U23 World League

Solar Arena
Spectators: 7533 (Terracing: 5651, Seating: 1732, VIP seats: 150) POPODARA F.C's Federico Mauro started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. The audience was convinced that Federico Mauro's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Vladimir Neves was relentless in the 4th minute of the game. After some careless play in the Mala FC defense, Runar Melum kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Vladimir Neves. The Mala FC fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Vladimir Neves should have stopped the shot. Vladimir Neves showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Federico Mauro in the 12th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 13th minute, Runar Melum managed to get in a good position for a shot. POPODARA F.C's supporters rose to their feet, but Runar Melum was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Vladimir Neves breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Federico Mauro received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 14th minute. Vladimir Neves tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When Xavi Hernandez came up free with the goalie in the 28th minute, the POPODARA F.C 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 Xavi Hernandez couldn't finish the play. Federico Mauro sent away a hard shot on goal in the 31st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Vladimir Neves showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Runar Melum, who was totally free with the ball in the 33rd minute. In the 38th minute, Federico Mauro made a precise shot to the right of Vladimir Neves. Mala FC's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-2. The throw-in from Vegard Berdal in the 41st minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Mala FC's Samuel Dante. In the 43rd minute Federico Mauro shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Vladimir Neves saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-3 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

The wind increased when Washington Berger made the kick off in the second half. Runar Melum recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 52nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. 0-4 became the score in the 54th minute when Federico Mauro elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. 59 minutes into the match, Mala FC's goal looked a bit too open when Xavi Hernandez came free, but Vladimir Neves reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 61st minute, Federico Mauro made a precise shot to the right of Vladimir Neves. Mala FC's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-5. Vladimir Neves showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Federico Mauro, who was totally free with the ball in the 65th minute. When the match clock showed 66 minutes, the score became 0-6 when Federico Mauro sped through Mala FC's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Vladimir Neves. Federico Mauro received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 70th minute. Vladimir Neves tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Runar Melum fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 72nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Vladimir Neves having to interfere. Vladimir Neves made a fantastic save in the 78th minute, when Federico Mauro sent off a good shot on target. 81 minutes into the match, Federico Mauro had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Vladimir Neves. Mala FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Federico Mauro was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-8. In the 85thth minute of the game Federico Mauro who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Mala FC's Vladimir Neves was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 90th play minute Federico Mauro came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Vladimir Neves. 0-9. Runar Melum struck a weak shot in the 93rd minute. Vladimir Neves didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for POPODARA F.C. POPODARA F.C's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.