In the end, Arijan Ademi of Dinamo Zagreb was forced to withdraw from the Macedonian squad for the upcoming qualifier against Spain.

Although his injury is not serious, it was simply poor timing as to when Ademi went down.  Arijan has been advised to rest for one more week by Dinamo Zagreb doctors, meaning he won’t be allowed to train in that time.  Thus, Ademi and Dinamo Zagreb called Macedonia’s national team manager Boshko Gjurovski to inform him of the decision that he had to withdraw.

Gjurovski had given statements on Saturday that he expected to have Ademi for the Spain match, but that proved to be too optimistic with today’s news.  It’s a tough blow as Ademi has been in very good form for Dinamo Zagreb, a solid club who qualified for the group stages of the Europa League this season.  He would have made his debut in the Spain match, but now Ademi will play his first game for Macedonia later in the year.

Darko Velkovski of Rabotnicki, who scored two goals this past Saturday against Shkendija, was called up to take the place of Ademi.