This is the new kid on this pan-European school year at the Euro.
North Macedonia is participating in its first international competition with its A selection and intends to make a name for itself on the European football scene.
This small country, with a little over 2 million inhabitants and 65th in the Fifa rankings begins its Euro this Sunday (note, 6 p.m. in Bucharest) with a match against Austria that she knows well for having it faced in qualifying.
Qualified through the dams by overcoming Kosovo and Georgia, "the Red Lions" we reached nirvana thanks to a group that has been working together for more than 4 years and the Euro 2017 hopes. The Macedonian eleven is led by the captain, top scorer, most capped player, Goran Pandev, for whom “the dream has come true for an entire nation”. “This generation has gone down in history. We have had other strong players in the past, but only we have managed to accomplish this feat. And that no one can ever take away from us
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the Macedonian captain told the online magazine Goal
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Our ambitions are great, we hope to do well and win a few matches.
The objective is to pass at least the group stage, ”said the Genoa player.
True spiritual guide of the team, he should put an end to his career after this euro in the form of a jubilee.
“It's a selection that is hungry.
They have a great opportunity to show off.
Usually they are a little invisible on the football map of Europe.
They are 150% motivated.
They want to take advantage of the showcase ”, confirms Patrick Sowden, Journalist of France Football who has followed the Macedonian selection in recent months.
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More than a team, a "family"
From a sporting point of view, the “Red-Yellow”, as they are also called on the side of Skopje, the capital, have a card to play for the observers. “There is a typical team. If they are all on top, they can hang teams. As long as they are all present because they do not have a bench: the difficulty for them will be to chain matches, ”analyzes this fine connoisseur of European football. The younger generation is represented by Eljif Elmas, who plays for Napoli, Ezgjan Alioski, the Leeds striker, and goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, who plays for Rayo Vallecano. Note, a squad player played in France this season alongside FC Chambly in L2, striker Vlatko Stojanovski.
In terms of the game, coach Igor Angelovski is not a supporter of "catenaccio". “He tries to uninhibit them. There is talent in his group. I would not take them lightly, we saw with the Germans (note, beaten 2-1 last April in a friendly). They score real goals built not just on set pieces. Overall, things go pretty quickly on the opposing goal, ”says Patrick Sowden. "The strengths of the team is above all to be a family, and that is felt in the game", abounds Soner Ajroski, 20, resident of Roubaix of Macedonian origin but above all host of the Twitter account Macedonian Football FR.
THREAD PRESENTATION OF THE 26 MACEDONIANS ⬇️
Our selection is little known, which is why I decided to present to you the 26 Macedonians who will compete in Euro 2020. pic.twitter.com/VuN3lsewKA
- Macedonian Football FR 🇲🇰 (@FrMacedonien) June 8, 2021
"Technically, the level is good, especially in midfield: Enis Bardhi (Levante) and Arijan Ademi (Dynamo Zagreb) are very underestimated," said this popularizer of Macedonian football. "Even if we come out with zero points in the pool, we will be happy", admits the one who is also a supporter of his selection, "but we are not there to make up the figure". Especially since four best thirds will have a possibility of qualifying in 8th. “The first game, there will be euphoria so it will be complicated. But we could achieve results against Ukraine and the Netherlands, if they put a B team ”, assures the football fan. In Skopje, it would then be madness in the streets, like the scenes of jubilation experienced during the qualification.