It's the lowdown on England's opponents Macedonia...from someone in the know...
It's the lowdown on England's opponents Macedonia...from someone in the know...
You may know your Owens from your Heskeys ok, but how much do you know about Macedonia? Not that much?
Well, there's a big game on, you need to get your information pretty quickly. That's why we've recruited an insider to give us the low-down on the Macedonians ahead of Wednesday's crunch Euro Qualifier.
The Insider:
Name: Matthias Paskowski
Nationality: Macedonian
Position: Freelance Journalist
TheFA.com: Tell us what you know.....What was the reaction in Macedonia to the draw in general and to playing England in particular?
Macedonia has never faced England and so it is very exciting for the nation. We know a little about Slovakia and Turkey from World Cup qualification and such is the popularity of English football around Europe, we also have knowledge of the English players.
We gained a draw against Turkey in the 2002 World Cup qualifying group, so we know that we can achieve some good results. The Macedonian players will gain great experience from facing such good teams, but it will be very tough.
Star striker Georgi Hristov has recently described the team as inconsistent. The ex-Barnsley player is currently recovering from injury and may make a return to the national team at Southampton highlights the main issues facing the team.
"The coach has decided to choose a lot of young players and you hope he gets it right," said Hristov.
"Igor Mitreski has played in the Champions League for Spartak Moscow but other than that we don't have too much experience at the highest level, whereas the English team are in big matches all the time."
TheFA.com: Is English football popular in Macedonia?
Very. The big clubs get a lot of support, as they are now accessible to many fans in Macedonia. Manchester United are particularly popular, but other Premier League teams also have a lot of fans here.
TheFA.com: Which are the English players that are most respected/feared?
Obviously Beckham and Owen are very popular as they are all around the world. They are heroes for fans to look up to and are very good ambassadors for the game and English football in general. When players such as these come to Macedonia or the home match, fans will come to see them in their thousands.
TheFA.com: Which are the strongest Macedonian players?
Petar Milosevski - Petar is the most capped goalkeeper for Macedonia and has spent the last few years playing his club football in Turkey, with Trabzonspor and more recently Malatyaspor. At 28 years old he still ahs a few years at the top.
Igor Mitreski - The Spartak Moscow defender is the man of the moment for Macedonia. He has put in some highly praised performances for his club in this season's Champions' League. He is a quick and very strong defender, who can also operate in midfield if required.
Artim Sakiri - With a record 46 caps for Macedonia, Sakiri contributes a lot to the side, including goals. He is a playmaker, as well as a set-piece specialist. He has had a successful club career including spells at Halmstad, Malatyaspor and now CSKA Sofia.
Georgi Hristov - He is an icon of the national team and is well known to fans in England I am sure. He spent three years at Barnsley before moving to Nijmegen where he has been amongst the goals. The good news for England though, is that he may not be available tonight due to injury.
TheFA.com: Can you tell us what tactics the team are likely to employ?
The coach often likes to play three at the back. This then means that they can be more competitive in the midfield or have a third forward which can worry some of the bigger teams. This worked well against Turkey, when we should have scored more goals in the first half and maybe Turkey would not have come back.
TheFA.com: Ok, prediction time then...what's the score going to be?
Away from home against England we really should not expect to get any points, but we can hope for an upset. Realistically the score will more likely be something like 2-0 to England.