Skopje opener attracts record crowd

The ten-year record for the highest attendance at a UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship game was broken on Monday when a crowd of 8,000 turned out for the 2009/10 opener between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Spain.

The partisan supporters were ultimately left disappointed as the hosts were buried by a blizzard of late goals, Spain running out 6-0 victors at the National Arena Filip II of Macedonia. There was some consolation when the attendance was announced, a crowd of 8,000 beating the previous mark of 6,002, set when Germany overcame Finland 3-0 in Ludwigshafen in a qualifier for the 1999/00 U18 competition.

The best for a final tournament had stood at 5,000, set as Switzerland defeated Belarus in Borisov last year in a tournament when the competition record books were rewritten. An aggregate of over 40,000 spectators turned out throughout the tournament, almost tripling the previous best of 14,773 set in 2006. Some 10,450 turned out for the first round of games in FYROM.