The champion of the Macedonian women’s football league, Ljuboten from Tetovo, experienced a serious debacle in the first round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers, losing 10:0 to the Icelandic champion Valur.

The opening few minutes showed that the Macedonian ladies are destined for humiliation. The Icelandic team opened the score in the 2nd minute, and in the 5th minute they already doubled the lead. By the 20th minute, Ljuboten was already losing with a convincing 4:0, and at halftime was left with 5 goals in its own net.

In the second part Valur did not stop, on the contrary, they pressed for more goals resulting in a double-digit victory of 10:0 and a real humiliation for the Macedonian champions.

One of the goals:

The match was played on a neutral ground in the Netherlands.

Sportpark stadium in Enschede
Valur – Ljuboten 10:0 (5:0)
Goals: 2′, 63′ Jasmín Erla Ingadóttir, 5′ Ragnheiður Þórunn Jónsdóttir, 13′ Natasha Anasi, 18′ Berglind Rós Ágústsdóttir, 35′ Anna Rakel Pétursdóttir, 51′, 52′, 81′ Ísabella Sara Tryggvadóttir, 71′ Berglind Björg Thorvaldsdóttir
Valur: 1. Fann­ey Inga Birk­is­dótt­ir (46′ 20. Íris Dögg Gunn­ars­dótt­ir); 2. Hailey Whita­ker, 21. Lillý Rut Hlyns­dótt­ir, 6. Natasha Anasi, 11. Anna Rakel Pét­urs­dótt­ir (46′ 7. Elísa Viðars­dótt­ir); 23. Fann­dís Friðriks­dótt­ir (46′ 24. Ísa­bella Sara Tryggva­dótt­ir), 8. Katie Cous­ins (58′ 92. Berg­lind Björg Þor­valds­dótt­ir), 10. Berg­lind Rós Ágústs­dótt­ir (C), 14. Ragn­heiður Þór­unn Jóns­dótt­ir; 29. Jasmín Erla Inga­dótt­ir, 22. Guðrún Elísa­bet Björg­vins­dótt­ir (71′ 13. Nadía Atla­dótt­ir).
Ljuboten: 1. Karen Alejandra Rodriguez Espinosa (68′ 27. Mila Pavlovska); 69. Hristina Joshevska, 6. Nina Milenković, 5. Aleksandra Jovanovska (46′ 15. Rosana Kitanovska), 2. Iva Jovanovska; 99. Hava Mustafa, 20. Paula Alexandra Valbuena Novoa, 8. Aleksandra Markovska (C) (63′ 7. Danche Karpuzovska); 11. Nastasja Nakova (78′ 17. Andrea Kolovska), 21. Ingrid Julieth Vidal Isaza (46′ 9. Elena Simjonova), 22. Bojana Petkova.
Yellow cards: Jovanoska, Mustafa (Lj)
Referee: Lovisa Johansson
Assistants: Tilde Larsson & Ivona Pejić
Fourth official: Sabina Bolić

Valur will now play against tournament hosts Twente, who defeated Welsh champion Cardiff City with 7:0. It is not the end for Ljuboten, because in order to develop women’s football, UEFA foresees a duel between the losers of each tournament. The Macedonian team will play on September 7 against Cardiff City. The winners of the 11 tournaments will advance to the 2nd round.

For the third year in a row, Ljuboten is the best team in Macedonia. In the domestic league they often win with a double-digit number of goals. There are also foreign players in the lineup, currently 4 Colombian and a Serbian. One of them, 33-year-old Ingrid Vidal has 54 caps for Colombia and 11 goals scores, playing ta 2 FIFA World Cups (2011 and 2015), 2 Copa América (2010 and 2014) and 2 Olympics (2012 and 2016).

Today’s result only shows how low-quality Macedonian women’s football is, when the team that is the best in the country fails deeply on the international stage.