Youngsters give hope to troubled FYR Macedonia

FYR Macedonia had its bitterest winter in decades in 2001. And that was just the feud which cost national coach Gjorgij Jovanovski his job. For while the cream of Macedonia's police were exchanging their machine guns for snow shovels, its top footballers were refusing to do their bit for the cause.

‘We’re a circus’ 
"We're a circus and it's awful," complained defender Goran Stavrevski after a 5-0 friendly defeat by Hungary in November. "It used to be an honour to play for the national team."

Jovanovski exit
So when 23 of his squad withdrew from a tournament in Bahrain in January 2002, Jovanovski announced he was quitting to return to domestic champions FK Sloga Jugomagnat. "Far too many are pulling out," said the country's fourth head coach in ten years (the others being Gjoko Hadzievski, Andon Donchevski and Dragan Kanatlarovski).

Dispute with trainer 
Jovanovski was already missing captain Artem Sakiri, whom he had suspended for disciplinary reasons, and key men Georgi Hristov and Toni Micevski. The pair had been in dispute with the trainer after he dropped them for missing a curfew the previous summer.

Drop in rankings 
On the field, too, Jovanovski's six-month reign had been a torrid one. Macedonia ended the year 89th in the FIFA world rankings - a drop of 13 places from 2000 - though fans did not need Coca-Cola to tell them their team had gone flat.

One win in ten
A disappointing 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign had seen to that. Macedonia's bid to reach Korea/Japan ended with a 5-0 home defeat by Slovakia. This left them fourth in Group Four behind Sweden, Turkey and the Slovaks. Yet some thought they were lucky to finish that high, having won just one of ten games.

Azerbaijan beaten
How ironic, too, that their scalp should be that of lowly Azerbaijan: a 3-0 victory secured by two goals from Hristov and another from Arjend Beciri. For Macedonia have a reputation for saving their best for the 'bigger' teams while dropping points against the lesser ones.

Narrow defeats 
They lived up to this when losing narrowly to Sweden - 1-0 in Stockholm, 2-1 in Skopje - and drawing 3-3 in Turkey. Against that, though, they were held twice by minnows Moldova, and conceded a late goal to take only a point from Azerbaijan.

Bright start 
It was a similar story in the EURO 2000™ qualifiers, with the Macedonians fourth in a strong Group Eight. Here they started brightly, winning home and away against Malta and asking serious questions of Croatia. The latter needed a late Zvone Boban strike to edge a five-goal thriller in Zagreb; then settled for a 1-1 draw in the return after Risto Bozinov's 81st-minute equaliser for the home side.

Denied the Irish 
But while Yugoslavia beat them twice in three days (in a fixture pile-up caused by NATO's bombing of Serbia), the Macedonians still had a big say in the final standings. Stavreski's 93rd-minute header denied the Republic of Ireland a repeat of their 1-0 Dublin success and a ticket to the Low Countries, Yugoslavia winning the group in their place.

Fourth place 
Long gone is the optimism that surrounded Macedonia's international debut in 1993 - a 4-1 triumph in Slovenia. They took maximum points in only one of 10 qualifying ties for EURO 96™, and also failed to reach France 98 despite beating Liechtenstein, Iceland and Ireland. And yes, they finished fourth on both occasions.

Young guns
In other ways, though, the future looks bright. September 2001 saw Macedonia advance to the finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Two players from that age group are in Serie A with Internazionale FC, defender Goran Pandev and forward Aco Stojkov. Meanwhile, Igor Mitreski has been touted as one of Europe's best young defenders after impressing with FC Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Champions League. And Jurica Siljanoski is seen as a replacement for Swedish footballer of the year Anders Svensson at IF Elfsborg.

Hope for the future 
FYR Macedonia has well-documented teething problems, in and out of the game. But, looking to the future, with their performances for club and country, its footballers can help soothe the pain.