Preview of Moldova Divizia Nationala - 2021/22 Season

July 1, 2021

This week sees the Moldova Divizia Nationala become the first of Europe’s “winter” leagues to commence their 2021/22 season, although top flight football in Moldova appears to be in quite a troubled state.

 

The Moldova Divizia Nationala features only 8 clubs in the new season, playing each other four times for a 28 league campaign rather than the 36 matches in the 10 team 2020/21 division.

Fans of Indian food will be pleased to see FC Balti have been promoted after winning the second level Divizia A, replacing Codru Lozova who won only one match in finishing bottom. Ninth placed Speranta Nisperoni were expelled from the league after failing to turn-up for two matches at the end of the season, but the second placed side in Divizia A, Cahul 2005, did not apply for a licence to play in the Divizia Nationala so will remain in the second level.

The other departure from the top flight was Dacia Buiucani, who despite finishing in 5^th place, voluntarily opted to go back to the second level after only one season, citing financial difficulties.

In addition to all this turmoil, the Moldovan FA announced a 6 points penalty to Floresti for their involvement in on-going investigations into match fixing.

These diaries covered two matches from Moldova in the spring of the 2020/21, including a game between Sheriff Tiraspol and CS Petrocub Hincesti, the two dominant sides in the league last season. That match was one of just four matches Sheriff failed to win out of 36 as they won the league by 16 points ahead of Petrocub for their 19^th title in 21 years. In turn, Petrocub finished 10 points clear of Milsami-Orhei.

Sheriff have been drawn against Albanian champions Teuta Durres in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, with the second leg in Tiraspol whilst in the Europa Conference, Petrocub face North Macedonian side Sileks and Milsami-Orhei face Bosnian side FK Sarajevo.

Fourth placed Sfintul Gheorghe provided a major surprise in winning the 2020/21 Moldovan Cup, holding Sheriff 0-0 after extra-time, and winning the penalty shoot-out 3-2. Their reward is to play Albanians Partizani Tirana in the Europa Conference.

Sfintul Gheorghe followed their Moldovan Cup win with another triumph over Sheriff in the Super Cup new season curtain raiser last week in Balti, with 3,000 spectators in attendance. This time they won the penalty shoot-out 4-2 after a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes, with a 92^nd minute equaliser from new signing Artyom Litviakov from Dinamo-Auto.

 

Sheriff are coached by Ukrainian ex-Shakhtyor Soligorsk coach Yuriy Vernidub and their squad for the Super Cup game included just one new addition from last season’s squad, goal-keeper Georgios Athanasiadis joining on a season long loan from AEK Athens. There were two significant departures though, with 10 goal midfielder Dimitris Kolovos having returned to Panathinaikos at the end of his loan, and Rifet Kapic similiarly returned to Paderborn.

The undoubted star of the Sheriff squad is Colombian forward Frank Castaneda, who contributed 28 goals and 12 assists in 2020/21, and Luxembourg playmaker Sebastien Thill appears to have converted his loan into a permanent transfer.

Sheriff have a very cosmopolitan ensemble, with the starting line-up in the Super Cup featuring just one Moldovan, along with two Brazilians, two Colombians, and players from Greece, Slovenia, Ivory Coast, Peru, Luxembourg and Bosnia. On the substitute’s bench were four Moldovans, 2 players from Malawi and once each from Trinidad and Tobago, Mali and Serbia.

Sfintul Gheorghe also paraded a virtually unchanged squad in the Super Cup, with the only addition being Artyom Litviakov. Veteran Belarus forward Roman Volkov, who has represented 11 clubs in his native land including Slavia Mozyr, Vitebsk and Gorodeya, was their top scorer in 2020/21 with 12 goals. The only other foreigners in their squad are Nigerian defender Aliyu Adam, who is on loan from Latvian side Spartak Jurmala, and Senegalese midfielder Sidy Sagna, who has played in France, Portugal, Georgia and Lithuania and scored with an acrobatic volley in the Super Cup. Veteran midfielder Alexandru Suvorov won 59 caps for Moldova and played in Poland for Cracovia, whilst Mihail Ghecev and captain Vitalie Plamadeala each have one Moldovan cap.

Traditional giants and 8 time champions Zimbru Chisnau have fallen on hard times, and for most of 2020/21 looked to be facing relegation. However, a run of 12 points from their last 10 matches, together with the implosion of Speranta saw them reach the safety of 8^th place.

Neither Petrocub and Milsami-Orhei appear to have any significant departures or additions at this stage, so both they and Sfintul Gheorghe will be hoping to muster some sort of challenge to Sheriff. Striker Vladimir Ambros found the next 16 times for Petrocub, and along with Sergiu Paltica ( 11 goals ) will be key players for them.

Experienced Alexandru Antoniuc contributed 15 goals from midfield for Milsami-Orhei, whilst Artyom Puntus scored 10 times.

Dinamo-Auto, along with Sheriff located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, will be looking for at least another respectable season, and perhaps maybe push for a place in the Europa Conference. International midfielder Maxim Mihailov will be looking to replicate his 12 goals from last year

Fixtures : Round One

Thursday July 1, 2021

FC Floresti vs CS Petrocub Hincesti  ( 18.00 local time/16.00 UK )

Sheriff Tiraspol vs FC Balti ( 20.00 local time/18.00 UK )

Friday July 2, 2021

FC Zimbru Chisinau vs Dinamo Auto ( 18.00 local time/16.00 UK )

FC Milsami-Orhei vs Sfintul Gheorghe ( 20.00 local time/18.00 UK )

All matches in 2020/21 were streamed live on the Moldovan FA YouTube channel ( FMF TV ) as was the Super Cup Final.

 

UEFA Champions League 2021/22 – Preliminary Round

June 22 & 25, 2021

Since the 2018/19 season, UEFA have introduced a preliminary qualifying round to the Champions League whereby the champions of the four lowest ranked countries based on UEFA coefficients enter a play-off competition, with the winner proceeding to the CL first qualifying round, with the 3 losers dropping to the Europa League second qualifying round. From 2021/22 the 3 losers now drop to the Europa Conference second qualifying round.

In 2018 and 2019 the champions of Kosovo, Gibraltar, Andorra and San Marino participated in the preliminary round, and last year the champions of Northern Ireland were forced to enter in place of the champions of Gibraltar.

For 2021/22 the participants were FC Prishtina from Kosovo, Havnar Boltfelag ( HB ) from the Faroe Islands, Inter Club d’Escaldes from Andorra and Folgore from San Marino. The tournament was originally due to be played in the Faroe Islands, but an outbreak of Covid forced the matches to be switched to Albania, with all matches played behind closed doors.

In the semi-finals, Prishtina recorded an 2-0 victory over Folgore, thanks to second half goals from Endrit Krasniqi in the 55^th minute, and substitute Hoti in added on time. However, the Faroes champions HB unexpectedly lost 0-1 to Inter Club d’Escaldes thanks to an acrobatic finished from Betriu in the 60^th minute. Ironically the strong performances of their sides in the 2020/21 European competitions meant that the next champions of the Faroe Islands will not have to participate in the 2022/23 qualifying competition, nor will the Kosovo champions. Instead, the champions of Iceland, Estonia, Andorra and San Marino will be the competitors.

TV coverage by UEFA of the preliminary round has historically been poor, with the semi-finals of the 2020/21 not even being available anywhere, but at least the HB vs Inter Club d’Escaldes match was streamed on the Andorran side’s Facebook page. The final though didn’t seem to be available to watch from the UK via any legitimate means, and highlights have not been posted on any YouTube channel or the UEFA website at the time of writing.

Prishtina had no players in the Kosovo squad for their recent game versus Gambia in June ( a 1-0 win ) but uncapped Albanian born Gledi Mici ( Albanian U17 and ex Flamutari ), Lumbardh Dellova, Endrit Krasniqi & Leonit Abazi ( MF 1 cap ) were selected but withdrawn by their club as apart of their preparation for the CL matches.

The Prishtina squad also includes Leotrim Kreyeziu, who is on loan from Lugano, and Nigerian striker Otto John, who has previously played for Skenderbeu in Albania, and was their top league scorer in 2020/21 with 10 goals. Midfielder Sabien Lilaj has 16 Albanian caps and has previously played for Lokomotiva Zagreb.

Prishtina have won the Kosovo championship a record 11 times although 2020/21 was their first triumph since 2012/13. They finished 2 points clear of previous champions Drita, clinching the title with a game to spare. They play their home matches in the 13,500 capacity Fadil Vokrri stadium, which is also the home of the national team.

Inter Club d’Escaldes played in the 2020/21 CL eliminators but lost 1-2 to Drita from Kosovo, and then subsequently lost to Dundalk in the Europa League. They have no fixed home ground, like all sides in the Andorran Primera Division, matches are spread across the three main stadiums in the country.

Inter had 6 players called-up to Andorra’s most recent national squad – keeper Josep Gomes ( 74 caps ), defender Ildefons Lima ( 41 year old record holder for most caps and goals with 130 caps and 11 goals ), midfielders Marc Pujol ( 95 caps ), Cristian Martinez and Sergi Moreno ( both 72 caps ) and Ludovic Clemente ( 45 caps )

Argentinian defender Frederico Bessone has previously played for Swansea, Millwall, Charlton, Leeds and Swindon amongst others. Most of the rest of their squad is Spanish.

The match was played at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan, Albania’s fourth largest city located around 50km south of the capital Tirana, with the temperature at kick-off of 35 degrees. Bet365 had Prishtina 1-3 favourites, with Inter 9-1 rank outsiders.

Prishtina made three changes from the semi-final Leotrim Bekteshi replaced Bardhoku in the centre of defence, Shabani replaced Congolese Gauthier Makenda in midfield and Mendurim Hoti replaced John upfront. Inter made one change, Gomis coming in for Grau in midfield.

The match went pretty match in accordance with the bookies’ expectations. Endrit Krasniqi again opened the goal scoring, this time on the stroke of half-time, and he wrapped up their victory by adding a second goal in the 58^th minute.

It was the third time in four years that the Kosovan representative has won the mini-tournament and Prishtina have the dubious privilege of playing Ferencvaros in the next round.

Dropping down the Europa Conference, Inter will play the losers of the Champions League First Qualifying round match between Teuta Durres of Albania and Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol .

HB will play the losers between HJK Helsinki or Montenegrin side FK Buducnost, whilst Folgore face a tie against the losers of Flora Tallinn from Estonia or Maltese side Hibernians.

Prishtina : Nika – B.Krasniqi, Bekteshi, Dellova, Mici – Shabani (Makenda ), Boshnjaku, Lilaj ( John ), E. Krasniqi ( Bardhoku ) – Kryeziu, Hoti ( Zyba )

Inter Club d’Escaldes : Gomes – Gallego, Garcia, Bessone ( Lima ), de Nova – Gomis ( Roca ), Betriu ( Parades ), Moreno ( Clemente ), Soldevila, Bosch ( Lao ) - Artigas

 

Belarus Football 2021 - Week 14

June 26, 27 & 28 2021

Midweek saw the start of the last 32 round of the 2021/22 Belarus Cup, where all the Premier League sides travel away to play lower league opposition.

Arsenal beat Smorgon 2-1, although this probably wasn’t considered a shock to many people as Arsenal finished above Smorgon in the Persheya liga last season. Much more of a real shock was Dnepr Mogilev beating 6^th placed FK Minsk 2-1, and Lokomotiv Gomel eliminated 2020/21 Cup finalists Isloch on penalties after a 3-3 draw after extra time.

Basement boys Sputnik needed penalties to get passed third level Partizan Soligorsk after a 2-2 draw, and in perhaps the tie of the round, Neman were reduced to 9 men against high-flying Krumkachy, went a goal behind, equalised in the 95^th minute to force extra-time, and then won the penalty shoot-out. Krumkachy’s coach has since vacated his job.

BATE, Gomel, Energetik, Slavia, Rukh, Slutsk Vitebsk & Dinamo Minsk all progressed to the next round, and the three outstanding ties involving Shakhtyor, Torpedo and Dinamo Brest to be played in early July.

As a result of the Cup matches being played, this week-end’s matches are being played over Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with no matches on Friday evening.

FK Smorgon vs FK Gomel ( Saturday at 14.45 UK time )

Gomel should keep up their unexpected bid for a top 4 finish with a win at struggling Smorgon, who crashed out of the Cup against lower league opposition. 0-2

Result : 1-2. Smorgon again let slip a 1-0 half-time lead at home. Gomel were strangely out of sorts, and their free-flowing attacking football was rarely evident. After surviving a couple of scary moments, Smorgon took the lead in the 22^nd minute, Bondarenko’s slding volley from just outside the area went through a crowd of players, and probably took a deflection, to wrong foot the Gomel keeper. Gomel should have equalised just before half-time, but Yudenkov somehow put the ball over the bar from three yards although team-mate Solovei may have impeded him.

Solovei also prevented another equaliser a minute after half time, standing on the goal-line in front of the Smorgon keeper as Vasyliev prodded home, and rightly being ruled offside. The ball might also have hit him on its way into the net.

Vasyliev did get the equaliser a few minutes later, sending an unstoppable free-kick over the wall, and it was no surprise when Gomel took the lead in the 60^th minute thanks to a smart finish by Vaskov after good play by Pobudey, showing the kind of football Gomel are capable of.

Smorgon came close to an equaliser from two headers from free-kicks but generally lacked a cutting edge to breach the Gomel defence, and Gomel also missed two good chances to add to their lead.

 

FK Slavia Mozyr vs Energetik BGU Minsk ( Saturday at 16.45 UK time )

Energetik’s run of three wins came to an end at FK Minsk last week whilst Slavia will be buoyed by coming back from 0-2 in the last 5 minutes at Neman. This might be a hard watch………….1-1

Result : 2-3. The first half generally lived down to expectations, with Energetik being slightly the better side, and they missed the one good chance. Svirepa headed wide from 6 yards. Just before half-time, the referee adjudged a hand-ball against Energetik and Narh sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot to give Slavia an undeserved lead at the break.

The introduction of mystery Guinean Mamadou Diallo from the bench turned the game in Energetik’s favour, as he scored twice to give the visitors a 2-1 lead by the 60^th minute. The game opened up and improved as a spectacle as chances came at both ends. However, it was Energetik who scored next. Ukrainian substitute Roman Papariga marked his first appearance for the club by taking advantage of more hesitant defending to shoot home from just inside the area.

Slavia did pull a goal back in the 90^th minute, Sliusar drilled home from close to the penalty spot after Energetik had failed to deal with a cross but it was too little too late, and Energetik held on for a deserved victory.

 

Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs Dinamo Brest ( Saturday at 18.45 UK time )

Dinamo might be able to grind out a 0-0 draw to become the first side to avoid defeat against Shakhtyor, but the Champions usually find a way to score at least once. 1-0

Result : 1-1. Dinamo became the first side to prevent Shakhtyor from winning in the league, and it was a deserved point. Nevertheless, after Darboe fired a low cross across the face of the goal to provide Ahmedi with a far post finish in the 17^th minute, it looked like Shakhtyor would ratch-up their 14^th win in a row.

However, Dinamo’s defence stood firm, the floodgates didn’t open and for a long time it looked the score would finish 1-0 as Stepanov twice denied Darboe and Ivanovic hit a post. Then, in the 70^th minute Bilenkyi wormed his way into the Shakhtyor area and his low shot crept inside the near post to level the scores with his 7^th goal of the season

Shakhtyor dominated the closing stages, although Stepanov again saved from Darboe, the Dinamo defence held out fairly comfortably.

 

FK Isloch Minsk vs FK Minsk ( Sunday at 14.00 UK time )

Isloch have taken only 2 points from 6 games since beating Shakhtyor to reach the 2020/21 Cup Final. Minsk have taken 11 points from their last 5 league matches. However, both sides were dumped out of the 2021/22 Cup by lower league sides. 1-1

Result : 1-1. A fair result between two evenly matched sides, with Isloch pressing for the winner in the closing stages.

Minsk took the lead mid-way through the first half, Shramchenko’s left-footed pull-back from the by-line presented Bogomolskiy a simple chance. Isloch squared the match 10 minutes later as Patotskiy’s weak shot with four defenders around him dribbled into the corner of the net.

 

Rukh Brest vs FK Slutsk ( Sunday at 16.00 UK time )

Rukh are unbeaten at home in 7 matches, Slutsk have taken just 2 points away from home in 7 matches. Slutsk to look reasonable again and then lose. 2-1

Result : 1-0. Arguably typical performances from both sides. Slutsk were bright in the first half, and hit the post twice. Rukh looked good for a short spell in the second half, culminating with Laptev’s flicked header from a corner to give them the lead in the 63^rd minute.

Slutsk responded with Alfred shooting across the face of the goal with no-one to put the ball into the empty goal, and they hit the post again through Glebko, Sadovskiy missed a sitter near the end for Rukh but a 0-2 scoreline would have been extremely harsh on Slutsk.

 

BATE Borisov vs Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino ( Sunday at 18.00 UK time )

BATE have won all 8 home matches this season and are keeping the pressure on Shakhtyor with 5 consecutive wins and should overcome mid-table Torpedo. 2-0

Result : 3-0. Although Torpedo started well, once Nekhaychik gave BATE the lead in the 26^th minute from a breakaway, the result never looked in doubt as BATE continued their laudable efforts to stay in touching distance of Shakhtyore in the title race.

Signevich was left free to head home a second for BATE in the 54^th minute, and as Torpedo pushed forward for a consolation goal, Skavysh coolly finished in added on time after being put clear in oceans of space.

FK Sputnik vs FK Vitebsk ( Monday at 16.00 UK time )

Vitebsk returned to type last week-end with their 6^th 0-0 of the season. However, they should be able to break the deadlock against the league’s bottom side. 0-1

Result : 4-3. Wow, what a shocker ! Sputnik, playing for only the second time this season in Rechitsa, had looked totally out of their depth as Vitebsk, without appearing to try too hard went into the break leading 2-0 and it could have been several more. Ksenofontov had been left free for a simple far post tap-in and Rassadkin had athletically powered home a header. When Julio Cesar added a third after some more poor defending three minutes into the second half, a cricket score looked on the cards such was the apparently difference in class.

Kozel beat a lazy offside trap to score what looked to be just a consolation for Sputnik with 27 minutes left on the clock. However, Sputnik were transformed, Fedyanin hit the post and then Kozel added his second with a fine header from a corner. With Vitebsk’s mean defence in panic mode, the unthinkable happened with Kontsedailov sweeping home the equaliser from the edge of the area, although keeper Soroko probably should have done better to stop it. Having scored 6 goals all season, Sputnik had scored three in 10 minutes ! Against a team that had only conceded 8 in 13 games prior to this…….

Vitebsk were shell-shocked, and not knowing whether to stick or twist, a long ball from the Sputnik keeper gave Sputnik a three on one, Volovik had the presence of mind to lay the ball back to Vorobiev rather than go for glory himself, and the substitute calmly placed the ball wide of the scrambling defenders for his first goal of the season to cap an incredible come-back !

 

Neman Grodno vs Dinamo Minsk ( Monday at 18.00 UK time )

After finding more and more ways to drop points, against all odds, 9 man Neman came back to equalise in injury time in the Cup at Krumkachy and then held out to win the penalty shoot-out. Dinamo will be a different matter though, and should take advantage of the gifts on offer in Grodno. 0-1

Result : 1-2. Neman are running out of excuses for losing matches. Here, they quickly fell 0-2 behind to leave them a mountain to climb. Putilo scored twice in the opening 17 minutes, being left totally unmarked to volley home from 12 yards, and then sliding in to steer a cross past the Neman keeper from 6 yards. Shortly after Mbengue went agonisingly close to adding a third, and Lozhkin hit the bar.

Neman didn’t look like getting back into the game but Gribovskiy scored with a brave header with 10 minutes remaining to set-up a potentially tense finish but despite one goalmouth scramble Dinamo were not unduly troubled in holding on to take the three points.

 

 

Summary :

FK Smorgon 1-2 FK Gomel ( att : 520 )
FK Slavia Mozyr 2-3 Energetik BGU Minsk ( att : 2,500 )
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-1 Dinamo Brest ( att : 2,950 )
FK Isloch Minsk 1-1 FK Minsk ( att : 100 )
Rukh Brest 1-0 FK Slutsk ( att : 780 )
BATE Borisov 3-0 Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino ( att : 3,371 )
FK Sputnik 4-3 FK Vitebsk ( att : 750 )
Neman Grodno 1-2 Dinamo Minsk ( att  : 730 )

Highlights :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqVz0Qh48Og

Comments

With Shakhtyor dropping points for the first time, and BATE continuing their relentless pursuit, the gap between the top two is now down to just 5 points, and with Shakhtyor’s next two matches being postponed to assist with their preparations of the Champions League, BATE could well be top of the table by the next time Shakhtyor take to the field in the league.

Below them, wins for Rukh, Gomel and Dinamo Minsk left the pack in the same positions. There were only two movers in the rest of the table, with Energetik, after their win at Slavia, taking them to a comfortable mid-table position, and on a run of 4 wins out of 5.

Sputnik’s incredible come-back win over Vitebsk took them off the bottom, and increased the pressure on Neman, Slavia and Slutsk, who all lost. Smorgon again battled bravely before succumbing to a narrow home defeat.

There were 26 goals, 1 penalty and no red cards. Three of the games attracted over 2,500 spectators, with BATE drawing the highest crowd of the week-end.