National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Jari Alenius got the match started through his kick off. Bulgaria's Vitomir Starokin played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Aarre Rautee in the 3rd minute of play. Finland were awarded a corner in the 4th minute after Bulgaria's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Taisto Pentsinen took the corner. The corner led Finland's Uolevi Hagman to fire away a dangerous shot which Vitomir Starokin despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. Atro Kiviharju took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Stanislav Búlgarov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Vitomir Starokin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Aarre Rautee, who was totally free with the ball in the 8th minute. Marian Todorov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 10th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The audience thought a goal was coming when Stanislav Búlgarov got free with Atro Kiviharju in the 11th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Stanislav Búlgarov scored 1-0 in the 15th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Atro Kiviharju, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. The supporters of Bulgaria booed when Finland was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 21 match minutes in a wonderful position. Sylvesteri Valkama didn't get a good kick on the ball. 22 minutes into the game, Rio Ferdinand was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Finland's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Bulgaria the free kick. Bulgaria made a substitution. Denimir Tzonkov replaced Stanislav Búlgarov. After a rather tough play, Finland's Rio Ferdinand got a free kick in the 23rd minute. Atro Kiviharju showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Parvan Dakelov in the 25th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 32nd minute, Denimir Tzonkov managed to get in a good position for a shot. Bulgaria's supporters rose to their feet, but Denimir Tzonkov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Atro Kiviharju breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Parvan Dakelov's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Atro Kiviharju read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 36th minute of play. Denimir Tzonkov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 37th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Atro Kiviharju having to interfere. Atro Kiviharju showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Parvan Dakelov in the 40th minute of the match. Vitomir Starokin took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Aarre Rautee, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Denimir Tzonkov was the one to do the kick off. Atro Kiviharju took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Parvan Dakelov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 52 minutes into the match, Finland's goal looked a bit too open when Denimir Tzonkov came free, but Atro Kiviharju reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Bulgaria's Parvan Dakelov got a good chance for a goal in the 54th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. In the 55th minute, Parvan Dakelov left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Bulgaria fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-0. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Denimir Tzonkov in the 58th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Atro Kiviharju saved Finland from getting behind. Thanks to some nice moves Taisto Pentsinen could shoot a difficult shot in the 60th minute, which Vitomir Starokin however easily saved by the left post. The audience was convinced that Denimir Tzonkov's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Atro Kiviharju was relentless in the 61st minute of the game. Atro Kiviharju took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Denimir Tzonkov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 66th match minute, Finland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Aarre Rautee to maneuver through the defense. Parvan Dakelov's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Atro Kiviharju read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 69th minute of play. In the 76th minute Parvan Dakelov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Atro Kiviharju saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Vitomir Starokin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sylvesteri Valkama, who was totally free with the ball in the 78th minute. After some careless play in the Bulgaria defense, Taisto Pentsinen kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Vitomir Starokin. The Bulgaria fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Vitomir Starokin should have stopped the shot. Bulgaria's Vladislav Serdarov was substituted for Nikolay Karpuzov. Finland's Atro Kiviharju played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Denimir Tzonkov in the 86th minute of play. If Marian Todorov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 89th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 91 minutes into the match, Bulgaria's goal looked a bit too open when Sylvesteri Valkama came free, but Vitomir Starokin reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 92nd minute Denimir Tzonkov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Atro Kiviharju saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sylvesteri Valkama in the 93rd minute of play forced Bulgaria's goalkeeper Vitomir Starokin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Parvan Dakelov in the 94th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Atro Kiviharju saved Finland from getting behind. After 96 minutes Finland's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Ilko Hindalov who took care of the corner kick.