U23 World League

Reina del Cisne
Spectators: 7713 (Terracing: 5786, Seating: 1774, VIP seats: 153) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Victor Peres started the match with the kick off. After 2 minutes, Fabricio Vedeja mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Loja S.C. and the AllRaf EC players grew even worse after the yellow card. Fabricio Vedeja hit a great freekick 2 minutes into the match. The supporters of AllRaf EC booed when Loja S.C. was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 5 match minutes in a wonderful position. Victor Peres didn't get a good kick on the ball. After a rather tough play, AllRaf EC's Rafa Arce got a free kick in the 13th minute. In the 14th minute the ball was on its way in behind AllRaf EC's goalkeeper Wellington Fantini, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. A collision led to AllRaf EC getting a freekick after 16 minutes play. Alfredinho de Brito hit a great ball. With a little luck, AllRaf EC's Wellington Fantini got control of the ball when Victor Peres tried to sneak it across the goal line. Wellington Fantini showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Luis-Antonio Barraza, who was totally free with the ball in the 26th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Fabricio Vedeja in the 27th minute of play forced AllRaf EC's goalkeeper Wellington Fantini to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Cauan Pena in the 28th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Ismael Rossell saved Loja S.C. from getting behind. After a defensive mix-up in Loja S.C.'s zone, Cauan Pena stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ismael Rossell came out of the goal and Cauan Pena tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 34 minutes had been played when some careless play by AllRaf EC's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Pedro Gudesteo was slow to take the kick. During this time Loja S.C.'s players had a chance to rest. Victor Peres charged in rather forcefully in the 37th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Victor Peres the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 37 played minutes Loja S.C. got a freekick which was hit by Victor Peres. If Mathew Goncalves had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 43rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Ismael Rossell took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Márcio Massa, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Cauan Pena to make the kick off. Cauan Pena scored 0-1 in the 51st match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Ismael Rossell, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Cauan Pena fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 56th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ismael Rossell having to interfere. Ismael Rossell showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Cauan Pena, who was totally free with the ball in the 60th minute. AllRaf EC's Mathew Goncalves got a good chance for a goal in the 62nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. AllRaf EC's Wellington Fantini played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Hidalgo Gallegos in the 65th minute of play. In the 67th minute, Márcio Massa got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. When Cauan Pena fell near the penalty area in the 70th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored AllRaf EC's protests and gave Cauan Pena a yellow card for diving instead. Cauan Pena hit a great freekick 70 minutes into the match. The supporters of Loja S.C. booed when AllRaf EC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 71 match minutes in a wonderful position. Cauan Pena didn't get a good kick on the ball. Wellington Fantini stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Fabricio Vedeja's shot from short distance in the 76th minute. In the 78th minute, Franklin Paulista hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. If Fabricio Vedeja had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 80th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. The Loja S.C. fans' excitement grew in the 84th match minute when Loja S.C.'s Fabricio Vedeja looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 1-1 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. Mathew Goncalves charged in rather forcefully in the 88th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Mathew Goncalves the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 90th match minute, Loja S.C. was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Hidalgo Gallegos to maneuver through the defense. AllRaf EC's supporters were very happy and cheered loudly because their team had won after a very close match.