Vanja Drkusic struck with a right-footed shot in added time to pull Slovenia level and earn a 1-1 draw with Cyprus.
People typing "france match today" into search bars right now are often paging through live-score feeds and match rundowns; one of those live updates recorded the late twist in the Slovenia–Cyprus friendly when Drkusic turned a likely loss into a draw in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The fourth official had signalled four minutes of added time before the decisive moment, and the final sequence rewarded Slovenia. Drkusic, who had come on as a substitute for David Brekalo, found the net in those closing moments to change the scoreboard to 1-1.
Coaches used the opening to make a raft of changes before the finish. For Slovenia, Tian Nai Koren replaced Danijel Sturm, Adrian Zeljkovic came on for Adam Gnezda Cerin, Ester Sokler replaced Zan Vipotnik, Andraz Sporar replaced Benjamin Verbic and Zan Karnicnik took over from Srdjan Kuzmic. Cyprus also rotated: Giorgos Naoum for Andreas Shikkis, Giannis Satsias for Grigoris Kastanos, Andreas Christou for Stavros Georgiou, Charalambos Kyriakou for Ioannis Pittas, Andronikos Kakoullis for Marinos Tzionis and Ioannis Kosti for Charalampos Charalampous.
Cyprus had looked as if it would hold on until the end — that lead evaporated in stoppage time when Drkusic finished with his right foot. The closing stages were punctuated by disciplinary moments for Cyprus: Fabiano, Christos Shielis and Andronikos Kakoullis all received yellow cards, and Panagiotis Andreou was shown a second yellow for a bad foul, reducing the island side’s composure at a critical moment.
The immediate consequence is simple: the match finished 1-1 and Cyprus were denied a late victory while Slovenia escaped defeat. What remains unresolved from the live feed is how the game had unfolded before that final burst — the record supplied the substitutions and the cards, the stoppage-time length and the equaliser, but not the sequence that produced the Cypriot lead the visitors had been defending.
