National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10302 (Terracing: 7727, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Trim Bardhi took the kick off in the first half of the match. Trim Bardhi fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 3rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Antonis Karaveris having to interfere. Dragoljub Despotovski showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alkaios Manaras in the 4th minute of the match. 6 minutes into the match, Macedonia's goal looked a bit too open when Alkaios Manaras came free, but Dragoljub Despotovski reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Antonis Karaveris showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Dalin Sofroniev in the 7th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Trim Bardhi in the 9th minute of play forced Greece's goalkeeper Antonis Karaveris to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 10 minutes had been played when some careless play by Greece's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Dalin Sofroniev was slow to take the kick. During this time Macedonia's players had a chance to rest. Dragoljub Despotovski came out of the goal in the 14th minute to try and stop a shot by Greece's Alexandros Leras. But to his dismay, Alexandros Leras quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. Dragoljub Despotovski didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alkaios Manaras went, in the 17th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-2 was the resulting score. With a little luck, Greece's Antonis Karaveris got control of the ball when Trim Bardhi tried to sneak it across the goal line. The audience was convinced that Trim Bardhi's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Antonis Karaveris was relentless in the 27th minute of the game. Antonis Karaveris took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Trim Bardhi, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 35th minute, Kostas Megalios 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 some careless play in the Macedonia defense, Alexandros Leras kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Dragoljub Despotovski. The Macedonia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Dragoljub Despotovski should have stopped the shot. Dragoljub Despotovski didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alkaios Manaras went, in the 46th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-4 was the resulting score. Disappointed in the 1-4 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

Macedonia made a substitution. Sande Spasovski replaced Simon Lefkovski. The audience thought a goal was coming when Alkaios Manaras got free with Dragoljub Despotovski in the 53rd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Alkaios Manaras could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 54th minute of the match, but Dragoljub Despotovski made a huge save. In the 55th minute, Trim Bardhi 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. Greece's Antonis Karaveris played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Trim Bardhi in the 61st minute of play. In the 75th minute Alkaios Manaras 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. When the match had gone on for 77 minutes, Alkaios Manaras took a quick shot and it went in 1-5 without a chance for Dragoljub Despotovski to make any attempt to save it. Greece's Pavlos Stefanatos was substituted for Vaios Chionidis. Greece made a substitution. Giorgos Sideris replaced Alkaios Manaras. In the 81st minute Trim Bardhi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Antonis Karaveris saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Macedonia's Dragoljub Despotovski proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 83rd minute of the match, managed to save Macedonia from getting a goal against them. If Trim Bardhi had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 84th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Dragoljub Despotovski made a fantastic save in the 87th minute, when Giorgos Sideris sent off a good shot on target. Alexandros Leras scored 1-6 in the 91st match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Dragoljub Despotovski, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. When Dalin Sofroniev fell near the penalty area in the 96th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Macedonia's protests and gave Dalin Sofroniev a yellow card for diving instead. Dalin Sofroniev kicked well hit freekick during the 96th minute of the match. If Giorgos Sideris had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 97th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The Macedonia supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Greece's performance. The match ended with a win for Greece.