Europa Conference League 1st Qualifying Round, 1st legs
* = seeded team

July 12

F91 Diddeleng (LUX)* v Saint Patrick's Athletic FC (IRL) 2-1 (1-0)
(van Lingen 24', Roemer 61'; Doyle 90'+3)

Two well-taken goals by Dutch-born players gave Düdelingen the seemingly
unassailable lead, but an awful mistake by their defender Vincent Decker who
failed to clear an absolutely harmless cross allowed the Irish to pull one back at
the death.

B36 (FAR)* v Paide Linnameeskond (EST) 0-0 (0-0)

Paide already nil-nilled their way into the third qualification round last
year, so maybe they'll manage to do something similar this season as well.

July 13

FC Tobol (KAZ)* v FC Honka (FIN) 2-1 (0-1)
(Vukadinović 62', 75'; Kaufmann 39')

Brazilian in the North Lucas Kaufmann gave Honka the lead with a nice shot from
distance: https://media.giphy.com/media/8QCgqJ5mziatN4dt1W/giphy.gif
but Serbian winger Miljan Vukadinović (I'm starting to think I'm going to need an
acronym as well for all those footballers from ex-Yugoslavia plying their trade in
the far reaches of UEFA's sphere of influence) first equalised with a precise
effort from the edge of the box and then took advantage of a massive cock-up by
the Finnish defence: https://media.giphy.com/media/hAx1GJsrNq8zDgfWIR/giphy..gif

FC Ararat-Armenia (ARM)* v KF Egnatia (ALB) 1-1 (1-0)
(Alemão 36'; Dwamena 90'+7)

In their European debut, Egnatia from the small central Albanian city of
Rrogozhina (and named after the ancient Roman road between Rome and Constantinople
that once ran through the area) fell behind when Brazilian in the East Guilherme
António de Souza called Alemão headed in a corner kick, but deep in stoppage time
they got the equaliser likewise after a corner kick. Have a look at the ensuing
celebrations and see whether these early European rounds are of no importance to
the teams involved: https://media.giphy.com/media/zgU5OnO02dpyL2XlMb/giphy.gif

Goalscorer Raphael Dwamena has had an interesting career trajectory, five years
ago the Ghanaian looked like quite the promising striker first in Red Bull's youth
setup in Austria and then in Switzerland, but a hereditary heart condition (like
Christian Eriksen he's playing with an implanted defibrillator) derailed his
career, and after he had collapsed on the pitch in an Austrian second league match
two years ago it appeared like his playing days were over for good.

So, on one hand it's really nice to see him successfully relaunch his career in
the Albanian league where he finished as one of the top scorers last season, but
I also sincerely hope that he's been given the green light to play only after
really rigorous medical checks.

Inter Club d'Escaldes (AND)* v Víkingur (FAR) 2-1 (2-0)
(Feher 28', El Haddadi 45'+1; Vatnhamar 59' (pen))

A bit disappointing from my favourite Vikings to fall behind to headers by Inter's
Romanian centre-back Raul Feher and longtime former Segunda B striker Ander El
Haddadi, but at least good old Sølvi Vatnhamar (his younger brother Gunnar has in
the meantime quite literally jumped ship and transferred from Víkingur in Gøta to
Víkingur in Reykjavík) managed to halve the deficit thanks to a handball penalty.

Wins like these are what allow Andorra to be fully in the mix as far as the fight
to get out of the bottom five in the UEFA ranking is concerned (and so have four
instead of just three European entries). In that regard, it really is only San
Marino that's indeed kind of hopeless.

FC Pyunik (ARM)* v JK Narva Trans (EST) 2-0 (0-0)
(Juričić 65', James 88')

Bosnian striker Luka Juričić headed in Hovhannes Harutyunyan's cross, and late on
a mishit cross by Brazilian in the East James Santos left Narva keeper Kraizmer
with egg on his face: https://media.giphy.com/media/HYkUufehGeEOS37oyb/giphy.gif

MŠK Žilina (SLK) v FCI Levadia (EST)* 2-1 (1-0)
(Ďuriš 7', Myslovič 90'+3 (pen); Agyiri 51')

Žilina, who are known for relying fully on their youth setup, got the early lead
thanks to Dávid Ďuriš (as far as I can tell no relation to former Slovak
international striker Michal Ďuriš) and his solo run into the box, but young
players can make egregious mistakes, too - 19-year-old Mário Sauer, minutes after
having come on as a half-time substitute, completely misjudged a cross meeting it
with a super-awkward header which allowed Levadia's Ghanaian former Manchester
City Academy alumnus Ernest Agyiri to latch onto the loose ball and fire in the
equaliser. In stoppage time Cameroonian winger Loic Essomba, another 19-year-old
substitute, broke through alone on goal only to be brought down by Brazilian in
the East Heitor, and Patrik Myslovič, back in Žilina after an ill-fated loan spell
with Aberdeen, got the winner from the spot.

FK Makedonija Ǵorče Petrov (MKD) v FK RFS (LAT)* 0-1 (0-1)
(Ilić 34')

Serbian striker Andrej Ilić volleyed in a cross by the Ivorian Cedric Kouadio for
the only goal. In their ninth attempt (excluding the Intertoto), Makedonija are
still winless in Europe.

FC Bruno's Magpies (GIB) v Dundalk FC (IRL)* 0-0 (0-0)

Following last year's home win over Crusaders yet another very decent result
against Irish opposition for the Magpies from Bruno's Bar & Restaurant.

FC Haka (FIN) v Crusaders FC (NIR)* 2-2 (2-1)
(Rogerson 33' (pen), Fofana 36'; Forsythe 22', Clarke 68';
Red Card: Laine (Hak) 66')

Ha-ha Haka, back in Europe after fifteen years, fell behind early when Crusaders
veteran midfielder Jordan Forsythe got to a loose ball and sent it screaming into
the top corner: https://media.giphy.com/media/MqTPsUcuiDwG3JIZ78/giphy.gif
but New Zealand international Logan Rogerson subsequently equalised from the spot,
and young Ivorian striker Tiemoko Fofana, freshly signed from Azerbaijan, tapped
in a cross by Greek-American winger Stavros Zarokostas. Haka's squad is
surprisingly international. The Finns then made things difficult for themselves -
Janne-Pekka Laine committed two hard fouls in the space of two minutes and saw a
booking for each of them, and just minutes later Ross Clarke, another of
Crusaders' long-time players, scored the equaliser with an expertly struck free-
kick: https://media.giphy.com/media/MGk0DAiEdcgSM0p160/giphy.gif

FK Panevėžys (LTU) v FC Milsami Orhei (MDA)* 2-2 (1-0)
(Čađenović 17' (pen), Smith 48'; Gînsari 51' (pen), 67')

The Lithuanian league leaders took the early lead through Jovan Čađenović's
penalty, but just ten minutes later their Montenegrin midfielder sent another spot
kick against the left post. Nicaraguan international striker Ariagner Smith scored
their second by running onto a long ball and holding off a feeble challenge by
Milsami's Ukrainian centre-back Yaroslav Terekhov:
https://media.giphy.com/media/GsSZRQqCACha4UST4p/giphy.gif
but Milsami's veteran striker Radu Gînsari, with years of experience in the top
leagues of Israel and Russia as well as in the Moldovan NT under his belt, first
got one back from the spot and then headed in Danu Spătaru's cross for the
equaliser.

NK Domžale (SLO)* v Balzan FC (MLT) 1-4 (0-2)
(Kovačević 57' (pen); Andrejić 8', J. Grech 44' (pen), Olawale 53', Zerjal 90'+4;
Red Card: Husmani (Dom) 88')

Whoa. Balzan have survived a round in Europe only once before (against Keşlə from
Azerbaijan in the 2018-19 Europa League qualifiers), so it was more than a bit
surprising that they got the second-biggest win of the night, and away in
Slovenia.
A Serbian opened the scoring for Balzan, Aleksa Andrejić was lying sprawling on
the ground when he managed to tap in the rebound from his own header:
https://media.giphy.com/media/tggR3JujNKDTZZ9TJy/giphy.gif
Maltese international Jake Grech then got the second with a penalty, and he also
provided the corner kick that young Nigerian Peter Olawale headed in for Balzan's
third. Former Hajduk Split, Hoffenheim, and Cincinnati prospect Franko Kovačević
reduced the deficit likewise from the spot, but late on Zeni Husmani saw a quite
harsh red for barging into Balzan's Serbian keeper Golović while trying to
recuperate the ball and speed up the game, and he might well have regretted to
have wished for that as against ten men the Maltese even added a fourth - Nikola
Žerjal, yet another Serbian, tapped in a cross by Balzan's Colombian winger Ángel
Torres.

FC Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO) v FK Sarajevo (BIH)* 2-2 (1-0)
(Sandokhadze 44', Bugridze 48'; Oliveira 47', Varešanović 52')

Sarajevo had already hit the woodwork twice before the Georgians took the lead
through their centre-back Nika Sandokhadze who headed in a corner kick. The two
sides exchanged goals in quick succession after the break - first Sarajevo's
Brazilian striker Renan Oliveira converted Samir Zeljković's through ball:
https://media.giphy.com/media/bCRTb4K1ly8dpxuOe4/giphy.gif
then Irakli Bugridze surprised Sarajevo's new Croatian keeper Lovre Rogić at his
near post: https://media.giphy.com/media/nbPgVWkH54oTNWxtRL/giphy.gif
and finally Dal Varešanović (his father Mirza once played for Bordeaux, Olympiacos
and briefly Austria Vienna) headed in Almedin Ziljkić's cross:
https://media.giphy.com/media/NdZeS4y6DkBaqk9icA/giphy.gif
Late on, it was Torpedo's turn to hit the crossbar with a deflected cross.

FC Alashkert (ARM)* v FK Arsenal Tivat (MNE) 1-1 (0-1)
(Ustinov 66'; Montenegro 23')

It's quite funny that the Montenegrin debutants from the Bay of Kotor actually
have a veteran Argentine midfielder called Julián Montenegro in their ranks, and
that following a nice team move he also got their maiden European goal:
https://media.giphy.com/media/kWCFMxfTD19pjtDCcL/giphy.gif
Alashkert's Russian rightback Vitali Ustinov equalized with a precise shot from
twenty metres.

Riga FC (LAT)* v KF Víkingur (ISL) 2-0 (1-0)
(Douglas Aurélio 31', Regža 52')

Brazilian in the East Douglas Aurélio volleyed in after a corner kick, and Latvia
international striker Marko Regža tapped in Mikael Soisalo's cross to score the
second for the team that's currently leading the Latvian Virslīga.

KF Dukagjini (KOS) v Europa FC (GIB)* 2-1 (1-1)
(Shabani 30'; Zylfiu 90'+6; Pozo 45'+6; Red Card: Dallku 90'+14)

Also a European debut - Dukagjini hail from the small Kosovo city of Klina
(although like all Kosovar teams they have to play their matches in Pristina), and
they took the lead against the Gibraltarians thanks to Bujar Shabani's nice volley
from distance: https://media.giphy.com/media/NWhW9lHo83gvobPMrn/giphy.gif
Jesús Pozo met a free-kick by fellow Spaniard Alberto Quintana with a great header
to get the equaliser, but deep in stoppage time a deflected shot by Preševo
Albanian Ilaz Zylfiu curved over Europa's Argentinian keeper Marcos Zappacosta:
https://media.giphy.com/media/JbRYXllerCtoZiDkGe/giphy.gif
Ardin Dallku received a super-late second yellow for kicking away the ball.

FK Hegelmann (LTU) v KF Shkupi (MKD)* 0-5 (0-3)
(Cephas 11', 45'+1, 56', 62', Queven 23')

Another European debut, but this one much less successful. Until last year the
Kaunas-based team was actually still officially called FC Hegelmann Litauen
(including the country name in German), as they were founded a couple of years ago
by the Lithuanian branch of a Germany-based logistics company. They got promoted
to the A Lyga in 2021, and last year finished the season in fourth to qualify for
Europe. There can't be many countries in Europe where such a feat is easier to
accomplish.
Shkupi, on their part, last season gave Dinamo Zagreb a hard fight in the
Champions League qualifiers, and the same players that scored back then featured
in this match as well - Jamaican winger Renaldo Cephas scored four times against
the hapless Lithuanian defence, and in between Brazilian in the Balkans Queven (he
must have dropped the 'Putita' moniker at some point, I guess at a certain age it
becomes embarrassing?) got one with a header.

Not a good start to the European season for the Lithuanian teams at all.

Gżira United FC (MLT)* v Glentoran FC (NIR) 2-2 (2-1)
(Wilkson 29', B. Borg 40'; Ogedi-Uzokwe 9', Marshall 48')

After just two minutes Glentoran were awarded a handball penalty, but Junior
Ogedi-Uzokwe slipped during his run-up and skied the spot kick. The English
journeyman forward still got on the scoresheet seven minutes later when he headed
in a cross by Shay McCartan (1 minute in the Championship with Burnley eleven
years ago). Wilkson stabbed in from close range after Glentoran's Irish keeper
Aaron McCarey had parried a header by Wilkson's Brazilian compatriot Lucas Macula,
and Brooklyn (not Björn) Borg finished off a counter attack to give Gżira the
first-half lead. Just after the break the Maltese were caught sleeping by a
quickly executed free-kick, and while Gżira keeper David Cassar managed to keep
out Niall McGinn's shot he was helpless against Rhys Marshall's rebound header.

FC Progrès Niederkorn (LUX)* v SC Gjilani (KOS) 2-2 (1-0)
(De Almeida 11', Natami 62'; Ramadani 48' (pen), 66' (pen))

Mayron De Almeida gave the erstwhile Rangers slayers the lead with a sumptuous
shot from distance after a corner, and De Almeida also provided the through ball
that Omar Natami buried for Progrès's second, but twice the Kosovars managed to
equalise from the spot.

FC DAC 1904 (SLK)* v FC Dila Gori (GEO) 2-1 (2-1)
(Trusa 33', Ramadan 36'; Kovtalyuk 43')

For the first time all three Orbán-sponsored flagship teams of the Hungarian
minorities in the neigbouring countries (DAC, TSC and Sepsi) have qualified for
Europe, but even though the team from Dunajská Streda/Dunaszerdahely were clear
favourites they made rather hard work of it against their Georgian opponents.
Matej Trusa headed in a rebound from close range and Syrian international Ammar
Ramadan curled a nice shot past Dila's Ukrainian keeper Kucherenko to give them
a two-goal lead, but another Ukrainian, Mykola Kovtalyuk, pulled one back by
pushing the ball past DAC keeper Petráš from a very tight angle.

Penybont FC (WAL) v FC Santa Coloma (AND)* 1-1 (0-1)
(Venables 66'; Mourelo 36')

The fifth European debutants on this day were the team from Bridgend (halfway
between Cardiff and Swansea - Pen-y-bont is the Welsh translation of that name),
who were kind of able to play this at home, they just had to move into the town's
rugby stadium.
The Andorrans took the lead thanks to Mario Mourelo's cheeky free-kick:
https://media.giphy.com/media/0soH0cJgUmywqNOBif/giphy.gif
and five-time Cymru Premier Golden Boot winner Chris Venables finished off a
route-one attack to score the equaliser:
https://media.giphy.com/media/pY4SWR3W3slj6fJMFq/giphy.gif

FC Vaduz (LIE)* v FC Neman Grodno (BLR) 1-2 (1-1)
(Cavegn 22'; Zubovich 29', Shukurov 82')

Grodno actually only placed ninth in last year's Belarusian Premier League, but
they got into Europe after all because three other Belarusian teams were exclueded
for match fixing - champions Shakhtyor Soligorsk, runners-up Energetik-BGU Minsk
and fifth-placed Isloch Minsk Raion - while two more, FC Minsk and FC Gomel,
didn't apply for a European licence.
So it came as a bit of a surprise that they got the better of last year's surprise
package, despite Vaduz taking an early lead when young striker Fabrizio Cavegn -
I don't know if I've ever come across a Rumantsch-speaking Swiss footballer
before - buried the rebound from a deflected cross:
https://media.giphy.com/media/vQXFhFX7G9ThavrcI2/giphy.gif
Neman immediately equalised due to a dreadful mistake by Vaduz's centre-back
Liridon Berisha: https://media.giphy.com/media/giSaZaQxUkGq8wqtGI/giphy.gif
and Alimardon Shukurov might have become the first Kyrgyz international to ever
score in a European competition when he volleyed in the late winner:
https://media.giphy.com/media/cdkTZRSLPnCz8bCi4Q/giphy.gif

KF Tirana (ALB) v FC Dinamo Batumi (GEO)* 1-1 (0-0)
(Lushkja 90'+3; Flamarion 66')

Brazilian in the East Flamarion put the Georgian league leaders in front by
tapping in Irakli Bidzanishvili's centre, and deep in stoppage time Regi Lushkja
headed in the equaliser from Rimal Haxhiu's cross.

HB (FAR)* v Derry City FC (IRL) 0-0 (0-0)

The best chance of the match fell to the Faroese as Emil Berger's fierce shot
came off the right post.
It's not exactly been a good start to the European season for the League of
Ireland teams - scoreless away draws for Dundalk and Derry in Gibraltar and on the
Faroes, and losses for St. Patrick's in Luxembourg as well as for Shamrock Rovers
at home against Icelandic opposition.

KF Shkëndija (MKD)* v Haverfordwest County AFC (WAL) 1-0 (0-0)
(Shala 47')

The only previous time Haverfordwest had played in Europe was in the 2004-05 UEFA
Cup where they lost both matches against FH from Iceland, but they held their own
quite well against a North Macedonian side that's a bit of a regular at this stage
of the competition. Adenis Shala tapped in the only goal from Ardian Limani's
sharp cross.

KA (ISL) v Connah's Quay Nomads FC (WAL)* 2-0 (0-0)
(H.M. Steingrímsson 60', Hafsteinsson 83')

The team from Akureyri on Iceland's north coast (although they had to play this
match in Reykjavík) also had qualified for Europe just once before, thirty-three
years ago (although during this period their city rivals Þór had made it into
Europe once as well). Back then, after they had won their only ever Icelandic
title, they were eliminated in the first round of the 1990-91 European Cup by CSKA
Sofia (1-0 at home, 0-3 away).
Hallgrímur Mar Steingrímsson, who has been for many years a KA mainstay (more than
320 matches played), along with his rightback brother Hrannar Björn Steingrímsson
(over 230 matches for KA as well), gave the Icelanders the deserved lead with a
great shot from just outside the box, and Daní­el Haf­steins­son tapped in the
second. Fun fact, Daníel's father Hafsteinn Jakobsson had been KA's sole goal
scorer in that 1-0 win over CSKA all those years ago.

FK Sutjeska (MNE)* v SS Cosmos (SMR) 1-0 (0-0)
(Marković 79')

Almost a coefficient point for San Marino, but ten minutes from time Božo Marković
rifled in a loose ball.

FK Željezničar (BIH) v FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR)* 2-2 (0-1)
(Haračić 85', 90'+1; Bakhar 41', Morozov 50';
Red Card: Kolašinac (Žel, on the bench) 90'+1)

Great atmosphere at Željezničar's sold-out Grbavica stadium, but (one is tempted
to say 'as usual') their fans had little to celebrate at first as the Belarusians
scored twice from quick breaks, one finished off by Ivan Bakhar with a curler just
inside the post: https://media.giphy.com/media/wy2D0E7fF1ytmhhuzQ/giphy.gif
and one by Vladislav Morozov with a shot that went straight through Željo keeper
Mulalić: https://media.giphy.com/media/ic1khF82th97bilCpl/giphy.gif
But Željezničar managed to come back with two late goals to get at least the draw,
Dženan Haračić first headed in Sulejman Krpić's cross, and in stoppage time he
somehow bungled the ball across the line after Dinamo's young keeper Lapoukhov
hadn't been able to hold on to a shot by the substitute Amar Drina:
https://media.giphy.com/media/58NkvI7LxrN5WuNjYF/giphy.gif

SP La Fiorita (SMR)* v FC Zimbru Chișinău (MDA) 1-1 (1-0)
(Casolla 34'; Căruntu 64')

La Fiorita have just signed 41-year-old former Independiente, Napoli, Udinese and
Atalanta striker Germán Denis - it's not every day that a former Argentine
international ends up playing for a Sammarinese team - and although they have so
far never won a match in Europe (they got draws against Linfield and Birkirkara),
they could dream for a while as Francesco Casolla beat Zimbru keeper Mostovei with
a little luck. La Fiorita even had chances to make it two before the substitute
Marin Căruntu took advantage of a slip in the Sammarinese defence and equalised
with Zimbru's first and only shot on goal. Still, a coefficient point!

Linfield FC (NIR)* v KF Vllaznia (ALB) 3-1 (0-0)
(McKee 57', 68', Scott 76'; Jurić 89'; Red Card: Finlayson (Lin) 88')

Chris McKee buried the rebound after Vllaznia keeper Qarri had scraped a deflected
shot off his goal line, got a second with a volley, then turned provider by
slipping a through ball towards Jack Scott. A perfect evening for the Northern
Irish was slightly marred when right-back Daniel Finlayson saw a second yellow and
immediately afterwards Marko Jurić volleyed in after Bekim Balaj (boy was he a
transfer flop for Sturm Graz a couple of years ago) had headed Geralb Smajli's
free-kick back across goal.

NK Maribor (SLO)* v Birkirkara FC (MLT) 1-1 (0-1)
(Brnić 67' (pen); Mbong 31'; Red Card: Tedesco (Bir, on the bench) 90'+10)

The other match against Maltese opposition didn't go that much better for the
Slovenian team either as Paul Mbong sent in a screamer from 25 metres to give
Birkirkara the lead, and the former group stage regulars Maribor only managed the
equaliser thanks to a controversial penalty. After the final whistle Birkirkara's
Sicilian manager Giovanni Tedesco (no relation to Domenico) was thrown out for an
altercation on the bench.

Ciao,
Werner