Bosnia and Herzegovina stunned by Cyprus
Saturday, November 12, 2011
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Cyprus 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cyprus dented Bosnia and Herzegovina's qualifying prospects after completing a dramatic win with the help of Slavko Brekalo's own goal.
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Cyprus dented Bosnia and Herzegovina's prospects of qualifying for the UEFA European Under-21 Championships after completing their second Group 1 success of the campaign.
In an open and engaging game Cyprus recovered from conceding Miroslav Stevanović's 46th-minute opening goal with Nestor Mytidis's equaliser and a late own goal by Slavko Brekalo.
The match may have turned out differently had Stevanović opened the scoring on 34 minutes, instead of hitting the bar, while Goran Zakarić was similarly frustrated when he rifled the rebound against a post. However, the visiting No8 broke the deadlock (47), Josip Kvesić's cross deflecting off the crossbar into the path of the midfielder, who scored from close range.
Savvas Paraskevas's charges were soon pegged back when Emilios Panagiotou's inswinging corner was headed against the bar by Georgios Economides and Mytidis buried the rebound. Boosted by the leveller Cyprus captain Valentinos Sielis and substitute Andreas Alkiviadou both had shots saved by Tino Divković.
The goalkeeper could do little about the fortuitous winner that sailed over his head with two minutes to go, though, a breakdown in communication resulting in Brekalo lobbing the advancing No12 with an attempted back-header. Cyprus's second victory of the campaign takes them to within a point of their defeated fourth-placed opponents, who have seven points from five matches.