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Abkhazia 3-1 Chameria
By Olaf Jensen
Despite a poor first half, former World Football Cup champions Abkhazia recovered to emerge as 3-1 winners in the first match of the CONIFA Sportsbet.io European Football Cup 2019, against the mountainous backdrop of Askeran.
The match was a physical affair from the beginning, pitting the taller Chamerians against the more robust Abkhazians, and at first Chameria’s fast-paced passing game was too much for their opponents.
Chameria used this height to good advantage, with Kevis Gjeçi beating his marker and narrowly heading over from a corner early in the half.
But it was from one of Chameria’s marauding counter-attacking moves that midfielder Fravjo Prendi tapped in the opener – the first goal of the tournament.
With Chameria dominating the early stages, Abkhazia had to resort to sloppy balls high into the box, which were ably dealt with by captain Feliks Cane and goalkeeper Fatjon Collari.
However, despite their passing game often outwitting the Abkhazians, Chameria’s forwards were lacking an end product – particularly the gangly striker Marko van Basten Çema, who unfortunately failed to live up to his prestigious namesake.
By half-time, Abkhazia were struggling to leave an impression. It didn’t take them long to remedy this.
Within moments of the referee’s whistle, Abkhazia equalised, a powerful headed goal by Dmitry Maskaev leaving the Chamerians completely nonplussed – too confused, evidently, to stop another dramatic run, a low cross into the box by Timur Agrba and another goal tapped in by Shabat Logua. After just three minutes, it was 2-1 to Abkhazia.
The momentum was now with Abkhazia. Viktor Pimpiia and Naskaev combined nicely to trouble the Chamerian defence, and Logua was a fearsome counterattacking presence on the flank.
And it was Logua’s rifled shot that eventually sealed the win for Abkhazia – although it was a stroke of luck that the Chameria free kick that led to the goal kick from which came the goal barely lanced over the crossbar.
Abkhazia’s confidence nearly threatened to derail them: diving in search of a penalty, Timur Agrba was taken off by an enforced substitution from a green card, while Taras Khagba was shown yellow for a bad foul.
But they held on, and despite a late period of pressure by Chameria, including a poor miss inches out by Marko van Basten Çema, Abkhazia’s second-half dominance ensured their 3-1 victory.
Padania 4 – 0 Szekely Land
By Claudio Cavallo
The 2019 European Football Cup began for the former European champions, Padania, and their opponents, Szekely Land, at the newly-opened Martakert Stadium in front of about one thousand fans.
Padania took charge from the start. In the 4th minute, Levente, Szekely Land’s goalkeeper, dove left to save a dangerous free-kick from Corno. But in the corner kick that followed, Padania took the lead with a perfect header from Tignonsini. There was no better start for the captain in what maybe be his last tournament with Padania. In the following minutes, Levente made three crucial saves to keep Szekely Land’s hopes alive. A great chance opened for Corno in the 44th minute. The Padania striker hit the post with a curled shot from inside the box. The first half ended with Padania leading 1-0.
The second half saw Padania looking for added goals, while Szekely Land aimed to strike on counter attacks. Padania’s second goal came in the 52nd minute on a corner kick when Corno, a striker playing in the Italian 4th division, found the net with a left-footed volley. The third goal arrived a few minutes later off a cross from the left. The Szekely Land defenders didn’t clear the ball properly, and Rota scored from inside the box. That was the first goal in the CONIFA Sportsbet.io EFC 2019 for the 42 year old, who has played in every CONIFA tournament. Game over? Not yet. More action was to come. At the 73rd minute, Pinatoni took advantage of a defender’s mistake and dribbled past the keeper but was unable to shoot on target. Padania finally got the fourth goal with a brace for Corno. Szekely Land ended the game with nine men due to a red card given to Arpad, the captain, and a green card given to Botond (by that point Szekely Land had exhausted its available substitutes).
Western Armenia 1 – 2 South Ossetia
By Alun Macer-Wright
South Ossetia opened their Group B campaign with a narrow win over Western Armenia in Martuni.
Before the game, Bako Sahakyan, the President of Artsakh attended the opening ceremony of the renovated Avakyan Arena, and the town came out in great numbers to support its inaugural game.
South Ossetia began the game on the front foot, with lively right-winger Badratz Gurtsiev creating constant problems for the opposition defenders.
It was Gurtsiev who opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, winning a free-kick on the edge of the area, and powering it past the helpless Gevorg Kasparov with the aid of a cruel deflection.
The Western Armenians grew into the game, going close twice in quick succession from a Aztyom Mikaelyan free kick, and a shot which hit the side-netting from a tight angle. Many in the capacity crowd thought it was in.
The second half began in the worst possible way for Western Armenia, as the ever-present Gurtsiev scored with a diving header at the back post after a looping cross.
South Ossetia seemed to be home and dry, but their dogged opponents ensured the second half wouldn’t be an easy ride. David Azin latched on to a through ball and slotted home to give Western Armenia and the partisan fans hope of a turnaround.
It was not to be however, as the South Ossetia goal was peppered with shots, but nothing that could beat the solid Muharbeg Buraev. An often ill-tempered match only saw two yellow cards, for Radion Vazagov of South Ossetia’s late stamp, and Buraev for time-wasting, as they saw out the victory.
The win puts South Ossetia in a good position to qualify from a tough group, while Western Armenia will be desperate for a result against Szekely Land tomorrow to kickstart their campaign.
Artsakh 3 – 2 Sapmi
By Liam Potter
Artsakh opened their 2019 CONIFA Sportsbet.io European Football Cup in style with a 3-2 win over Sapmi. Goals from Karen Shakhkeloyan, Arsen Sagsyen and Dimitry Malyaka secured an historic win for Artsakh under the floodlights in Stepanakert.
The tournament hosts opened the scoring early on through Karen Shakhkeloyan after a fantastic ball from winger Maret Karapetyan. The forward coolly slotted home beyond the Sapmi goalkeeper.
Undeterred, Sapmi fought back in a ferocious game in Stepanakert. They levelled midway through the first half when Benjamin Zakrisson worked space for himself in the area before rifling low into the bottom corner, injuring himself in the process.
The big crowd at the Stepanakert Stadium entertained itself with song, dance, drums and of course, a Mexican wave. As the atmosphere reached its climax, the Artsakh players responded with a flurry of pressure.
That pressure finally counted when Arsen Sagsyen reacted first in the area to drill the ball into the far corner to restore Artsakh’s lead. The stadium was sent into raptures in front of thousands of euphoric Artsakhians. In the first time in Artsakh’s history that the region was able to hold an international football match, they were leading again.
The second half was a fiery affair, with heavy committed challenges entertaining the big crowd. The old floodlights on the stadium flickered on as the sun slowly set behind the Caucasus mountain range but the tempo remained high.
Artsakh had an effort cleared off the line 10 minutes from time as they pushed to settle the game and they got their goal five minutes from the end. Dimitry Malyaka found space in the area to push the ball home and put the game beyond Sapmi and secure the host’s first win of the tournament.
Sapmi grabbed a goal back late on but it was too late as Artsakh strolled to victory.
