The great return game between Venezuelans and a team of players from all over the world took place last Saturday. The Venezuelans won the first game 2:1 two weeks ago. That was enough for team Rest of the World (ROW) to enter the game highly motivated.
Both teams were on time to discuss the strategy and tactics for this crucial encounter to determine the better team out of ROW and Venezuelans. This also marked the return of captain Manni after 3 weeks of absence. Thanks to Max, who brought a white board, the lineup and team strategy was communicated efficiently to team ROW.
The Venezuelans, captained by Deyban, kept the line up the same as the last game: 4-2-3-1. ROW also chose this formation after a discussing with Greg and Manni:
Rest of the World
Subs: Manni (IN), Angel (MX), Kim (GER)
Carlos (gk) (MX)
Max (FR) – Héctor (SV) – Wen (MX) – Mauricio (MX)
Pablo (FR) (c) – Matthieu (FR)
Elias (MX) – Greg (FR) – Pierre (FR)
Javier (MX)
—
Samuel
Emil – Carlos Jorge – Raymond
Deyban (c) – Rafael
Aristides – Oscar – Daniel – Liendo
Carlos (gk)
Subs: Ferro
Venezuela
First half – Venezuela dominates the game
The first half was all about Venezuelans, they dominated the possession and made use of their synergy by rotating the ball very well on the pitch. ROW had trouble adjusting to the new formation and they got dispossessed in the midfield frequently, which added pressure on the defense. Venezuela were stronger on the left wing and put in good crosses from left side but Kim headed them out to safety. However, this pressure paid off in the 15thminute of the game with Venezuela earned a free kick at the edge of the box for a foul on Emil by Max.
Carlos put in a curling cross which found Raymond at the far corner. The talented player headed it easily into the back of the net, lifting up the morale of the Venezuelan squad, with Ferro celebrating on the side line and Manni motivating his team to get back.
ROW put in the first promising move when striker Javier, Greg and Elias played some fast touches, but failed to put in the final shot. This marked the end of the first half.
Second half – Change of formation brings the victory for ROW
Second half saw lots of changes for ROW; Kim and Mauricio came out for Wen and Angel. Also the formation was changed to the favorite 4-4-2. This changed proved beneficial and ROW started pushing up. Venezuela kept on attacking from the sidelines with Emil and Raymond. While ROW wanted to get back into the match, team Venezuela was eager for the second goal. Then, an attack from the left wing by Matthieu and Pablo who put in a cross that was not cleared well, ended up at edge of the box by Pierre. The Frenchman took an accurate shot that went past the goalkeeper. Now, the score was 1-1 with both teams going for the winning goal. With this came another change; Manni came in for Elias, putting Max into right wing midfield and pushing the attack from the right side. Shortly after that a long ball by Pierre intercepted by Max who saw Greg in the box. Greg made no mistake and calmly gave the lead to ROW with 5 mins left for the game. The Venezuelans pushed again from the right wing with their last energy reserves. Emil got a ball and made a run into the box with Hector going in for the challenge dispossessing the ball. But in that process Emil fell to ground asking for a penalty but the referee said no. This let to a strong protest by the Venezuelans. But it doesn’t matter what a player thinks. In football all that matters is what the referee considers. This was the last attack and the game ended 2-1. Now both teams are looking forward to the 3rdand final encounter in this challenge. Let’s wait and watch the victorious team of the third game.
Goal scorer: Raymond (1:0), Pierre (1:1), Greg (1:2)
MVP: Pierre (FR)
Highlights
After the game French striker Pierre received the trophy for the best striker of 2018!
