Naively committed penalty allowed Spain to celebrated a win in Skopje as Macedonia later missed a penalty to escape a defeat.
photo by MacedonianFootball: moment of the first half
After almost a year the U21s played a game. Coach Blagoja Milevski started with Jankov between the posts, Antovski, Rufati, Serafimov and Todoroski in the back line, Fazlagikj, Grozdanovski and Zdravkovski (C) as midfielders and Churlinov, Ristovski and Mitrovski up front.
It was pretty much equal play in the opening 45 minutes with Macedonia successfully blocking every Spanish attack and even attacking on several occasions. However, both teams failed to create a serious chance.
Closes came Juan Miranda in the 37th minute when he was forgotten by the home defense and despite being alone at the far post he failed to fire a precise shot and missed the target. That was all in the the first half.
The second half was a bit more active when it comes to goal attempts. Both teams tried some shots, but off target. The first save by a keeper came in the 76th minute when Jankov caught Ricard Puig’s shot.
When it seemed that the match will end in a goalless draw, Nikola Serafimov made a stupid foul on Pipa in the box awarding Spain a penalty. Hugo Duro successfully converted it in the 84th minute.
Few minutes later and another penalty, this time for Macedonia as keeper Josep Martínez committed a foul while jumping for a ball. Dimitar Mitrovski stepped in to take it, but Martinez made a save, denying an equalizer.
Highlights:
Macedonia lost 0:1 and missed a great chance to take some points from Spain.