Muhamed Demiri conducted an interview with FIFA.com where he talked about being a late bloomer and his ambitions for the Macedonian national team.

After Macedonia experienced many problems in midfield with the lack of quality options, former manager Mirsad Jonuz approached Muhamed Demiri of Swiss top division side Thun about representing the national team.  Demiri was originally born in Macedonia but his family moved to Switzerland when he was still pretty young.  Muhamed decided to accept the offer by Jonuz and subsequently made his national team debut on 22 December 2010 in a friendly against China.  Ever since that time, Demiri has been a mainstay on the Macedonian squad, even with the appointment of new manager John Toshack.  Both Toshack and his predecessor have preferred Demiri and Velice Sumulikoski as the two defensive midfielders in any given formation.

Demiri spoke to FIFA.com about being a late bloomer and his ambitions for the Macedonian national team.  The first professional club for Muhamed was Concordia Basel and he mentioned that one of his coaches at that team told him that it would take a little longer for Demiri to make it as a pro.  He said, “I made my first Super League appearance at the age of 25 and four or five months later, I was called up to the national team.  I couldn’t help but think of that coach when it happened.”

Speaking about the opportunity to represent Macedonia, Demiri stated, “It’s a very special feeling.  Suddenly, I’m playing with players like Goran Pandev, Goran Popov and Nikolce Noveski, all of whom I know from television. I’ve got ten caps now, but it’s still a fantastic feeling.”

Demiri called John Toshack the right coach to lead the turnaround of Macedonia as he has brought added confidence to the team.  Pertaining to Group A of the 2014 World Cup qualifications, which includes Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia and Wales, Muhamed noted, “It’s definitely a difficult group.  You could call it a Balkan group, what with us, Croatia and Serbia all drawn together.  They’re going to be special matches.  It’s actually quite an evenly-matched section.  We’ve got the quality to qualify and I think second place is definitely within our capabilities.”