Despite an indifferent start to their Serie A campaign, Italian side SS Lazio claimed a valuable draw at home to Real Madrid on Champions League Matchday 2. The Spanish side twice took the lead, only to be denied by two strikes from Biancocelesti striker Goran Pandev.
Round 8 video highlights
Video highlights from from the Rabotnicki-Shkendija, Cementarnica-Vardar and Makedonija-Napredok matches from the 8th round of the Macedonia First League.
The champion survived on “Tumbe Kafe”
The big "Pelagonija derby" between Pelister and Pobeda was on the schedule of this round. The hosts were the better side, but the champion with a little help from the referee, escaped the defeat. After 7 rounds, Milano and Rabotnicki stayed on the top.
Late equaliser rescued Bolton
A late equaliser by Abdoulaye Meite earned Bolton Wanderers a 1:1 draw against Rabotnicki Kometal in the first leg of their Uefa Cup first-round tie. Rabotnicki had the lead from the 53rd minute but Meite rescued Bolton, seven minutes from time.
Bolton fans helping Macedonian children
The fans of Bolton Wanderers who will arrive in Macedonia to support their club on the UEFA Cup match against Rabotnicki Kometal, organized a charity from which all proceeds will go to local Macedonian children.
Goalless draw on the “Super Cup” in Prilep
Unlike all other football leagues, the Macedonian Super Cup was played during the 6th round of the Macedonian First League. The president of the Macedonian Football Federation used the league match between last year's champion and cup winner to give the champions trophy to Pobeda.
Macedonia ranked 38th on UEFA ranking
With 5.831 points, Macedonia is on the 38th position of the new association's coefficient ranking list by UEFA. The ranking list is based on performance over the five previous seasons – between 2002/03 and 2006/07 – and will be used to determine entry into the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.
Another big disappointment
The bad form of the Macedonian national team continues. After the defeats from Russia, Israel and Croatia, an easy win was expected against the 125th ranked national team of Estonia but with another bad performance, the Macedonian national team got only a point. After those results a resignation from the head coach is expected in
Squad changes for the Estonia match
Srecko Katanec, the coach of the national team of Macedonia was forced to make changes in the squad before the qualifying match against Estonia after the suspensions of Goran Pandev and Igor Mitreski because of the yellow cards they received on the match against Russia.
Russia 3-0 Macedonia
Late strikes from Andrei Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov eased ten-man Russia to a convincing victory over Macedonia in EURO 2008 qualifying. Russians took an early lead through V. Berezutski and dominated proceedings before having goalkeeper Gabulov sent off for a foul in the area which led to Mitreski missing a penalty. Two goals in the