体坛英语新闻：Shkendija loses 2-1 with Kalju in UEFA first qualifying round

SKOPJE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The North Macedonian soccer team Shkendija was defeated 2-1 by Estonian team Nomme Kalju here on Tuesday at the second leg of the first qualifying round of UEFA Champions League.

The host team failed to secure a spot in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

The start of the match belonged to the visiting team, which took the lead in the 5th minute with a goal scored by Italian captain Maximilano Ugge. The first half of the match ended at 0-1 for Nomme Kalju, though the host team dominated the rest of the match.

At the beginning of the second half, Shkendija head coach Qatip Osmani substituted Zeni Husmani with Valmir Nafiu to put more pressure to the gate of the visiting team, but did not succeed.

In the 62nd minute, the penalty given to Shkendija was turned into a goal by the midfielder Agim Ibraimi, who scored his second goal for Shkendija this season.

Meanwhile, when everyone was waiting for the referee to signal the end of the match, in the 1st minute of the added time the Brazilian forward Liliu headed in and scored the second goal for Nomme Kalju.

Kalju won the first qualifying round on away goals on an aggregate 2-2 and will compete with the winner of the match between Celtic and Sarajevo in the 2nd qualifying round while Shkendija will play F91 Dudelange in Europa League.

Shkendija football club is based in the city of Tetovo, northwestern part of North Macedonia and they currently play in the Macedonian First League.