The national football team of Moldova was defeated by Kazakhstan 1-2 in the first leg match of the playoffs of the UEFA Nations League. Moldova opened the score in the 45th minute through Ion Nicolaescu. The first half of the game that turned out to be very good for Sergiu Kleshchenko’s pupils, IPN reports.

The Kazaks replied in the second half. Sergey Malyy tied in the 63rd minute. In the 79th minute, Veaceslav Posmac scored an own goal in the goal defended by Stanislav Namashko.

“We cannot be satisfied with the result. We will continue to fight in the second leg in Kazakhstan,” stated Sergiu Kleshchenko.

The return match will be played at the Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan on March 29.

If Moldova beats Kazakhstan this time, it will keep the place in League C of the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League and will play in a group with Slovakia, Belarus and Azerbaijan. In case of a failure, Moldova will be relegated to League D where it will play against Liechtenstein, Andorra and Latvia.