U23 World League

The Bistritsa Jungle
Spectators: 7530 (Terracing: 5649, Seating: 1731, VIP seats: 150) Papunhas EC's Maurinho Prestes 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. Lauro Secco took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Yuli Blagiev, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When Evtim Papazov came up free with the goalie in the 8th minute, the Tigers of Bistritsa 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 Evtim Papazov couldn't finish the play. Nikolay Hambarski did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 1-0 to the left of a surprised Lauro Secco 9 minutes into the match. Boycho Sadovski took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 14th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Lauro Secco. Papunhas EC's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The supporters of Tigers of Bistritsa booed when Papunhas EC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 15 match minutes in a wonderful position. David Furtado didn't get a good kick on the ball. Tigers of Bistritsa's Tzvetomir Bostandzhiev got a good chance for a goal in the 17th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Tzocho Terziyanov lost his temper 19 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. Prodan Elenski took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Maurinho Prestes, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After having played for 25 minutes, Yuli Blagiev managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Tigers of Bistritsa's supporters crossed their fingers, but Yuli Blagiev was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Lauro Secco made an important save on a dangerous shot by Nikolay Hambarski in the 35th minute. Yuli Blagiev had several of the Papunhas EC's defenders around him in the penalty area when he, after 36 minutes of play, received a pass and succeeded in some way to shoot a shot which went straight ahead into goal. This resulted in a 2-1 score and a disappointed Lauro Secco as he didn't even see the shot coming. In the 43rd minute, one of Papunhas EC:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Papunhas EC. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Yuli Blagiev stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After 50 played minutes Papunhas EC got a freekick which was hit by Nestor Rodrigues. Subin Panicherski took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 51st minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Lauro Secco. Papunhas EC's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Nestor Rodrigues during the 64th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Papunhas EC's Lauro Secco played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Penko Trenchev in the 66th minute of play. After a rather tough play, Papunhas EC's Maurinho Prestes got a free kick in the 70th minute. Maurinho Prestes recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 72nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. If Betinho Aparecido had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 74th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 78 minutes, Tzvetomir Bostandzhiev mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Tigers of Bistritsa and the Papunhas EC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Tigers of Bistritsa's Tzvetomir Bostandzhiev got a free kick in the 78th minute. The audience was convinced that Yuli Blagiev's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Lauro Secco was relentless in the 83rd minute of the game. If Yuli Blagiev had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 86th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Lauro Secco took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Evtim Papazov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Tigers of Bistritsa's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.