Moldova hit for six by Yugoslavia

Simon Vukcevic scored a hat-trick as Yugoslavia beat debutants Moldova 6-3 in their opening UEFA European Under-17 Championship match at the Nakskov Idræspark today.

Half-time lead
Remarkably, the scoreline was still blank when Milan Purovic gave Yugoslavia the lead after 29 minutes. Alexandr Zislis restored parity in spectacular fashion two minutes before the break, but Vukcevic grabbed a goal almost immediately to restore Yugoslavia's lead and leave Moldova behind at the interval.

Vukcevic the tormentor
Vukcevic was once again Moldova's tormentor soon after the restart, as he tripled his side's tally and heaped more misery on their Balkan neighbours. However, Denis Calincov reduced the deficit two minutes later to give Moldova some hope of a comeback, but it proved to be a false dawn as Purovic made it 4-2 with 57 minutes on the clock.

End-to-end action
A remarkable sequence of end-to-end action ensued, with Perica Stanceski adding to Yugoslavia's lead in the 69th minute. Calincov once more threw Moldova a lifeline when he scored two minutes later but there was no way back when Vukcevic crowned a brilliant performance by completing his hat-trick with four minutes remaining.