Macedonia’s second match in Antalya ended in a 2:2 draw despite being 2 up.

photo: Macedonia starting 11

Milevski opted for a 4-man defense in comparison to the 3 CBs in the previous match. Denkovski was between the posts, Aleksovski, Mladenovski, Gjurkovski, Antovski, Grozdanovski, Fazlagikj, Elezi, Berisha, Churlinov, Ilievski the other starters.  This formation gave result as Macedonia played more consistently and earned a 2:0 lead before breaking down and conceding 2 goals. The opening goal was scored in the 24th minute. Elezi intercepted a ball in the midfield and sent a great through ball for Churlinov. He dribbled past opponents and fired a low shot which was blocked by a Slovakia defender but the ball still finished into the net. 1:0 was the half-time score.

At the start of the second half, Milevski substitited the whole team. Serafimov replaced Denkovski as goalie. Dimoski, Jankulov, Vosha, Radulovikj-Velichkovikj, Sheji, Krstevski, Ramadani, Ferati, Kalkan and Maksimov also entered the fray.

The second goal came right after the start of the second half. Kalkan won a corner kick which was taken by Vosha. The ball fell perfectly for Radulovikj-Velichkovikj who fired a low shot with his left foot into the net for 2:0 lead.

In the 76th minute Slovakia pulled one back after a corner kick on the far post was returned in the box and the ball was unluckily deflected by Radulovikj-Velichkovikj into the net.

Macedonia missed an excellent opportunity for 3:1 in the 78th minute after Maksimov intercepted a ball by the Slovakia keeper inside the box. He then found Vosha but he was quickly closed down and did not find time to shoot. That was a great opportunity to put the match beyond doubt.

Instead, we saw the equalizing goal on the other end. A ball from the right side was once again blocked by Radulovikj-Velichkovikj and once again ended into his own net. This meant he scored one goal into the opponents net and two into his own. This reminded us of a former CB Nikolche Noveski performance for Mainz back in 2005 in a match against Eintracht. He scored 2 own goals on that match and then added 1 in the opposing net.

Meanwhile, Kalpachki and Todorovski replaced Dimoski and Ramadani to play the final 12 minutes. Macedonia has another match to play in Antalya, against Bulgaria on the 29th.

Full match (goals at 33.20, 1:20:00, 1:41,45 & 1:54:55)