National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Robert Levandowsky kicked off to start the match. In the 3rd minute, Januz Oparaku fired away a killer shot towards the goal that, to the delight of Nikolay Bonkov, passed just outside the right post. When Yonko Devendzhiev came up free with the goalie in the 6th minute, the U21 Bulgaria 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 Yonko Devendzhiev couldn't finish the play. Laze Gjoka showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Georgi Asparuhov, who was totally free with the ball in the 7th minute. A collision led to U21 Albania getting a freekick after 15 minutes play. Kristi Abeshi hit a great ball. Through an outstanding action, after 17 minutes, Nikolay Bonkov successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. Nikolay Bonkov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Januz Oparaku in the 17th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Minir Noli in the 19th minute of play forced U21 Bulgaria's goalkeeper Nikolay Bonkov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. U21 Bulgaria's Nikolay Bonkov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Minir Noli in the 23rd minute of play. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Minir Noli in the 24th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Nikolay Bonkov saved U21 Bulgaria from getting behind. U21 Albania's Laze Gjoka played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Robert Levandowsky in the 25th minute of play. Laze Gjoka made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Robert Levandowsky in the 28th minute of play. 34 minutes into the match, U21 Albania's goal looked a bit too open when Robert Levandowsky came free, but Laze Gjoka reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. U21 Albania's Laze Gjoka played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Robert Levandowsky in the 34th minute of play. In the 35th minute Toncho Baylov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Laze Gjoka saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If Robert Levandowsky had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 37th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. A collision led to U21 Bulgaria getting a freekick after 44 minutes play. Delyan Tzenov hit a great ball. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Januz Oparaku was the one to do the kick off. A collision led to U21 Albania getting a freekick after 52 minutes play. Luftëtar Myftiu hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Januz Oparaku in the 54th minute of play forced U21 Bulgaria's goalkeeper Nikolay Bonkov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Georgi Asparuhov blasted a shot towards the goal in the 59th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Laze Gjoka having to make a save. Nikolay Bonkov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Minir Noli in the 61st minute of the match. After having played for 63 minutes, Toncho Baylov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Bulgaria's supporters crossed their fingers, but Toncho Baylov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. The audience was convinced that Georgi Asparuhov's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Laze Gjoka was relentless in the 66th minute of the game. If Dragolyub Pastirov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 70th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Nikolay Bonkov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Minir Noli in the 73rd minute of the match. If Dragolyub Pastirov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 74th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. 76 minutes into the match, U21 Bulgaria's goal looked a bit too open when Minir Noli came free, but Nikolay Bonkov reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Laze Gjoka made an important save on a dangerous shot by Toncho Baylov in the 78th minute. U21 Bulgaria made a substitution. Radko Bezhanski replaced Yonko Devendzhiev. In the 80th minute of the match U21 Bulgaria got a corner. U21 Albania's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Alesandro Nesta ran over to the corner to take the kick. In the 81st minute of the match, Georgi Asparuhov tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Laze Gjoka saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. Laze Gjoka made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Georgi Asparuhov in the 83rd minute of play. Georgi Asparuhov took the ball and in the 85 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Laze Gjoka. Laze Gjoka dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-2. If Frai Shehu had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 88th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Laze Gjoka took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Georgi Asparuhov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. U21 Albania's Laze Gjoka played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Georgi Asparuhov in the 90th minute of play. A collision led to U21 Bulgaria getting a freekick after 92 minutes play. Toncho Baylov hit a great ball. The supporters of U21 Bulgaria booed when U21 Albania was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 95 match minutes in a wonderful position. Luftëtar Myftiu didn't get a good kick on the ball. When the final whistle sounded U21 Bulgaria left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than U21 Albania.