May 7th 2008 Estonia U21 – Luxembourg U21 (Euro U21 Prelim Qual first leg)
This is the first leg of a match-up which will decide which of these two teams will be allowed to enter the Euro U21 Qualifying campaign, throughout next season. Since most of those qualifying matches will probably clash with the senior team’s World Cup qualifying matches, I suppose this isn’t hugely important, but it would still be nice to get through this preliminary round, if only to give the odd Luxembourgian who doesn’t get a senior call up a chance to play for the U21s.
This is the first U21 match for Luxembourg since the start of the game.
Nine players were originally called up for this match, but Jai Wallace was added to the squad later, leaving only Ruggiero at home. All ten players start the match. Birdstadt is captain.
Personal prediction: Luxembourg should win this easily. Hoping for loads of goals.
Play-by-play:
3’ – Harper injures some Estonian.
6’ – Bloodhound sends van der Anders clear, side netting
7’ – weak shot Freeliovic, saved
8’ – good shot Freeliovic, from angle, saved well
9’ – shot van der Anders, side netting again
12’ – corner kick, header vd Anders cleared off the line
18’ – shot Freelio, great save. Wallace blasts rebound over from angle
22’ – shot vd Anders cleared off the line
27’ – corner kick, header van Nistelrooy wide
33’ – Birdstadt blasts over from distance
35’ – 1-0! Both Harper and Jordan missed the ball that made its way into the zone after a free kick from midfield. Estonia’s first time this close to the goal
45’ – 1-1! Freeliovic was sent clear by a nice pass from Birdstadt and doesn’t miss this time.
half time stats
It should have been at least 0-3, but the ball just didn’t want to go in, and then Estonia got lucky. The equalizer came at a good moment though. If Luxembourg can keep dominating, they should still win by a respectable margin.
46’ – long range shot Freelio, way wide
48’ – weak shot McLachlan, saved
49’ – shot Freeliovic, just wide
51’ – long range shot vd Anders, over
53’ – shot Freeliovic from an angle, wide
53’ – shot Freelio blocked into corner
55’ – long range shot Wallace, over
(Luxembourg players start timewasting on throw-ins etc.)
70’ – 1-2! Van der Anders scores from very close range after a killer cross from Wallace
71’ – as a reward, Wallace gets substituted
75’ – 1-3! Deflected 35yrd shot from Freeliovic found the goalie out of position. Ball bobbled into the goal.
77’ – good save Jordan
78’ – free kick Birdstadt over
80’ – McLachlan intercepts in midfield, goes the distance, but shot saved well
83’ – Birdstadt replaced
91’ – cross Bloodhound finds Freelio, header wide
93’ – nice pass vd Anders finds Freelio free close to goal, but saved well
Full time: 1 – 3 Match stats Player stats Line-up
The score could have been much higher, but 1-3 is a good away result. With the obvious difference in strength, Luxembourg should have no trouble in the second leg. That will be played on May 21st, in Luxembourg.
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