Our U15 national team (generation of players born in 2004) took part at the 16th friendly tournament “Torneo delle Nazioni” in Italy, Austria and Slovenia from 27th of April until 4th of May.

photo by ÖFB: Enis Bukji and Igor Janevski watch as Blend Zekjiri tackles Tobias Hochreiter during the match against Austria

Macedonia was in Group D together with co-hosts Austria, Portugal and Norway.
The other 12 participants at this tournament are: Italy, England, Czechia and Qatar in Group A; Japan, Turkey, Russia and UAE in Group B and Slovenia, Mexico, USA and India in Group C.

In the first matches in our group played at 27th of April Macedonia lost 0:2 against Portugal while Austria celebrated a 2:0 win against Norway.

Nassfeld stadium in Hermagor-Pressegger See
Macedonia – Portugal 0:2 (0:1)
Goals: 13′ Herculano Nabian, 38′ Marco Cruz
Macedonia: 1. Stefan Tasev (36′ 12. Vasko Vasilev); 2. Nikola Pavlevski, 4. Enis Bukji, 5. Blend Zekjiri, 15. Matej Angelov, 6. Maksim Miloshevski (36′ 20. Mario Krstevski), 7. Besart Gudjufi (52′ 17. Marko Trenevski), 8. Matej Gjorgiev (47′ 14. Djezair Abduli), 10. Dashmir Elezi (58′ 18. Ivan Gligorov), 19. Almir Oda (60′ 13. Igor Janevski), 11. Georg Stojanovski (36′ 9. Mihail Talevski). Bench: Marko Ristov, Idriz Osmanovikj. Coach: Nedjat Shabani
Portugal: 1. André Gomes; 2. David Monteiro, 4. Gabriel Brás, 5. Francisco Silva (52′ 15. Luís Martins), 14. António Ribeiro, 10. Marco Cruz (52′ 16. Francisco Guedes), 17. Diogo Prioste (63′ 8. João Neves), 6. João Faria (36′ 13. Dário Essugo), 7. Ricardo Marques (60′ 19. Hugo Félix), 9. Herculano Nabian (52′ 20. Youssef Ramalho), 18. Lucas Anjos (60′ 11. José Precatado). Bench: Diogo Pinto, Diogo Monteiro. Coach: Joaquim Milheiro
Yellow cards: Zekjiri (M), Félix (P)

In the games of the second matchday played on 29th of April in Klagenfurt, Macedonia defeated Austria 2:1 while Portugal managed to clinch a second win at this tournament, 4:2 against Norway.

Highlights:

Wörthersee stadium in Klagenfurt
Austria – Macedonia 1:2 (1:1)
Goals: 25′ Filip Ristanic – 8′ Besart Gudjufi, 37′ Djezair Abduli
Austria: 21. Lukas Kogler; 4. Hubert Griesebner, 8. Rocco Vicol (14. Nicolas Bajlic), 10. Dijon Kameri (7. Tobias Hochreiter), 11. Aaron-Sky Schwarz (15. Johann Lieber), 13. Filip Ristanic (6. Tolga Sahin), 16. Niklas Lang (9. Luka Reischl), 17. Nikolas Sattlberger, 18. Tizian-Valentino Svharmer (5. Samson Baidoo), 19. Mehmet Sahin (3. Enes Tepecik), 20. Milan Martinov. Coach: Hermann Stadler
Macedonia: 1. Stefan Tasev; 13. Igor Janevski (2. Nikola Pavlevski), 3. Marko Ristov (20. Mario Krstevski), 4. Enis Bukji, 5. Blend Zekjiri (6. Maksim Miloshevski), 15. Matej Angelov, 19. Almir Oda, 10. Dashmir Elezi (16. Idriz Osmanovikj), 7. Besart Gudjufi (17. Marko Trenevski), 9. Mihail Talevski (8. Matej Gjorgiev), 14. Djezair Abduli (11. Georg Stojanovski). Coach: Nedjat Shabani
Yellow cards: Osmanovikj (M)

Our final match in the Group D was played on the 30th in Arnoldstein against Norway. In an entertaining match the young Macedonians recorded a 3:2 defeat. The brace by Talevski scored in a span of just four minutes wasn’t enough for at least a point.

Waldpark stadium in Arnoldstein
Norway – Macedonia 3:2 (1:1)
Goals: 9′ (pen) Sadir Abud, 37′ Isak Hansen-Aarøen, 67′ Alwande Roaldsøy – 36′, 39′ Mihail Talevski
Norway: 12. Storm Strand-Kolbjørnsen; 5. Didrik Moen Tvenge, 6. Jonas Toftesun (46′ 15. Elias Solberg), 8. Andreas R. Schjelderup, 9. Sadir Abud (70′ 7. Syver Aas), 10. Isak Hansen-Aarøen, 11. Alwande Roaldsøy, 13. Sebastian Stokke, 14. Jonas Valland, 17. Marius Berg Fossum, 20. Andre Lønning (46′ 2. Shreeram Sritharan). Coach: Jan Peder Jalland
Macedonia: 12. Vasko Vasilev; 2. Nikola Pavlevski, 4. Enis Bukji, 5. Blend Zekjiri, 15. Matej Angelov (11. Georg Stojanovski), 20. Mario Krstevski (58′ 3. Marko Ristov), 7. Besart Gudjufi (60′ 8. Matej Gjorgiev), 19. Almir Oda (13. Igor Janevski), 9. Mihail Talevski, 10. Dashmir Elezi, 14. Djezair Abduli (53′ 18. Ivan Gligorov). Coach: Nedjat Shabani
Yellow cards: Tvenge, Abud (N)

Final standings:

	M	W	D	L	GD	P
Portugal	3	2	0	1	7:4	6
Austria	3	2	0	1	5:3	6	semifinals
Macedonia	3	1	0	2	4:6	3
Norway	3	1	0	2	5:8	3

Austria advanced in the semifinals thanks to a better head-to-head record with Portugal. But, the tournament isn’t over even for those eliminated. Macedonia will continue playing for placement. In the battle for a better place (5-16) the young Lynx will face UAE on 2 May with a kick-off at 17.00 in the Slovenian village of Vipolže.

Turkey vs. Norway
Italia vs. Slovenia
England vs. USA
Russia vs. Portugal
Qatar vs. India
UAE vs. Macedonia

This is the list of the players that were called up by the coach Shabani for this tournament:

Our coaching staff with Nedjat Shabani as head coach

Stefan Tasev – Vardar
Vasko Vasilev – Vardar

Nikola Pavlevski – Vardar
Enis Bukji – Shkupi
Blend Zekjiri – Milano
Matej Angelov – Bregalnica
Maksim Miloshevski – Vardar
Mario Krstevski – Bohemia
Besart Gudjufi – Vardar
Marko Trenevski – Nju Stars
Matej Gjorgiev – Bregalnica
Djezair Abduli – Fortuna
Dashmir Elezi – Shkendija
Ivan Gligorov – Mal Ajaks
Almir Oda – Rapid
Igor Janevski – Vardar
Georg Stojanovski – Vardar
Mihail Talevski – LG Bitola
Marko Ristov – Kul
Idriz Osmanovikj – Shkupi