U16 and U17 NTs noted a win and a draw respectively in the friendly matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

After the draw and defeat in the first friendly matches played a couple of days ago, U16s and U17s now had a better outing.

U16s, led by Stanojkovikj, managed to pay back the visitors and noted a 4:3 win after the 0:1 loss in the first match. Macedonia were up by 2 in the first 12 minutes of the match with goals scored by Jani Atanasov in the 6th minute and Filip Jovanovski in the 12th. However, the visitors managed to equalize before the half-time with a brace by Adis Smajić and even took the lead in the second half with a goal scored by Mrzić in 45th minute. However, after a couple of substitutions by Stanojkovikj, Macedonia managed to turn things around first with a goal by Mario Naumovski and then, in the dying minutes, Vasko Trajkov brought this team’s first win.

Macedonia: Gjorgi Stojanovski; Metodij Gjorgichkov, Dimitar Tasev (Bojan Ilievski 41`), Andrej Kirovski, Oliver Stojmenovski, Asdren Mena (Vasko Trajkov 67`), Filip Jovanovski (Filip Tanevski 47`), Kristijan Trapanovski (Mario Naumovski 58`), Kristijan Lokoski (Kristijan Delevski 47`), Jani Atanasov (Dejan Markovski 58`), Elif Elmaz (Burim Kurti 47`)

“We’ve played a really good first half and it was tough seeing the visitors equalize before the half-time. We played a dynamic second half and even managed to get the win which was very important for these young players. Our goal is to improve with each coming match and I sincerely hope we can do that” said Vujadin Stanojkovikj after the match.

U17s, led by Stojkoski, once again played a draw against the visitors from Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the 1:1 draw two days ago, now it was 2:2. Bosnia took the lead first through Smajlagić in the 21st minute, but Macedonia came back in the second half and took the lead after a brace by Zdravkovski. But, in the final moments of the match Mujagić equalized the result and set the final score.

Macedonia: Riste Jankov; Viktor Stojkovski, Safari Samavat (Igor Petkov 41`), Nehar Sadiki, Dragan Jankulovski (Antonio Mitrov 41`), Aleksandar Karabakov, Darko Dodev (Viktor Dimkov 78`), Milosh Toshevski, Milan Ristovski, Davor Zdravkovski (Agupi Rijad 78`), Daniel Bonevski (Mihail Manevski)

“I am pleased by the character we showed in this match. We made a couple of substitutions to correct some parts of the play. At the start of the second half the players’ desire for win was visible although they did show some tiredness after the first match. I am satisfied with their tactical approach. We should be looking to improve even further in the future” said Stojkoski after the match.