U23 World League

XMAS park
Spectators: 7530 (Terracing: 5649, Seating: 1731, VIP seats: 150) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Pablo Tonio kicked off to start the match. Agustin Marquez was out of position in the 8 minute of play, and Ernesto Minichiello capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Ernesto Minichiello really showed his touch with that goal: 1-0. In the 11th minute, Alberigo Gianfrancesco fired away a killer shot towards the goal that, to the delight of Agustin Marquez, passed just outside the right post. When the match had gone on for 12 minutes, Ernesto Minichiello put it in 2-0 from a short distance just to the right of Agustin Marquez. The supporters of XMAS booed when El Stradivarius was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 15 match minutes in a wonderful position. Clodoveo Iago didn't get a good kick on the ball. 16 minutes into the match, El Stradivarius's goal looked a bit too open when Alberigo Gianfrancesco came free, but Agustin Marquez reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the match had gone on for 18 minutes, Enzo Alfonsi took a quick shot and it went in 3-0 without a chance for Agustin Marquez to make any attempt to save it. When the match had gone on for 22 minutes, Ernesto Minichiello took a quick shot and it went in 4-0 without a chance for Agustin Marquez to make any attempt to save it. Pablo Francesco charged in rather forcefully in the 24th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Pablo Francesco the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of XMAS booed when El Stradivarius was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 24 match minutes in a wonderful position. Pablo Francesco didn't get a good kick on the ball. Alessandro Vettori, 25 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. With a little luck, El Stradivarius's Agustin Marquez got control of the ball when Enzo Alfonsi tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 31st minute Ernesto Minichiello shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Agustin Marquez saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Agustin Marquez took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ernesto Minichiello, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 40 minutes into the game, Enzo Alfonsi cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 5-0. Agustin Marquez was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberigo Gianfrancesco in the 43rd minute of play forced El Stradivarius's goalkeeper Agustin Marquez to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ernesto Minichiello received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 44th minute. Agustin Marquez tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ernesto Minichiello to make the kick off. In the 61st minute, Moises Sauveur hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 62nd minute of the match Alessandro Vettori sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Agustin Marquez skillfully saved the ball. 66 minutes into the match, El Stradivarius's goal looked a bit too open when Alberigo Gianfrancesco came free, but Agustin Marquez reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 68th minute, Ernesto Minichiello ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Agustin Marquez was frozen by the shot and now it was 7-0. After 72 played minutes El Stradivarius got a freekick which was hit by Clodoveo Iago. Agustin Marquez came out of the goal in the 74th minute to try and stop a shot by XMAS's Christian Zaccardi. But to his dismay, Christian Zaccardi quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 8-0. Horacio Gonsalve kicked well hit freekick during the 77th minute of the match. Eugenio Casiraghi's late challenge caught a El Stradivarius's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Eugenio Casiraghi helped the player get up and apologised. In the 79th match minute, XMAS was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Eugenio Casiraghi to maneuver through the defense. After some fancy dribbling in the 80th minute, Horacio Gonsalve managed to get in a good position for a shot. El Stradivarius's supporters rose to their feet, but Horacio Gonsalve was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Armando Polidori breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 82 minutes into the game, XMAS's Ernesto Minichiello nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Agustin Marquez made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 9-0. After a rather tough play, El Stradivarius's Moises Sauveur got a free kick in the 86th minute. In the 89th minute, Fabrizio Eboli made a precise shot to the right of Agustin Marquez. El Stradivarius's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 10-0. Agustin Marquez made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Fabrizio Eboli in the 94th minute of play. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. XMAS had played much better football throughout.