Challenge

National Stadium
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Ömer Demirci made the kick off which started today's match. 3 minutes into the game, Zachary Bienienda was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. KOCAELİSPOR's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Turkey the free kick. In the 4th minute, Zachary Bienienda hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The crowd rose to their feet as Yavuz Selim Gulson kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Giannis Papadas. That made the score 1-0 in the 6 minute of play. Fiori Britto hit a great freekick 9 minutes into the match. After having played for 16 minutes, Ömer Demirci managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. KOCAELİSPOR's supporters crossed their fingers, but Ömer Demirci was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 20th minute the ball was on its way in behind U21 Turkey's goalkeeper Gianluca Buffon, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. With a little luck, KOCAELİSPOR's Giannis Papadas got control of the ball when Yavuz Selim Gulson tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 26thth minute of the game Ömer Demirci who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Turkey's Gianluca Buffon was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. After some careless play in the U21 Turkey defense, Ömer Demirci kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Gianluca Buffon. The U21 Turkey fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Gianluca Buffon should have stopped the shot. A hard shot 36 in the game by Yavuz Selim Gulson from a close distance when the talented Giannis Papadas managed to make a qualified save. KOCAELİSPOR's players were relieved. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ahmet Boran Tekinalp in the 41st minute of play forced KOCAELİSPOR's goalkeeper Giannis Papadas to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Giannis Papadas was a little too slow when Yavuz Selim Gulson got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 43rd minute. The score was now 2-1. 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.

Ersin Günyol kicked well hit freekick during the 52nd minute of the match. In the 53rd minute the ball was on its way in behind U21 Turkey's goalkeeper Gianluca Buffon, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. The audience was convinced that Ahmet Boran Tekinalp's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Giannis Papadas was relentless in the 55th minute of the game. Giannis Papadas showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ahmet Boran Tekinalp in the 56th minute of the match. Giannis Papadas took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Yavuz Selim Gulson, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. U21 Turkey's Ayvaz Torum was substituted for Yavuz Selim Gulson. After 69 played minutes U21 Turkey got a freekick which was hit by Servet Çetin. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ayvaz Torum in the 72nd minute of play forced KOCAELİSPOR's goalkeeper Giannis Papadas to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 80 minutes of play, KOCAELİSPOR's Aşır Zabit made it 2-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Gianluca Buffon was left in no man's land by his defense there! Aykut Nadi fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 83rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Gianluca Buffon having to interfere. Giannis Papadas showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ahmet Boran Tekinalp in the 84th minute of the match. Peng Yang Guang made in the 86th minute of the game a quick throw-in and Alim Mübarek immediately put the ball in play. Aşır Zabit let the left foot speak when in front of goal in the 88th minute shot 2-3 at rihgt post. In the 91stth minute of the game Ayvaz Torum who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but KOCAELİSPOR's Giannis Papadas was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. The KOCAELİSPOR supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing KOCAELİSPOR would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.