Albania thwart hosts Slovakia
Saturday, May 24, 2008
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Slovakia 2-2 Albania
The points were shared after an entertaining draw between Slovakia and Albania in their second Elite round match.
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Slovakia and Albania shared a point apiece after a 2-2 draw in their second UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round match.
Early strikes
All the goals were scored in the first half with Albania racing into a 2-0 lead before section hosts Slovakia pegged them back. Albania opened the scoring after just eight minutes when Migen Metani struck and seven minutes later they were two up as Erjon Mustafaj, the team's top scorer who had missed the match against Germany due to suspension, doubled the lead.
Fightback
The second goal spurred Slovakia forward with first Michal Jakubjak – in the 27th minute – and then Jakub Sylvestr – in the 41st – striking back to restore parity. Neither side could claim a winner after the break giving Slovakia their second draw from two games and leaving their coach, Bohumil Andrejko, to say: "Two mistakes and we got hurt twice. Those were the only bad moments of our game." His Albania counterpart, Ramadan Shehi, said: "We had a good lead but we couldn't hold on to it. We had a game plan and we tried to stick with it and took one point."