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The 2008 European Championship qualifiers kicked off with three matches on Wednesday. Georgia, in the same group as Lithuania, impressively started the tournament by defeating the local team in the Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan fought to a draw in Belgium, and Estonia had a disappointing start at home.
The qualification tournament started in Tallinn, where the first teams to take the field were Estonia and Macedonia. The hosts had the first chance to score, but Kristjan Viikmäe was stopped at the last moment by defender Igor Mitreski. The guests dominated the first half and Ilco Naumoski's header goal was disallowed due to offside, while Estonia's goalkeeper Mart Poom managed to deflect Igor Janevski's attempt.
Although Macedonian goalkeeper Jane Nikolovski had to work at the end of the first half, making a save from Ragnar Klavan's shot, after the break the guests continued to dominate and had two chances to score through Goran Maznov, until eventually, after a dangerous pass from Vlade Lazarevski, Macedonia's captain Goce Sedloski scored. In the final moments of the match, Estonia narrowly escaped defeat, but somehow the goalkeeper managed to deflect Andrey Stepanov's shot, and the header from goalkeeper Mart Poom who came forward was off target.
In the previous European Championship qualifiers, Georgia started with a loss to Switzerland by 4-1, but this time their opponents were the Faroe Islands, and already in the 16th minute Jaba Kankava scored a superb goal, soon followed by Aleksandr Iashvili doubling the lead. In the 37th minute, due to mistakes by defenders, Shota Arveladze added another goal, and after a penalty converted by Levan Kobiashvili, he scored twice more in the second half. The Georgians won 6-0 and achieved the biggest victory in the team's history.
Wednesday evening was also historic for Kazakhstan, who made their championship debut with a goalless draw against Belgium, who had started the second qualifiers cycle unsuccessfully. Although in the 16th minute Daniel Van Buyten almost scored a penalty goal and soon Vincent Kompany's attempt was saved by goalkeeper David Loria.
After the break, guests also had scoring opportunities, but Nurbol Zhumaskaliev struck over the bar from five meters out, while on the other end, D. Loria once again had to save his team from Karel Geraerts' shot. Later, goalkeeper Dmitry Byakov missed a good chance, while Luigi Pieroni, K. Geraerts, Thomas Buffel, and D. Van Buyten failed to capitalize on Kazakhstani goal opportunities. Kazakhstan held on and earned a point in their first match.
Other teams will start the European Championship qualifiers on September 2, with 19 matches taking place, and the 21st match scheduled for September 6. This year there will also be matches played twice on October 7 and 11, and once on November 15.
Wednesday's European Championship qualifying results
Group A
Belgium 0 - 0 Kazakhstan
Group B
Faroe Islands 0 - 6 Georgia 16' [0 - 1] Jaba Kankava 18' [0 - 2] Alexander Iashvili 37' [0 - 3] Shota Arveladze 51' [0 - 4] Levan Kobiashvili (11m.) 62' [0 - 5] Shota Arveladze 82' [0 - 6] Shota Arveladze
Group E
Estonia 0 - 1 Macedonia 73' [0 - 1] Goce Sedloski
