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 Manolis Pagakis got the match started through his kick off. Veniamin Tsolakidis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Controller Atom, who was totally free with the ball in the 4th minute. If Controller Atom had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 6th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. 10 minutes into the match, U21 Romania's goalkeeper Matei Hirean had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Apostolis Minou. 12 minutes into the game, Ion Oblemenco cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Veniamin Tsolakidis was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. 19 minutes into the match, U21 Romania's goal looked a bit too open when Manolis Pagakis came free, but Matei Hirean reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 20 played minutes U21 Greece got a freekick which was hit by Diogenis Tzouganakis. In the 25th match minute, U21 Greece was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kostas Diamantopoulos to maneuver through the defense. With a little luck, U21 Romania's Matei Hirean got control of the ball when Diogenis Tzouganakis tried to sneak it across the goal line. Matei Hirean made a fantastic save in the 30th minute, when Apostolis Minou sent off a good shot on target. Matei Hirean took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Diogenis Tzouganakis, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, U21 Greece's Kleanthis Gazis got a free kick in the 41st minute. After 43 minutes of play, U21 Romania's Ionică Melinescu made it 0-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Veniamin Tsolakidis was left in no man's land by his defense there! Matei Hirean made a fantastic save in the 46th minute, when Apostolis Minou sent off a good shot on target. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ion Oblemenco to make the kick off. Veniamin Tsolakidis showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ion Oblemenco in the 51st minute of the match. Veniamin Tsolakidis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ionică Melinescu, who was totally free with the ball in the 55th minute. Ernest Nedelcu received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 57th minute. Veniamin Tsolakidis tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. U21 Greece's Veniamin Tsolakidis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ion Oblemenco in the 61st minute of play. In the 62nd minute, Constantin Cârstea hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 63rd match minute, U21 Romania was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Constantin Cârstea to maneuver through the defense. After having played for 64 minutes, Franc Baresi managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Greece's supporters crossed their fingers, but Franc Baresi was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Matei Hirean showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Manolis Pagakis in the 66th minute of the match. In the 71st match minute, U21 Greece was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kostas Diamantopoulos to maneuver through the defense. After 72 played minutes U21 Greece got a freekick which was hit by Kostas Diamantopoulos. After 75 minutes U21 Greece's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Qämbäräliyev Qährämanov who took care of the corner kick. The supporters of U21 Greece booed when U21 Romania was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 75 match minutes in a wonderful position. Controller Atom didn't get a good kick on the ball. If Apostolis Minou had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 81st minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. U21 Romania's Matei Hirean played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Apostolis Minou in the 81st minute of play. Matei Hirean took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Apostolis Minou, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 92 minutes into the match, U21 Romania's goal looked a bit too open when Manolis Pagakis came free, but Matei Hirean reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Veniamin Tsolakidis stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ion Timofte's shot from short distance in the 94th minute. The U21 Greece supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching U21 Romania's performance. The match ended with a win for U21 Romania.