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El Salvador, Argentina, and the USA round out places 2-4 with last minute excitement
The 4-3 victory for Portugal over El Salvador ultimately came down to who had the last good opportunity on goal. The visitors went down early but no one was able to get more than a one-goal lead throughout. The see-saw fight could have gone in any direction but it was the Portuguese who struck last. The win gives Portugal three in three days and the outright Copa Pilsener Championship. El Salvador played well enough to win 1st but they finish the week in 2nd place.
Painted faces, jerseys, and noise-makers dotted the crowd and added to excitement surrounding the bottle of the unbeaten: El Salvador and Portugal. As Portugal was in their first two matches, they began slow but today it worked even more in their favor because in the early minutes of the match they were able to keep the raucous fans relatively quiet. Pressure mounted for both sides as the period progressed without a goal. Just when it looked like El Salvador was going to drown out Portugal, the Europeans scored almost immediately after El Salvador blew the lid off the stadium with the first goal. The frame ended how it began, tied, but now at 1 goal apiece. The second period was back and forth but in the end still equal as both team scored but could not separate themselves and the 12 minutes finished in a 2-2 tie.
Despite being locked in a tight race, both sides looked very comfortable on offense and defense, though the Portuguese scored first in the frame to make the hosts just a little bit nervous. It did not take long for the El Salvadorians to knot things, once again sending the crowd into a frenzy, this time at 3-3, with bellows of ¨si se puede¨ (We can do it) growing from the stands. Portugal was looking like a team of destiny especially after their fourth goal, putting them up for good by score of 4-3.
Goals: 1-0: Batres, min. 1(1); 1-1: Jose Maria, min. 1 (1); 1-2: Coimbra, min. 5 (2); 2-2: Frank, min. 3 (2); 2-3: Madjer, min 9 (3); 3-3: Heber, min. 6 (3); 3-4: Belchior, min. 5 (3)
Argentina electrifies fans with penalties win
The 3 (4) – 3 (3) (pen) win for Argentina over the United States of America had enough drama to fill the stadium itself but lucky for everyone involved, the stadium was already packed for the action. The United States began slow but caught up to send the game into overtime. Early in the extra three minutes the USA scored what looked to be the final goal but Argentina had different plans and send the game into penalties. The victory gives Argentina one point, one win, but more importantly 3rd place in the Copa Pilsener 2016. The USA fought valiantly in all their matches but were unable to get a win in El Salvador.
The two sides badly wanted their first win in the Copa Pilsener and the early going showed a conservative strategy. In the first few minutes neither team was able to find any openings, and the score stayed level thanks in part to sound defense. The offenses opened up and began seeing their chances grow but nobody struck gold until Argentina hit home in the final minutes of the first frame. The two squads dueled the rest of the period to a draw and Argentina took the 1-0 advantage into the second period. Holmedilla doubled the Albiceleste lead early in the middle frame, leaving the Americans down 2-0. The wait for the first goal from the United States was well worth it as Perera scored on a monstrous bicycle late in the period to cut the deficit in half. The USA would score once more to tie matters at 2 going into the final 12 minutes.
Argentina did not have the momentum but they knew that the next goal could be the difference maker, so they started the last period very aggressive. The United States withstood the Argentine attacks but early in the frame they were not able to generate much offense either and the score did not budge going into the middle of the frame. The tension grew as the two rivals remained level going into the final minutes of the match. The final seconds were filled with heart and grit with both teams trying to collapse on goal but the match would head into overtime. Early in the extra frame the United States took their first lead off the day, using a Greenfield goal, but Cuevas scored for the South Americans n the final minute of overtime to send the game to penalties.
Goals: 1-0: Holmendilla, min. 2 (1); 2-0: Holmendilla, min 7 (2); 2-1: Perera, min. 2 (2); 2-2: Greenfield, min 1 (2); 2-3, Greenfield, min 2 (et); 3-3, Cuevas, min 0 (et).
Penalties: Tarabini: make; Greenfield: miss; Spinelli: miss; Perk: make; Cuevas: make; Perera: make; Rigoni: make; Garcia: make; Holmedilla: make; Dombrowsky: miss.
COPA PÍLSENER FÚTBOL PLAYA 2016
Thursday 24.03.16
15.00 – Portugal 6-0 Argentina
16.15 – USA 2-4 El Salvador
Friday 25.03.16
15.00 – Portugal 4-1 USA
16.15 – El Salvador 7-3 Argentina
Saturday 26.03.16
15.00 – Argentina 3(5)-3(4) USA
16.15 – El Salvador 3-4 Portugal
Final standings
CHAMPIONS: Portugal
Runner-up: El Salvador
3rd place: Argentina
4th place: USA
Individual Awards:
MVP: Jordan Santos (POR)
Top Scorer: Frank Velásquez (SLV), E. Holmedilla (ARG), Jordan Santos (POR)
Best Goalkeeper: Herbert Ramos (SLV)
