gone on for 24 minutes, Túlio Maravilha put it in 1-1 from a short distance just to the right of Honorio Serafo. After 28 minutes, Vilhelm Norberg mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Estrela Solitária and the Plumerillo players grew even worse after the yellow card. Vilhelm Norberg hit a great freekick 28 minutes into the match. Baldomero Gomez fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 29th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Anselmi Saksinen having to interfere. Estrela Solitária's Anselmi Saksinen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nicasio Madaleno in the 30th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Baldomero Gomez in the 31st minute of play forced Estrela Solitária's goalkeeper Anselmi Saksinen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A collision led to Plumerillo getting a freekick after 37 minutes play. Benedicto Gombal hit a great ball. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

The wind increased when Casimiro Asier made the kick off in the second half. Anselmi Saksinen showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Baldomero Gomez, who was totally free with the ball in the 54th minute. In the 55th minute of the match Plumerillo got a corner. Estrela Solitária's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Casimiro Asier ran over to the corner to take the kick. The corner led Plumerillo's Casimiro Asier to fire away a dangerous shot which Anselmi Saksinen despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. Casimiro Asier sent away a hard shot on goal in the 56th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Nicasio Madaleno hit a great freekick 61 minutes into the match. 62 minutes into the game, Estrela Solitária's Marco van Basten nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Honorio Serafo made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 3-1. After 68 minutes of play, Estrela Solitária's Marco van Basten made it 4-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Honorio Serafo was left in no man's land by his defense there! Honorio Serafo didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Túlio Maravilha went, in the 72nd minute, to the upper right corner, 5-1 was the resulting score. Rogério do Valle's late challenge caught a Plumerillo's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Rogério do Valle helped the player get up and apologised. In the 76th match minute, Estrela Solitária was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Rogério do Valle to maneuver through the defense. Benedicto Gombal kicked well hit freekick during the 84th minute of the match. Hugo Almeida, 84 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. Estrela Solitária's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.