Challenge

National Stadium
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Marc Linz took the kick off in the first half of the match. Dedê Freire charged in rather forcefully in the 4th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Dedê Freire the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 4 played minutes ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ got a freekick which was hit by Dedê Freire. After 11 played minutes ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ got a freekick which was hit by Güray Arıkhan. In the 18th minute Marc Linz shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mnawer Al Sharaf saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Baltazar de Castro charged in rather forcefully in the 23rd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Baltazar de Castro the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of U21 Kuwait booed when ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 24 match minutes in a wonderful position. Baltazar de Castro didn't get a good kick on the ball. João Francisco Loyola acted impressively in front of the goal and made a superb save when he, in the 24th minute, took the ball on the long shot from Sami Bo Shehri. U21 Kuwait's Mnawer Al Sharaf played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Marc Linz in the 28th minute of play. Mnawer Al Sharaf showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Dedê Freire in the 31st minute of the match. 32 minutes into the game, Sami Bo Shehri was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Kuwait's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ the free kick. Sami Bo Shehri kicked well hit freekick during the 32nd minute of the match. In the 33rd minute Marc Linz shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mnawer Al Sharaf saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to U21 Kuwait getting a freekick after 36 minutes play. Yaqoub Bo Hamad hit a great ball. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Kuwait's zone, Marc Linz stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Mnawer Al Sharaf came out of the goal and Marc Linz tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 40th match minute, U21 Kuwait was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Sami Bo Shehri to maneuver through the defense. In the 41st minute of the match Baltazar de Castro sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Mnawer Al Sharaf skillfully saved the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Güray Arıkhan in the 42nd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Mnawer Al Sharaf prevented the ball from getting in the gole. After some fancy dribbling in the 45th minute, Otávio Meirelles managed to get in a good position for a shot. ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ's supporters rose to their feet, but Otávio Meirelles was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Mnawer Al Sharaf breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The U21 Kuwait players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ were winning 0-1.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Masuod Al Jalahma to make the kick off. 51 minutes into the match, U21 Kuwait's goalkeeper Mnawer Al Sharaf had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Otávio Meirelles. Mnawer Al Sharaf took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Marc Linz, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After 54 played minutes ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ got a freekick which was hit by Güray Arıkhan. Osama Al Azmi's late challenge caught a ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Osama Al Azmi helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to U21 Kuwait getting a freekick after 55 minutes play. Osama Al Azmi hit a great ball. U21 Kuwait's Mnawer Al Sharaf played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Marc Linz in the 56th minute of play. Güray Arıkhan scored 0-2 in the 57th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Mnawer Al Sharaf, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. U21 Kuwait's Mnawer Al Sharaf played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Marc Linz in the 61st minute of play. Mnawer Al Sharaf made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marc Linz in the 64th minute of play. 65 minutes into the match, U21 Kuwait's goal looked a bit too open when Güray Arıkhan came free, but Mnawer Al Sharaf reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 67th match minute, ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Baltazar de Castro to maneuver through the defense. Mnawer Al Sharaf showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Marc Linz in the 71st minute of the match. 73 minutes into the game, Marc Linz cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-3. Mnawer Al Sharaf was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Güray Arıkhan in the 78th minute of play forced U21 Kuwait's goalkeeper Mnawer Al Sharaf to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dedê Freire kicked well hit freekick during the 84th minute of the match. Sami Bo Shehri lost his temper 90 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. Mnawer Al Sharaf went to the wrong direction when Baltazar de Castro was taking care of the penalty kick which however missed the goal. When the match was over ꑿ.Ꮳ. ꋪꋬℑꋬꇓ could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than U21 Kuwait throughout the match.