Stojkov shoots down Armenia
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Article summary
F.Y.R. Macedonia 4-0 Armenia Aco Stojkov's hat-trick ends a three-year wait for a competitive win.
Article body
Took control
The home side had not won a competitive U21 match since June 2001, but they took control in the early stages of the Group 1 tie and never looked back after Aco Stojkov had opened the scoring on 27 minutes.
Hat-trick complete
On the half-hour Darko Tasevski set up Stojkov to double the lead and after Goran Todorcev had struck the third from outside the area on 48 minutes, Stojkov completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot with three minutes remaining. The Macedonians now hold the early advantage in a group where Romania, their next opponents on 3 September, beat Finland 1-0 yesterday.
Next fixture
Armenia will hope to revive their bid for one of the two play-off places on offer when they welcome Finland on 8 September, by which time the Czech Republic and the Netherlands will also have begun their campaigns in the six-team group.