© Pool via REUTERS
The debut of North Macedonia in the European Championship ended in defeat, while Austria secured very important three points. The match in Group C started evenly - the Macedonians began the game boldly and did not give up the initiative to the Austrians. However, in the 18th minute after a great Austrian attack, the goal came into the North Macedonian net - Marcel Sabitzer raised the ball into the penalty area, where defender Stefan Lainer closed the great pass and scored a goal. Then in the 28th minute North Macedonia responded, taking advantage of Austrian mistakes near their goal, as Goran Pandev had the opportunity to score and equalize the result. Of course, he did it and the score became 1:1. The first half ended with a 1:1 score, and there were no more real chances, so the result after the first half was quite logical. In the second half, chances were not lacking. Both Austria and North Macedonia had their chances, but the turning point came in the 78th minute, when Michael Gregoritsch scored after a pass from David Alaba, putting Austria ahead 2:1. North Macedonian goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, as in the first goal, did not manage to stop the ball. The match point was scored in the 89th minute by Marko Arnautovic, who scored by rounding the goalkeeper and sending the ball into almost empty net - 3:1. In conclusion, these matches were one of the most interesting in this tournament, the Macedonians definitely left an impression, and Austria did what they had to do - secured 3 points. By the way, this was also Austria's first victory in European Championship history.
