U23 League

El Cilindro de Miami
Spectators: 175 (Terracing: 132, Seating: 40, VIP seats: 3) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Rodney Urbina got the match started through his kick off. Miguel Ángel Santoro was a little too slow when Merrill Banks got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 4th minute. The score was now 1-0. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Merrill Banks in the 7th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Miguel Ángel Santoro saved C. A. Independiente from getting behind. A collision led to Racing Miami Futbol Club getting a freekick after 8 minutes play. Merrill Banks hit a great ball. Racing Miami Futbol Club's Quincy Walker managed, thanks to a brazen rush, stole the ball on a throw-in made by Pedro Monzón in the 11 minute of the game. C. A. Independiente's Miguel Ángel Santoro played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Merrill Banks in the 14th minute of play. After a defensive mix-up in C. A. Independiente's zone, Shane Smiley stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Miguel Ángel Santoro came out of the goal and Shane Smiley tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 16 minutes into the match, Racing Miami Futbol Club's goal looked a bit too open when Gilbert Guzman came free, but Franco Di Giambattista reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The audience was convinced that Conrad Carrington's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Franco Di Giambattista was relentless in the 17th minute of the game. Miguel Ángel Santoro was out of position in the 20 minute of play, and Merrill Banks capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Merrill Banks really showed his touch with that goal: 2-0. Racing Miami Futbol Club's Franco Di Giambattista played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gilbert Guzman in the 23rd minute of play. 26 minutes into the match, C. A. Independiente's goal looked a bit too open when Merrill Banks came free, but Miguel Ángel Santoro reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 30 minutes into the match, C. A. Independiente's goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Santoro had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Merrill Banks. Franco Di Giambattista made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Conrad Carrington in the 32nd minute of play. When the match had gone on for 34 minutes, Merrill Banks took a quick shot and it went in 3-0 without a chance for Miguel Ángel Santoro to make any attempt to save it. After a defensive mix-up in Racing Miami Futbol Club's zone, Rodney Urbina stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Franco Di Giambattista came out of the goal and Rodney Urbina tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. If Merrill Banks had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 43rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. C. A. Independiente's Miguel Ángel Santoro proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 43rd minute of the match, managed to save C. A. Independiente from getting a goal against them. C. A. Independiente's Miguel Ángel Santoro proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 46th minute of the match, managed to save C. A. Independiente from getting a goal against them. With his leg Miguel Ángel Santoro managed to avoid a goal in the 46thth minute, when Racing Miami Futbol Club's Merrill Banks fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 3-0.

The wind increased when Shane Smiley made the kick off in the second half. Merrill Banks sent away a hard shot on goal in the 52nd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. 57 minutes into the game, Racing Miami Futbol Club's Merrill Banks nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Miguel Ángel Santoro made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 4-0. 60 minutes into the match, C. A. Independiente's goal looked a bit too open when Chu Zheng Yu came free, but Miguel Ángel Santoro reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Chu Zheng Yu scored 5-0 in the 60th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Miguel Ángel Santoro, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Racing Miami Futbol Club's Keenan Worthington was substituted for Merrill Banks. Racing Miami Futbol Club made a substitution. Ervin DeJesus replaced Shane Smiley. In the 65th minute Ervin DeJesus shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Miguel Ángel Santoro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Keenan Worthington blasted a shot towards the goal in the 67th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Miguel Ángel Santoro having to make a save. Miguel Ángel Santoro showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Keenan Worthington in the 67th minute of the match. Miguel Ángel Santoro didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Keenan Worthington went, in the 69th minute, to the upper right corner, 6-0 was the resulting score. Racing Miami Futbol Club made a substitution. Denny Godwin replaced Chu Zheng Yu. Franco Di Giambattista made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Conrad Carrington in the 76th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Keenan Worthington in the 78th minute of play forced C. A. Independiente's goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Santoro to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ervin DeJesus in the 79th minute of play forced C. A. Independiente's goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Santoro to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Ervin DeJesus in the 79th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Miguel Ángel Santoro prevented the ball from getting in the gole. In the 82ndth minute of the game Ervin DeJesus who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but C. A. Independiente's Miguel Ángel Santoro was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 84 minutes into the match, Racing Miami Futbol Club's Keenan Worthington sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Miguel Ángel Santoro narrowly saved just below the crossbar. If Ervin DeJesus had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 85th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Miguel Ángel Santoro didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Keenan Worthington went, in the 88th minute, to the upper right corner, 7-0 was the resulting score. After 92 minutes, Ervin DeJesus mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Racing Miami Futbol Club and the C. A. Independiente players grew even worse after the yellow card. A collision led to Racing Miami Futbol Club getting a freekick after 92 minutes play. Ervin DeJesus hit a great ball. In the 94th match minute, C. A. Independiente was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Wallace Whatley to maneuver through the defense. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. Racing Miami Futbol Club had played much better football throughout.