Bulgaria U17 lost 0:1 to the hosts Finland U17 in the last match of Group 8 in the first qualifying round for EURO 2017.
In the first half-time at the “Raahen Urheilupuisto” stadium the home team was more offensive and Hristo Lalev had to intervene and save the shots of Suhonen, Jokelainen and Kiuru. Mitko Mitkov tried to score for Bulgaria but missed the target twice.
At the beginning of the second half-time Hamud had an attempt to put Bulgaria on the lead, but the Finland’s goalkeeper Huuhtanen made a save.
In the 55th minute the hosts opened the score by Jusif Ali.
Five minutes later Gavrilov tried the Finnish goalkeeper’s reflexes but he again managed to save.
Until the very end "lions" had pressed the opponents, but failed to score a goal.
In the standings Bulgaria is third with a total of one win and two matches lost. Winner of the group is Sweden with 9 points, followed by Finland in the second position with 6. Georgia is last without a point.
According to the regulation the top two teams from each pool progress alongside the five third-placed sides with the best record against the leading pair in their groups to the Elite round.
Our team will have to wait for the results of the other groups to see whether they will find a place in the Elite round, which will be played in the spring of 2017.
Goalscoreres: 0:1 Ali (55’)
Yellow cards: Ivo Dimitrov, Iyad Hamud (Bulgaria)
Bulgaria U17: 1. Hristo Lalev (GK), 4. Angel Karakashev (Veselin Veskov, 27’ – Kristiyan Dimitrov, 61’) , 16. Martin Mihyalov, 15. Valentin Ivanov, 2. Ivo Dimitrov, 7. Mitko Mitkov, 10. Lachezar Yordanov, 8. Stefan Gavrilov, 11. Iyad Hamud (Preslav Borukov, 72`), 6. Ilia Gruev – (C), 9. Dzhoshkun Mihaylov
Coach: Aleksandar Georgiev
Finland U17: 1. Huuhtanen (GK), 2. Katz (Jäntti, 71’), 3. Eerola, 4. Kytilä, 6. Oksanen, 7. Tolonen, 9. Jokelainen, 10. Suhonen, 11. Kiuru (C), 14. Pannula (Ali, 49`), 18. Mäntyenen (Hyvärinen, 41`)
Coach: Kimmo Lipponen (FIN)
Referee: Paul Mclaughlin (IRL)
“Raahen Urheilupuisto” stadium, Raahe (Finland)
Department " Public Relations and Media"
