U18 World League

KING GREEN ARENA
Spectators: 7702 (Terracing: 5778, Seating: 1771, VIP seats: 153) Omiros Venetidis made the kick off and thus started the match. Lazaros Kotsiopoulos showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Christian Zaccardi in the 3rd minute of the match. Ennio De Nardis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Lazaros Kotsiopoulos tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 10th minute Ennio De Nardis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lazaros Kotsiopoulos saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After 16 minutes, Thanasis Tsalikis mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Trifillia.FC and the XMAS players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 19th minute Ennio De Nardis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lazaros Kotsiopoulos saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to Trifillia.FC getting a freekick after 20 minutes play. Achilleas Karaflas hit a great ball. After 21 played minutes, XMAS's Dave Barillari shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Lazaros Kotsiopoulos came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in XMAS reached it. Lazaros Kotsiopoulos made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Alessio Ascoli in the 24th minute of play. In the 28th minute Christian Zaccardi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lazaros Kotsiopoulos saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 30 minutes into the match, Trifillia.FC's goal looked a bit too open when Alessio Ascoli came free, but Lazaros Kotsiopoulos reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Markos Pittarakis recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 34th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Omiros Venetidis sent away a hard shot on goal in the 37th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. When the match had gone on for 39 minutes, Omiros Venetidis put it in 1-0 from a short distance just to the right of Filippo Barbato. The audience thought a goal was coming when Omiros Venetidis got free with Filippo Barbato in the 45th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Filippo Barbato didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Omiros Venetidis went, in the 46th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-0 was the resulting score. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-0 at half-time.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Christian Zaccardi was the one to do the kick off. Omiros Venetidis sent away a hard shot on goal in the 59th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 61stth minute of the game Omiros Venetidis who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but XMAS's Filippo Barbato was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Lazaros Kotsiopoulos made an important save on a dangerous shot by Christian Zaccardi in the 62nd minute. Filippo Barbato showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Omiros Venetidis, who was totally free with the ball in the 73rd minute. 84 minutes into the match, XMAS's goal looked a bit too open when Omiros Venetidis came free, but Filippo Barbato reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the match had gone on for 86 minutes, Omiros Venetidis put it in 3-0 from a short distance just to the right of Filippo Barbato. Filippo Barbato showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Omiros Venetidis in the 91st minute of the match. In the 93rd minute Omiros Venetidis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Filippo Barbato saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to Trifillia.FC getting a freekick after 95 minutes play. Markos Pittarakis hit a great ball. XMAS's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.