Kazakhstan – Faroe Islands 2-1 (0-1)
0-1 Fróði Benjaminsen 23'
1-1 Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev (pen) 50'
2-1 Andrei Finonchenko 64'
The Faroe Islands quickly came under pressure against the Kazakhstani team that shouldn’t quite have those qualities although playing at home, but a couple of close scares and a couple of great saves from Gunnar Nielsen kept Kazakhstan at bay.
Instead it was the Faroe Islands who took the lead after 23 minutes when Jóan Símun Edmundsson’s through ball into the penalty area found Christian Lamhauge Holst who turned brilliantly to play Fróði Benjaminsen clear to hammer the ball into the back of the net. This was captain Benjaminsen’s sixth goal in the Faroese shirt in his 75th cap for his country, which puts him fourth on the all time top scorer list alongside John Petersen (retired). (Top scorer is Rógvi Jacobsen with 10 goals, Todi Jónsson 9 goals and Uni Arge 8 goals – all retired)
Kazakhstan went close again twice in the remaining of the first half, but the Faroes survived the scares again.
But they didn’t five minutes after the break when the Andrei Finonchenko, who had come off the bench at the start of the second half, dived to fool the Andorran referee named Casanova(!) to award them a penalty. Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev converted safely from the spot while Faroese right back Jónas Tór Næs got a yellow card for protesting which will keep him out of the Germany match on Tuesday.
Kazakhstan then went on to take the lead after 64 minutes when a smart flick-on – which should have been ruled off side – played Finonchenko clear to score from close range with no chance for Nielsen to save.
The Faroes found it very difficult to create scoring opportunities in the remaining 25 minutes, but Lamhauge Holst had a chance in the dying minutes after a long high cross into the goal area, but from an angle, the goalkeeper made a relatively easy save in the end.