Macedonia opened the UEFA Nations League campaign with a 1:1 draw against the Faroe Islands in Tórshavn.
photo by FFM: Dimitar Mitrovski shots during the match
In a dull game with many oscillations and falls, our team had its chances to win, but with a disastrous realization, so in the end we have to be satisfied with a draw. The coach Milevski had several surprises in the starting team. In the line-up that was more offensive than usual, Iljazovski, Dimoski and Mitrovski got an advantage over Ashkovski, Alioski and Zajkov, which ultimately turned out to be a failed experiment.
Macedonia started the match very badly. Faroe Islands took the lead after their first attack with a controversial penalty. Iljazovski’s duel with Gunnar Vatnhamar, the Lithuanian referee Lukjančukas characterized as a penalty kick, which was executed by Davidsen in the 9th minute of the match.
In an idealess game with many mistakes, we still had a colossal chance to equalize in the 19th minute through Churlinov, who broke alone in front of the home goalkeeper and after passing him in the end, his shot was blocked by Edmundson.
In the 26th minute, the hosts threatened through Danielsen, whose shot ended up in the outer part of Dimitrievski’s net, and the only moment that is worth marking for our team until the end of the first half is Mitrovski’s shot in the 37th minute, which was saved by the goalkeeper Reynatrøð.
We must point out that every crossed ball in the first half represented a potential threat after Dimitrievski’s goal, and that impression remained almost unchanged until the end of the match.
During the half-time, the coach Milevski made two substitutions, where Alioski and Kjamili got a chance, instead of Iljazovski and Mitrovski that resulted in our total offensive from the start of the second half. In the 47th minute, our best player of today’s match, Isnik Alimi, was brought down in the box by Gunnar Vatnhamar, after which the referee awarded a penalty for our team. Captain Enis Bardhi converted the penalty in the 49th minute to equalize the score.
In the next twenty minutes Macedonia dominated the field and missed several chances to score. In the 58th minute, Churlinov appeared alone in front of the home goalkeeper for the second time in this match and once again failed to score. In the 60th minute, Dimoski made an unsuccessful shot at the goal, which was followed by Miovski’s attempt four minutes later. In the 70th minute, Lirim Kjamili also had a 100% chance, but from only 5 meters he shot high over the goal.
And in the period when Macedonia dominated the field, the Faroe Islands missed two opportunities to shock our national team. First, in the 76th minute, Mikkelsen shot wide of the goal from a good position, while in the 78th minute, Stole Dimitrievski saved the Sølvi Vatnhamar’s shot. By the end of the game, both national teams had one unsuccessful attempt at the goal. The hosts through Sørensen in the 87th minute, and Macedonia through Dimoski two minutes later.
In the end, let’s summarize that Macedonia started these qualifications unsuccessfully, with the coach Milevski and his assistants having to decide whether some of the footballers who played on the pitch in Tórshavn with their attitude and lack of dedication deserve to wear the Macedonian jersey in the future.
On Tuesday, our national team plays the second match in the Group 4 of the League C against Armenia at the National Arena Todor Proeski in Skopje, starting at 20:45 CET.