World League

Vasile Bratianu
Spectators: 7764 (Terracing: 5824, Seating: 1786, VIP seats: 154) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Shi Li took the kick off in the first half of the match. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Shi Li in the 3rd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Armindo Salgado prevented the ball from getting in the gole. 5 minutes had been played when some careless play by Galati Harbour Cats's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Gervásio Severiano was slow to take the kick. During this time VB-Team's players had a chance to rest. 6 minutes into the game, Alisson De Gasperi was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. VB-Team's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Galati Harbour Cats the free kick. After 6 played minutes VB-Team got a freekick which was hit by Alisson De Gasperi. 8 minutes into the match, VB-Team's goalkeeper Armindo Salgado had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Onurhan Çinuçin. Octavian Soare made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Luís Caeiro in the 10th minute of play. After having played for 14 minutes, Shi Li managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Galati Harbour Cats's supporters crossed their fingers, but Shi Li was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. VB-Team's Armindo Salgado proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 16th minute of the match, managed to save VB-Team from getting a goal against them. The audience thought a goal was coming when Shi Li got free with Armindo Salgado in the 16th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. If Shi Li had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 23rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Ianis Man did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 2-0 to the left of a surprised Armindo Salgado 25 minutes into the match. 29 minutes into the match, VB-Team's goalkeeper Armindo Salgado had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Shi Li. When the match had gone on for 32 minutes, Shi Li took a quick shot and it went in 3-0 without a chance for Armindo Salgado to make any attempt to save it. The crowd rose to their feet as Galati Harbour Cats's Shi Li slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Armindo Salgado. That made the score 4-0 after 34 minutes of play. Octavian Soare took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Luís Caeiro, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Galati Harbour Cats's Antoni Dembkowski got a free kick in the 40th minute. Armindo Salgado made an important save on a dangerous shot by Shi Li in the 43rd minute. Arthur Guerra made in the 45th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Galati Harbour Cats's Antoni Dembkowski. Galati Harbour Cats were furious when Gheorghe Ducu was red carded, 46 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. In the 47th match minute, Galati Harbour Cats was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gheorghe Ducu to maneuver through the defense. When Gervásio Severiano came up free with the goalie in the 48th minute, the VB-Team 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 Gervásio Severiano couldn't finish the play. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 4-0 at half-time.

The wind increased when Joaquim de Barros made the kick off in the second half. In the 52nd minute the ball was on its way in behind VB-Team's goalkeeper Armindo Salgado, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 56th minute Gervásio Severiano shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Octavian Soare saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joaquim de Barros in the 60th minute of play forced Galati Harbour Cats's goalkeeper Octavian Soare to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Shi Li's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Armindo Salgado read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 62nd minute of play. 64 minutes had been played when some careless play by VB-Team's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Dan Petrescu was slow to take the kick. During this time Galati Harbour Cats's players had a chance to rest. Sven-Åke Ré made a great header on Galati Harbour Cats's corner, it was just that VB-Team's Armindo Salgado managed to reach the ball for a save. 68 minutes into the match, Gervásio Severiano dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Octavian Soare, 4-1. Gervásio Severiano might have been able to make a better finish in the 73rd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Octavian Soare. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Gervásio Severiano ran back to his position shaking his head. Octavian Soare showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gervásio Severiano in the 76th minute of the match. Armindo Salgado made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Shi Li in the 84th minute of play. Sven-Åke Ré sent away a hard shot on goal in the 87th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ianis Man in the 90th minute of play forced VB-Team's goalkeeper Armindo Salgado to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 91 minutes into the match, VB-Team's goal looked a bit too open when Shi Li came free, but Armindo Salgado reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the referee blew the final whistle, Galati Harbour Cats could leave the field as winners, despite VB-Team having more of the ball for most of the match.