Intertoto Cup 2008

[BadBlueDeliquent]

Good that matches in Intertoto aren't part of country's coefficient.

[Finidi]

Cracovia-Shaktyor Soligorsk:

[EDI]

Renova I realy know balkan footbal scene but I never heard fot this club, and i was expecting easy victory and we playes so awfull If we dont beat them in Macedonia it will be anather emberasing for croatian football

[BadBlueDeliquent]

Croatian? Leave Dinamo out of that "emberasing games"... We aren't those who lose vs Shelbourne, Debrecen, Tirana, Omonia and similar "world wide teams".

[EDI]

haha, very funny, what did dinamo achieved, you have your mafioso boss, biggest budget in country, you get from Bandic money that is equal to intire Rijeka budget, you had edurado, corluka, modric and you lost from auxerre who was almost relegated in league that season, year later you had pokrivac, vukojevic, modric, mandjukic( all croatian nat. tam players) and you couldnt beat average teams like basel, rennes and brann

[ApoelUltras]

Bohemian FC 5-1 Rhyl FC

Bohemians secured a comfortable home win against their Welsh visitors. Notably, the Dublin side conceded first, with defender Ken Oman turning the ball into his own net on 25 minutes. But five goals in the second half, with Jason Byrne, Owen Heary, Killian Brennan, Neale Fen and Glen Crowe on target, secured an emphatic win.

Hibernians FC 0-3 NK Gorica

Despite temperatures soaring to 31C in Malta, Gorica went a long way to ensuring their progress to the second round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup with a comprehensive away win against Hibernians. Etien Velikonja struck late in the first half before Goran Cvijanovič added another on 57 minutes and Velikonja doubled his tally two minutes later.

KS Besa 0-0 Ethnikos Achnas FC

Cypriot side Ethnikos secured a clean sheet in their trip to Tirana to face Albania's Besa. The home side had the best chance of the match when Artim Sakiri hit the post on 34 minutes.

NK Čelik 3-2 OFK Grbalj

Danko Pavičević's stoppage-time strike for Montenegrin side Grbalj ensured this tie is far from over. Čelik, of Bosnia-Herzegovina, held a 3-1 lead going at the end of regular time, thanks to goals from Mahir Karić, Emir Hadžić – from the penalty spot – and Zoran Novaković, after Marko Kasalica had opened the scoring for the visitors on seven minutes. But Grbalj grabbed a lifeline in the 92nd minute when Pavičević found the net.

HNK Rijeka 0-0 FK Renova

F.Y.R. Macedonia's Renova denied Rijeka an opening victory at will now aim to defeat the Croatian side at their Gradski home. The match was Renova's first-ever in a UEFA club competition.

FC MIKA 2-2 FC Tiraspol

Armenia's Mika were held to a home draw on their UEFA Intertoto Cup debut against Tiraspol of Moldova. Mika carried a two-goal lead into the interval with Khoren Veranyan and Stepan Hakobyan having found the net. But Tiraspol refused to accept defeat and launched a second-half comeback to secure a draw with Kyrylo Sydorenko converting a penalty on the hour before Serghei Namasco levelled 15 minutes from time.

PFC Neftçi 2-0 FC Nitra

Rashad Sadykhov scoredtwice in the opening ten minutes at the Tofikh Bakhramov-Republic Stadium in Baku to hand give Azerbaijan's Neftçi a two-goal advantage going into the second leg against Slovakia's Nitra.

MKS Cracovia Kraków 1-2 FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk

Belarussian team Shakhtyor produced an impressive second-half fightback to secure victory against their Polish hosts. Pawel Nowak shot the Polish side in front early in the opening period, but Shakhtyor upped their performance in the latter stages of the game, equalising on 69 minutes through Andrei Leonchik, before Aleksandr Bychanok's goal edged them into the lead four minutes later.

FC Etzella Ettelbrück 0-0 FC Lokomotiv Tbilisi

Luxembourg's Etzella held their Georgian visitors and had the best chance of the match when Alphonse Leweck hit the post on 65 minutes. It was both sides' first taste of UEFA Intertoto Cup football.

Lisburn Distillery FC 2-3 FC TPS Turku

Finnish side Turku have given themselves a strong chance of progressing after they came back from a goal down to win in Northern Ireland. Darren Armour's goal edged Distillery in front from close range three minutes from the interval, but Aristides Pertot struck twice and a Mika Aaritalo goal put Turku back in control. Armour gave Distillery hope for the second leg when he converted from the penalty spot in injury time.

FK Riga 1-2 Fylkir

Icelandic side Fylkir secured a win in Latvia thanks to goals from Valur Gislason and Peter Gravesen on 26 and 70 minutes respectively. Riga pulled one back ten minutes from time when Estonian midfielder Jevgeni Novikov found the net, but Fylkir will aim to complete the job on home soil on Saturday.

Sunday matches:

FK Ekranas v JK Trans Narva
HB Tórshavn v IF Elfsborg
FC Zhetysu Taldykorgan v Budapest Honvéd FC

[Viennese]

Sunday matches
06-22 FT Ekranas 1-0 Trans Narva
06-22 FT HB Tórshavn 1-4 Elfsborg
06-22 FT Zhetysu Taldykorgan 1-2 Budapest Honved

[ApoelUltras]

Ethnikos Achnas FC can dream of another UEFA Intertoto Cup miracle after a 0-0 draw in the away leg of their first round tie against KS Besa.

Famous run

Under their new coach, former Belgian international defender Stéphane Demol, Ethnikos earned a 0-0 draw in Tirana on Saturday to ignite hopes that they might repeat their famous 2006 achievement. Then they overcame FK Partizani of Albania, Croatia's NK Osijek and Israeli side Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC to progress to the UEFA Cup. They become the first and only Cypriot football club to ever win an official UEFA European competition, and they did not stop there. Svetoza Sapurić's men then embarked on yet another impressive run in the UEFA Cup knocking out Belgian outfit KSV Roeselare thanks to an emphatic 5-0 win in Nicosia, before finally being pipped to the group stages by French side RC Lens.

Missed chances

As Ethnikos prepare for the home leg of their tie against Besa at the Dhasaki Stadium on Saturday, the 42-year-old Demol remained cautious. "Besa are a good side and we will need to work very hard if we want to move into the next round," he said. His side missed chances in Tirana, but so did Besa, who also hit the post in the first half. Besa coach Iljaz Haxhiraj gave credit to Ethinkos custodian Panayiotis Charalambous for keeping his side at bay in the first leg. "The draw was mostly due to the Ethnikos goalkeeper," he said. "We could have scored a goal which would have set us up nicely for the return leg. We will not give up the fight because we are still in with a shout of going through. The game is still open for both sides."

[gczuri]

Ethnikos Achnas FC can dream of another UEFA Intertoto Cup miracle after a 0-0 draw in the away leg of their first round tie against KS Besa.

Famous run

Under their new coach, former Belgian international defender Stéphane Demol, Ethnikos earned a 0-0 draw in Tirana on Saturday to ignite hopes that they might repeat their famous 2006 achievement. Then they overcame FK Partizani of Albania, Croatia's NK Osijek and Israeli side Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC to progress to the UEFA Cup. They become the first and only Cypriot football club to ever win an official UEFA European competition, and they did not stop there. Svetoza Sapurić's men then embarked on yet another impressive run in the UEFA Cup knocking out Belgian outfit KSV Roeselare thanks to an emphatic 5-0 win in Nicosia, before finally being pipped to the group stages by French side RC Lens.

Missed chances

As Ethnikos prepare for the home leg of their tie against Besa at the Dhasaki Stadium on Saturday, the 42-year-old Demol remained cautious. "Besa are a good side and we will need to work very hard if we want to move into the next round," he said. His side missed chances in Tirana, but so did Besa, who also hit the post in the first half. Besa coach Iljaz Haxhiraj gave credit to Ethinkos custodian Panayiotis Charalambous for keeping his side at bay in the first leg. "The draw was mostly due to the Ethnikos goalkeeper," he said. "We could have scored a goal which would have set us up nicely for the return leg. We will not give up the fight because we are still in with a shout of going through. The game is still open for both sides."

hope they winn today!!

[Finidi]

Agg. » First leg » Second leg
MIKA 2-2 Tiraspol (ag) 2-2 » 0-0
Etzella (ag) 2-2 Lokomotivi Tbilisi 0-0 » 2-2
Neftçi (ag) 3-3 Nitra 2-0 » 1-3
Hibernians 0-3 Gorica 0-3 » 0-0
Rijeka 0-2 Renova 0-0 » 0-2
Čelik 4-4 Grbalj (ag) 3-2 » 1-2
Bohemians 9-3 Rhyl 5-1 » 4-2
Besa (ag) 1-1 Ethnikos Achnas 0-0 » 1-1
Lisburn 3-6 TPS 2-3 » 1-3
FK Rīga 3-2 Fylkir 1-2 » 2-0
Cracovia 1-5 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-2 » 0-3
Zhetysu 3-6 Honvéd 1-2 » 2-4
HB 1-4 Elfsborg 1-4 » 0-0
Ekranas 4-0 Trans 1-0 » 3-0

[gczuri]

Besa (ag) 1-1 Ethnikos Achnas 0-0 » 1-1

I hoped to go to Zyprus but anyway...a journey to albania will be funny as well.

[ApoelUltras]

The first round of European competition this season was completed over the weekend with FK Renova and FC Etzella Ettelbrück making little bits of history and FK Rīga turning their tie on its head in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. The 14 qualifiers already know their opponents in the second round, scheduled for 5/6 and 12/13 July, as they compete for the eleven UEFA Cup second qualifying round berths.

FK Renova 2-0 HNK Rijeka (agg: 2-0)
F.Y.R Macedonia's representatives recorded the most notable victory in the club's history as they progressed in their first tie in UEFA club competition. They made the perfect start on four minutes when Zvonimir Stankovic's corner was headed in by Genc Iseni for their first goal in the European arena. Renova were quickly into their stride after the interval too as Besart Ibraimi played in Iseni for his second within a minute of the restart. Bnei Sakhnin FC of Israel provide Renova's next challenge.

Fylkir 0-2 FK Rīga (agg: 2-3)
The Latvian visitors became the only team at this stage to overturn a first-leg home defeat as they recovered from a 2-1 loss in the opening meeting to progress in Reykjavik. Rīga's attacking outlook provided early dividends when Mindaugas Kalonas scored on seven minutes and the same player added another in the second half to complete a notable turnaround and earn a second round date with the Republic of Ireland's Bohemian FC.

Rhyl FC 2-4 Bohemian FC (agg: 3-9)
The Irish outfit went on another goal spree at the expense of the Welsh side to ease through to the tie against Rīga. All the goals came in the first half with the Dublin club scoring their first on 28 minutes via a Stephen O'Donnell chip before adding two more in the space of five minutes from Jason Byrne's penalty and a Jason McGuiness header. Mark Connelly reduced the arrears with a quickfire double, in the 37th and 41st minutes, before Harpal Singh finished off a slick passing move to complete the scoring.

NK Gorica 0-0 Hibernians FC (agg: 3-0)
The two sides produced an uninspiring match in Nova Gorica with the tie effectively over after the first leg. The Maltese visitors' best chance came in the first half when Andrew Cohen had a fine effort on goal but the hosts responded with Milan Osterc going close. In the second half, Goran Cvijanovič and Dario Smitran had notable chances as the game ended goalless and the Slovenian club now face Bulgarian side PFC Chernomorets Burgas in the next round.

FC TPS Turku 3-1 Lisburn Distillery FC (agg: 6-3)
The Finnish hopefuls secured a comfortable aggregate win over their Northern Irish counterparts after winning against them for a second time. Mika Ääritalo shot the home side ahead just before the interval and Mikko Paatelainen scored the second with 15 minutes to play. Gary Browne earned a late consolation for the visitors from the penalty spot before Armand One wrapped up the tie and a meeting with Odense BK in the second round.

Budapest Honvéd FC 4-2 FC Zhetysu Taldykorgan (agg: 6-3)
The Hungarian team secured their place in the next phase with a routine home win against the Kazakh side. Honvéd dominated the first half and took a 2-0 lead with goals from Genita and Mico Smiljanic. Zhetysu put the contest back in the balance when Vladislav Kisselev scored twice after the break but Guie Gneki Abraham and László Bojtor confirmed Honvéd's qualification, and they now meet Czech outfit FK Teplice.

FC Lokomotiv Tbilisi 2-2 FC Etzella Ettelbrück (agg: 2-2, Ettelbrück win on away goals)
Etzella made a little bit of history as in the last UEFA Intertoto Cup they became the first side from Luxembourg to progress in the competition. After a goalless first encounter, the Georgian side could ill afford to concede an away goal but did so on 21 minutes when goalkeeper Zurab Batiashvili was beaten by Claudio Da Luz from the close range. Irakli Chirikashvili made full use of Vitali Daraselia's marvellous assist to equalise quickly and, two minutes later, Daraselia found Rati Aleksidze to make it 2-1 to the hosts from ten meters. However, with ten minutes remaining, Fons Leweck scored the priceless second away goal for the guests that booked a contest with Russia's FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast.

FC Tiraspol 0-0 FC MIKA (agg: 2-2, Tiraspol win on away goals)
A goalless draw in Moldova was enough for Tiraspol to edge out Armenian side MIKA on away goals after a 2-2 draw in the first leg. The visitors were left ruing the squandering of a two-goal advantage in the first meeting of the sides as Tiraspol confirmed a second-round berth against Ukraine's SC Tavriya Simferopol.

Ethnikos Achnas FC 1-1 KS Besa (agg: 1-1, Besa win on away goals)
Liridon Leci was the hero for the Albanian side after his added-time equaliser sent their Cypriot hosts out of the competition. The 2006 Intertoto Cup winners were punished for their profligacy in front of goal despite taking the lead after 57 minutes when Greek signing Dimosthenis Manousakis scored a debut goal after Eleftherakis Eleftheriou's header was parried. The visitors did not buckle, though, and two minutes into additional time Eduardo Angeli's clearance fell to Leci and the 23-year-old forward beat Panayiotis Charalambous with powerful strike. Besa will now face Swiss side Grasshopper-Club.

FC Nitra 3-1 PFC Neftçi (agg: 3-3, Neftçi win on away goals)
A goal from substitute Jose Karlos six minutes from time helped the Azerbaijan team survive. The Slovakian side levelled the tie one minute after the break via defender Adrián Čeman's header and when Róbert Semeník scored his second seven minutes from time the hosts were set to progress. But Karlos had other ideas and Neftçi now take on Belgium's KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen.

JK Trans Narva 0-3 FK Ekranas (agg: 0-4)
The visitors sailed to a comfortable victory at the rainy A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn to earn a second-round shot against Norwegian contenders Rosenborg BK. The 36-year-old Deimantas Bička was again on target from the penalty spot after 34 minutes, Valdas Trakys doubled the lead immediately with a powerful volley, and Dušan Matovic flicked in Bička's late free-kick to sew up a resounding win.

OFK Grbalj 2-1 NK Čelik (agg: 4-4, Grbalj win on away goals)
A fifth side required away goals to progress as the Montenegrin outfit won in Nikšić despite falling behind to Emir Hadžić strike on 17 minutes. Darko Pavićević equalised from a Predrag Videkanić cross just after the break before Marko Kasalica scored the defining goal to set up an intriguing tie with Turkish side Sivasspor.

IF Elfsborg 0-0 HB Tórshavn (agg: 4-1)
A convincing success in the first meeting had all but ensured the Swedish side, who reached the UEFA Cup group stage last season, would face Scotland's Hibernian FC in round two and the outfit from the Faroe Islands were unable to make a dent in their first-leg deficit.

FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3-0 MKS Cracovia Kraków (agg: 5-1)
A second success in the tie ensured a trouble-free passage to the next round, where Austrian outfit SK Sturm Graz await, for the Belarussians. Siarhei Kavalchuk's penalty on 70 minutes ended the Polish side's resistance, Sergei Krot and Sergei Nikiforenko added further efforts in added time while Marcin Cabaj was dismissed for the visitors as they bowed out.

[hasan1903]

Rijeka 0-2 Renova 0-0 » 0-2
Čelik 4-4 Grbalj (ag) 3-2 » 1-2
Cracovia 1-5 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-2 » 0-3

Really suprised at these 3 results. İ espesially wanted Celik to go through because they have to play Sivas in the next round. it would have been interesting to see them.

[ApoelUltras]

Second round

Grasshoppers - Besa
Teplice - Honvéd
Chernomorets Burgas - Gorica
Germinal Beerschot - Neftçi
Saturn - Etzella
Sturm - Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Grbalj - Sivasspor
Tiraspol - Tavriya
Hibernian - Elfsborg
FK Rīga - Bohemians
Renova - Bnei Sakhnin
Ekranas - Rosenborg
OFK - Panionios
TPS - OB

[ApoelUltras]

Saturday, July 05

European debutants FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast took the scoring honours with seven, but perhaps the most notable results were those recorded by the underdogs from Azerbaijan and Albania. PFC Neftçi and KS Besa gave their hosts, in Belgium and Switzerland respectively, a tough time to leave everything to play for when the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round concludes on 12/13 July.

Grasshopper-Club 2-1 KS Besa
Herby Fortunat's 83rd-minute goal for Albanian side Besa compounded a frustrating 90 minutes for Grasshoppers, leaving the tie in the balance. The Swiss team, playing in Wohlen rather than in Zurich, finally broke through a stubborn visiting defence when Senad Lulić scored after 66 and 79 minutes. But a rare Besa attack reduced the advantage, as Fortunat silenced the crowd with seven minutes remaining.

FK Teplice 1-3 Budapest Honvéd FC
Honvéd took a two-goal lead back to Hungary after punishing their Czech hosts with a couple of late counterattacks. SK Slavia Praha reject Zoltán Hercegfalvi struck first at the Na Stínadlech stadium. Teplice equalised after half-time through Petr Lukáš and subsequently dominated, only to be undone on the break – Abraham Guie and Abbas Diang scoring after 81 and 90 minutes respectively.

PFC Chernomorets Burgas 1-1 NK Gorica
There was little to separate the sides at Sofia's Vasil Levski National Stadium as Chernomorets and Gorica traded goals in an eight-minute spell soon after the interval. Veteran striker Milan Osterc put the Slovenian visitors ahead, but that was cancelled out by Mishel's 65th-minute strike for the Bulgarian contenders. Gorica finished with ten men after goalkeeper Vasja Šimčič was red-carded for handling outside the area.

KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen 1-1 PFC Neftçi
A 31st-minute equaliser by Giorgi Adamia frustrated Germinal Beerschot as the Belgian club were held at home by Azerbaijani opponents Neftçi. The game seemed to be going to script when Sanharib Malki broke the deadlock after 18 minutes. However, the Neftçi equaliser shocked the Olympisch stadium in Antwerp, and Didier Dheedene wasted the hosts' best chance of redemption on the hour.

FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast 7-0 FC Etzella Ettelbrück
Former Russian international striker Dmitri Kirichenko was the hero in Ramenskoye, scoring four times in a comprehensive defeat of the visitors from Luxembourg. European debutants Saturn put at least one foot into the third round – and a meeting with VfB Stuttgart – thanks to Kirichenko's two goals in each half, including a second-minute opener. Benoît Angbwa, Marko Topic and Alexey Ivanov were also on target.

SK Sturm Graz 2-0 FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk
The Austrian club delivered a winning performance, if not a knockout blow to their Belarussian rivals, thanks to goals from Ferdinand Feldhofer and Mario Kienzl at the Arnold Schwarzenegger stadium. Feldhofer found a way through the Shakhtyor defence shortly before the break, then Kienzl doubled the advantage in the 54th minute. The visitors barely threatened to reduce arrears, leaving them with an uphill task for the return leg.

OFK Grbalj 2-2 Sivasspor
A frantic first half saw four goals and two sendings-off as Turkish European debutants Sivasspor took a draw from their trip to Montenegro's Grbalj. Sivasspor scored first and last in Niksic, both times through Mehmet Yıldız, but Grbalj were less than accommodating hosts and their response came via two Ivica Francisković free-kicks. Sivasspor keeper Akin Vardar saw red after 30 minutes, only for the numerical advantage to be annulled by the 38th-minute dismissal of Grbalj defender Goran Grujić.

FC Tiraspol 0-0 SC Tavriya Simferopol
Tiraspol No1 Serghei Juric took the plaudits after the Moldovan outfit restricted Ukrainian visitors Tavriya to a goalless draw at the Sheriff stadium. Lucky Idahor failed to live up to his name when he wasted Tavriya's best opportunity, a one-on-one with Juric after 40 minutes. Tiraspol continued to resist all advances in the second half, staying in with a chance of meeting Stade Rennais FC in the third round.

--

Sunday, July 06

Hibernian - Elfsborg
FK Rīga - Bohemians
Renova - Bnei Sakhnin
Ekranas - Rosenborg
OFK - Panionios
TPS - OB