National stadium
Spectators: 10302 (Terracing: 7727,
Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Bekim Ribarski started the match with the kick off. 3 minutes into the match, Croatia's goalkeeper Mijat Kresić had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Bekim Ribarski. In the 6th minute the ball was on its way in behind Macedonia's goalkeeper Dragoljub Despotovski, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 7 minutes had been played when some careless play by Macedonia's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Ilko Čuvalo was slow to take the kick. During this time Croatia's players had a chance to rest. Croatia's Radoslav Škoro was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Dragoljub Despotovski in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. In the 9th minute the ball was on its way in behind Macedonia's goalkeeper Dragoljub Despotovski, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Croatia's Mijat Kresić played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Bekim Ribarski in the 16th minute of play. Hrvoje Matoš's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Dragoljub Despotovski read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 17th minute of play. Croatia were awarded a corner in the 18th minute after Macedonia's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Ilko Čuvalo took the corner. After taking down the ball on Croatia's corner Blaž Starčević fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Dragoljub Despotovski quite easily take care of the ball. 19 minutes in the game, Ilko Čuvalo dribbled his way through the penalty area and after maneuvering past an opponent, drilled a quick shot at the goal. The ball looked like it was going in, but it was hit a bit too hard and flew over the goal. Croatia's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Ilko Čuvalo in the 21st minute. It was a well-played corner which Radoslav Škoro managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. Bekim Ribarski received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 24th minute. Mijat Kresić tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Mijat Kresić showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Bekim Ribarski, who was totally free with the ball in the 26th minute. Dragoljub Despotovski made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jure Salzer in the 35th minute of play. In the 40th minute, Dalin Sofroniev hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Dragoljub Despotovski made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Hrvoje Matoš in the 44th minute of play. Mijat Kresić took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Bekim Ribarski, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The first half was very even, with the score at 0-0 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.
Macedonia made a substitution. Petar Antič replaced Petar Stojanovič. Macedonia made a substitution. Sande Spasovski replaced Bekim Ribarski. The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Jure Salzer stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 53rd minute Jure Salzer shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dragoljub Despotovski saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After 54 minutes Macedonia's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Ilko Čuvalo who took care of the corner kick. A nice corner shot did that Ilko Čuvalo got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Dragoljub Despotovski quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Mijat Kresić showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sande Spasovski, who was totally free with the ball in the 57th minute. Mijat Kresić showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sande Spasovski, who was totally free with the ball in the 61st minute. When Macedonia's Sande Spasovski in the 61st minute got a chance for a shot 61st didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Croatia's goalie prevented a goal. Macedonia's Slobodan Bogdanovski was substituted for Simon Lefkovski. Ferenc Puskás charged in rather forcefully in the 64th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Ferenc Puskás the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 64th minute of the game. One of Croatia:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Macedonia:s goal. Dragoljub Despotovski made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jure Salzer in the 67th minute of play. In the 68th minute, Sande Spasovski ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Mijat Kresić was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-0. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sande Spasovski in the 72nd minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Mijat Kresić to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sande Spasovski in the 75th minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Mijat Kresić to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 77th minute Sande Spasovski shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mijat Kresić saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 78th minute, Sande Spasovski made a precise shot to the right of Mijat Kresić. Croatia's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-0. The throw-in from Renato Šimić in the 81st minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Macedonia's Josif Serafimov. After some fancy dribbling in the 84th minute, Sande Spasovski managed to get in a good position for a shot. Macedonia's supporters rose to their feet, but Sande Spasovski was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Mijat Kresić breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Dragoljub Despotovski showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Jure Salzer, who was totally free with the ball in the 86th minute. Dragoljub Despotovski made a fantastic save in the 87th minute, when Hrvoje Matoš sent off a good shot on target. Sande Spasovski took the ball and in the 90 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Mijat Kresić. Mijat Kresić dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 3-0. In the 94th match minute, Croatia was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Renato Šimić to maneuver through the defense. Mijat Kresić took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Sande Spasovski, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Croatia's Ferenc Puskás got a free kick in the 96th minute. Croatia's Mijat Kresić played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Sande Spasovski in the 97th minute of play. Macedonia were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Croatia for a fine match.
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