above, Coach Mario (in the VIP [Very Italian Persons] tribune) greeting/acknowledging :) his many fans! below, Uruguay's pre-match warm up drills included a speed-ladder
Once the match got underway Zambia started to exert lots of pressure and their speedy forwards attacked the Uruguay defense. On one break-away the Uruguay goalie 'brought down' a Zambian forward resulting in both a PK and a Red Card for the keeper. With less than 20 minutes played Zambia 1 - Uruguay 0. Later in the game Zambia would have one of their players 'booked' with a red card and the two teams played the rest of the match with 10 men per side. Both teams moved to a 3-3-3 system but it would once again be Zambia scoring on a defensive lapse by Uruguay in the second half. Final score Zambia records a 2-nil win to progress to the next round while Uruguay would be flying home!
At half time Mario saw many familiar faces including members of the LakeHill u12B division.
While other people took turns to score on Craig Forest in the adidas inflatable goal.
The 2nd match of the day would feature the two fan-favorites of Pool F (and also the two undefeated teams): Japan and Nigeria! They would play to determine first place in the Victoria-hosted division. Winner would get to stay in Victoria and prepare for their next opponents while the 2nd place team would have to pack their bags and travel the 5 hour flight back east for their next game to be played on Field turf!
Japan appeared to have scored a winner in the second half of the match only to see it decared offside by the game officials! Final result was 0-0 but Japan was awarded first place and home field advantage over the Czech Republic (to be played on Wednesday at 8pm) because Japan had scored one more goal in the tournament than had Nigeria.
Once the match got underway Zambia started to exert lots of pressure and their speedy forwards attacked the Uruguay defense. On one break-away the Uruguay goalie 'brought down' a Zambian forward resulting in both a PK and a Red Card for the keeper. With less than 20 minutes played Zambia 1 - Uruguay 0. Later in the game Zambia would have one of their players 'booked' with a red card and the two teams played the rest of the match with 10 men per side. Both teams moved to a 3-3-3 system but it would once again be Zambia scoring on a defensive lapse by Uruguay in the second half. Final score Zambia records a 2-nil win to progress to the next round while Uruguay would be flying home!At half time Mario saw many familiar faces including members of the LakeHill u12B division.
While other people took turns to score on Craig Forest in the adidas inflatable goal.The 2nd match of the day would feature the two fan-favorites of Pool F (and also the two undefeated teams): Japan and Nigeria! They would play to determine first place in the Victoria-hosted division. Winner would get to stay in Victoria and prepare for their next opponents while the 2nd place team would have to pack their bags and travel the 5 hour flight back east for their next game to be played on Field turf!
Japan appeared to have scored a winner in the second half of the match only to see it decared offside by the game officials! Final result was 0-0 but Japan was awarded first place and home field advantage over the Czech Republic (to be played on Wednesday at 8pm) because Japan had scored one more goal in the tournament than had Nigeria. For a full game report click here
