U23 World League

南通会展中心体育场
Spectators: 7737 (Terracing: 5804, Seating: 1779, VIP seats: 154) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Rudolf Pendleton took the kick off in the first half of the match. After 5 played minutes 【№1】Galactic Empire got a freekick which was hit by 唐震冰. A sloppy throw-in by 曾珂峰 in the 8th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by El Canalla de Chicago's Emmanuel Akers. 16 minutes into the match, El Canalla de Chicago's goal looked a bit too open when 卓夕树 came free, but Bart Villanueva reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After some careless play in the El Canalla de Chicago defense, Philip Strömberg kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Bart Villanueva. The El Canalla de Chicago fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Bart Villanueva should have stopped the shot. After a defensive mix-up in El Canalla de Chicago's zone, 卓夕树 stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Bart Villanueva came out of the goal and 卓夕树 tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After 26 played minutes El Canalla de Chicago got a freekick which was hit by Giuseppe Gillis. 洪宽响 took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 27th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Bart Villanueva. El Canalla de Chicago's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The audience was convinced that Rudolf Pendleton's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but 胡傲国 was relentless in the 30th minute of the game. After a rather tough play, 【№1】Galactic Empire's 姚霆庭 got a free kick in the 31st minute. 曾珂峰 made in the 33rd minute of the game a quick throw-in and 洪宽响 immediately put the ball in play. Bart Villanueva showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Philip Strömberg, who was totally free with the ball in the 35th minute. 40 minutes in the game 曾珂峰 did a throw-in, and the ball was quickly in game thanks to 洪宽响. If Lazaro Ragsdale had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 45th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When the referee blew for the end of the half the home team players were clearly happier, as they went in to the break leading 1-0.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Philip Strömberg stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Bart Villanueva took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from 唐震冰, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Rudolf Pendleton 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. El Canalla de Chicago's Bart Villanueva played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Philip Strömberg in the 64th minute of play. 董瑜明 hit a great freekick 64 minutes into the match. 68 minutes into the match, El Canalla de Chicago's goal looked a bit too open when 唐震冰 came free, but Bart Villanueva reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The audience thought a goal was coming when Martin Tuttle got free with 胡傲国 in the 69th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 78th minute, Philip Strömberg ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Bart Villanueva was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-0. Bart Villanueva showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from 唐震冰, who was totally free with the ball in the 82nd minute. A collision led to 【№1】Galactic Empire getting a freekick after 83 minutes play. 宋志坤 hit a great ball. After some fancy dribbling in the 84th minute, Tanner Booker managed to get in a good position for a shot. El Canalla de Chicago's supporters rose to their feet, but Tanner Booker was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. 胡傲国 breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 胡傲国 made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Rudolf Pendleton in the 86th minute of play. Bart Villanueva showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Philip Strömberg in the 92nd minute of the match. In the 94th minute, Emmanuel Akers hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. An unexpectedly hard shot by 唐震冰 in the 97th minute of play forced El Canalla de Chicago's goalkeeper Bart Villanueva to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 【№1】Galactic Empire's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.