Not a lot is left until the football fans find out which national teams will travel to Austria and Switzerland as participants in the EURO 2008 and which will only watch football on TV. Macedonia will once again be in the second group, but Croatia would surely like to see their team on another European Championship. In order to do that, they will have to succesfully pass one of the last obstacles that stand on their way - Macedonia.

While Macedonian national team is once again left with no chances for qualifying in one of the major tournaments, Croatia is once again very close to doing that. Of course, many calculations are still open, but we will skip them all, and just note that Macedonia needs this victory for jumping to a better pot for next qualifications tournament, and Croatia needs this victory for the aforementioned mission. One thing is for sure. Macedonia will have to play without Goran Pandev. Unfortunately, he is injured, and all we can do is wish him a faster recovery. And as a team, we must prove that we can play with or without him. Srecko Katanec will probably choose offensive formation with Naumoski and Maznov as strikers, and Darko Tasevski as a backup for them. The defense line will probably be the standard one with Noveski, Mitreski, Sedloski, Vasoski - it all depends from the coach what kind of formation will he use. The midfield part will once again play great part in the contribution of the possible outcome of this game. Let's hope that Shumilikoski, Lazarevski, Popov, Polozani and maybe Sakiri will be in good mood for passing balls.

Croatia is, to be honest, the better team. They will come to Gradski in order to win. However, that is most certainly not going to be easy task. If our team is able to stop Eduardo, Srna, Kranjcar, Petric, Modric, Simunic... Yes, they are all strong and worth mentioning as a possible threat to our goal. Let's hope that with the combination of fans support, real motive to win, a bit necessary luck Macedonia will have the power to surprise once again.

The match will be played on 17.11.2007 at 20:00 local time, in Skopje on Gradski stadium. The referee will be world-famous Belgian Frank de Bleeckere. The game will be broadcast live on Macedonian national television A1 (www.a1.com.mk) Nothing is left, but to wish both teams good luck, and may the better win!