Challenge

Kamarlar Stadion
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Croatia's Toni Mauzer started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. The supporters of Croatia booed when PFK Beroe was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 3 match minutes in a wonderful position. Lulcho Nanyov didn't get a good kick on the ball. A collision led to PFK Beroe getting a freekick after 4 minutes play. Sasho Florov hit a great ball. In the 7th minute, Sasho Florov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Diyan Kúrdzhiev showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Martin Bosak in the 10th minute of the match. PFK Beroe's Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu got a good chance for a goal in the 14th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Croatia's Ilija Skugor proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 17th minute of the match, managed to save Croatia from getting a goal against them. The audience thought a goal was coming when Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu got free with Ilija Skugor in the 17th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 18 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Velichko Myankov kicked well hit freekick during the 21st minute of the match. When Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu came up free with the goalie in the 29th minute, the PFK Beroe fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu couldn't finish the play. Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu had several of the Croatia's defenders around him in the penalty area when he, after 31 minutes of play, received a pass and succeeded in some way to shoot a shot which went straight ahead into goal. This resulted in a 1-0 score and a disappointed Ilija Skugor as he didn't even see the shot coming. 35 minutes into the game, one of Croatia:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. In the 36th minute there was a penalty for PFK Beroe. Pavel Dashinov stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Ilija Skugor. 2-0. In the 40th minute, Damir Pongrac got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. After a defensive mix-up in Croatia's zone, Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal and Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 45th minute, Damir Pongrac managed to get in a good position for a shot. Croatia's supporters rose to their feet, but Damir Pongrac was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Diyan Kúrdzhiev breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. After 47 played minutes PFK Beroe got a freekick which was hit by Lulcho Nanyov. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 2-0 at half-time.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu made a kick off. When Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu came up free with the goalie in the 52nd minute, the PFK Beroe fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu couldn't finish the play. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Lulcho Nanyov during the 57th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Diyan Kúrdzhiev made an important save on a dangerous shot by Dinko Stankovic in the 60th minute. 69 minutes into the match, Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu notched a goal, 3-0, 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. In the 77th minute, Damir Pongrac got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ahmet Refik Mertoğlu in the 78th minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When Lulcho Nanyov was, once again, overly rough in his play he received his second yellow card and was ordered off the ground. 88 minutes had been played. In the 89th match minute, PFK Beroe was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Lulcho Nanyov to maneuver through the defense. Croatia's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.