National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725,
Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Marcel Gradiček made the kick off which started today's match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Marcel Gradiček in the 3rd minute of play forced U21 Azerbaijan's goalkeeper Ariz Äsädulla to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Bäşir Zaxundov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 6th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Tomislav Kardum having to interfere. In the 7th minute Älämdar Känanov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Tomislav Kardum saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to U21 Croatia getting a freekick after 13 minutes play. Leopold Panda hit a great ball. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Croatia's zone, Älämdar Känanov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Tomislav Kardum came out of the goal and Älämdar Känanov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Stanko Jertec charged in rather forcefully in the 18th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Stanko Jertec the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Stanko Jertec kicked well hit freekick during the 18th minute of the match. 21 minutes into the match, U21 Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Älämdar Känanov came free, but Tomislav Kardum reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 28th minute, Andrej Palković reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Ariz Äsädulla. The goal made the score 1-0. Marcel Gradiček received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 32nd minute. Ariz Äsädulla tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Tärik Qäribov in the 36th minute of play forced U21 Croatia's goalkeeper Tomislav Kardum to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A collision led to U21 Croatia getting a freekick after 37 minutes play. Maksim Delić hit a great ball. In the 44th minute, Älämdar Känanov made a precise shot to the right of Tomislav Kardum. U21 Croatia's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-2. The U21 Croatia players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. U21 Azerbaijan were winning 1-2.
The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Bäşir Zaxundov to strike the kick off in the second half. If Älämdar Känanov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 51st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 54th minute Stanko Jertec shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ariz Äsädulla saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Andrej Palković in the 55th minute of play forced U21 Azerbaijan's goalkeeper Ariz Äsädulla to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the match had gone on for 55 minutes, Marcel Gradiček put it in 2-2 from a short distance just to the right of Ariz Äsädulla. After having played for 58 minutes, Marcel Gradiček managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Croatia's supporters crossed their fingers, but Marcel Gradiček was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 64th minute Šandor Dajčić shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ariz Äsädulla saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to U21 Croatia getting a freekick after 65 minutes play. Andrej Palković hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Šandor Dajčić in the 69th minute of play forced U21 Azerbaijan's goalkeeper Ariz Äsädulla to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ariz Äsädulla took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Tonko Grković, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Tomislav Kardum made an important save on a dangerous shot by Bäşir Zaxundov in the 72nd minute. When U21 Croatia's Marcel Gradiček in the 73rd minute got a chance for a shot 73rd didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye U21 Azerbaijan's goalie prevented a goal. Qağakişi Dünyamaliyev's late challenge caught a U21 Croatia's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Qağakişi Dünyamaliyev helped the player get up and apologised. 76 minutes into the game, Marcel Gradiček cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 3-2. Ariz Äsädulla was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. The audience was convinced that Marcel Gradiček's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Ariz Äsädulla was relentless in the 84th minute of the game. Bäşir Zaxundov struck a weak shot in the 86th minute. Tomislav Kardum didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for U21 Azerbaijan. In the 88th match minute, U21 Azerbaijan was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Bäşir Zaxundov to maneuver through the defense. Älämdar Känanov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 90th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Tomislav Kardum having to interfere. After 93 minutes of play, U21 Croatia's Stanko Jertec made it 4-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ariz Äsädulla was left in no man's land by his defense there! U21 Croatia were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of U21 Azerbaijan for a fine match.
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