Challenge

Zograf Arena
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Toni Mauzer started the match with the kick off. Damir Pongrac recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 6th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After a rather tough play, Zograf FC's Vancho Zlatev got a free kick in the 7th minute. Vaklin Kortov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Toni Mauzer, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 12th minute, Toni Mauzer hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 13th minute, Vihren Shestakov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 20 minutes into the match, Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Vihren Shestakov. Dinko Stankovic fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 22nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Vaklin Kortov having to interfere. After a defensive mix-up in Zograf FC's zone, Martin Bosak stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Vaklin Kortov came out of the goal and Martin Bosak tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Strahil Ruzhekov kicked well hit freekick during the 27th minute of the match. The supporters of Croatia booed when Zograf FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 28 match minutes in a wonderful position. Strahil Ruzhekov didn't get a good kick on the ball. The throw-in from Samuil Borshukov in the 30th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Croatia's Eduard Kostelac. In the 31st minute Toni Mauzer shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Vaklin Kortov saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Bogomil Kandov took the ball and in the 34 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-1. 38 minutes into the match, Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Bogomil Kandov. After 40 minutes of play, Zograf FC's Bogomil Kandov made it 2-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ilija Skugor was left in no man's land by his defense there! Gustaf Svanström hit a great freekick 48 minutes into the match. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Gustaf Svanström made a kick off. The supporters of Zograf FC booed when Croatia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 53 match minutes in a wonderful position. Damir Pongrac didn't get a good kick on the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Bogomil Kandov in the 55th minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 57th minute, Damir Pongrac left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Croatia fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-2. In the 60th minute Bogomil Kandov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ilija Skugor saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal in the 61st minute to try and stop a shot by Zograf FC's Gustaf Svanström. But to his dismay, Gustaf Svanström quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-2. Zograf FC's Vaklin Kortov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Toni Mauzer in the 64th minute of play. Damir Pongrac's late challenge caught a Zograf FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Damir Pongrac helped the player get up and apologised. The audience thought a goal was coming when Toni Mauzer got free with Vaklin Kortov in the 72nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Damir Pongrac kicked well hit freekick during the 74th minute of the match. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gustaf Svanström in the 75th minute of play. Patrik Terzic kicked well hit freekick during the 76th minute of the match. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Bogomil Kandov in the 87th minute of play. 90 minutes into the match, Gustaf Svanström notched a goal, 4-2, to the right of Croatia's Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Benjamin Domazet hit a great freekick 95 minutes into the match. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The Zograf FC fans cheered their team off the field, for while Croatia had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.