New manager Ljubinko Drulović will gauge Marko Pavlovski’s interest in suiting up for Macedonia.
Ljubinko Drulović has a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time. He has to familiarize himself with a team that he doesn’t know much about. His first game in charge will be the road clash against Slovakia on June 14. So, he has just over a month to assemble a squad for that tough match against Slovakia, the biggest surprise of Group C as they currently sit top of the table, even ahead of powerhouse Spain.
We can all agree that Macedonia is lacking quality and depth. Thus, much of the focus over the past couple of years has been to recruit players from abroad that have some connection to Macedonia. One such player is Marko Pavlovski. Drulović knows Pavlovski rather well as he formerly coached him on the Serbian U19 national team. Pavlovski actually served as the captain under Drulović, helping Serbia U19 win the 2013 UEFA U19 championship.
Due to that relationship and the fact that Pavlovski’s club career has hit a stumbling block, the odds are increasing that Pavlovski may switch national teams. Pavlovski has already rejected Macedonia once, while Chedomir Janevski was coach, but things have changed since that time. For one, Pavlovski is now under contract with Porto B where he has not performed up to expectations. He moved to the Portuguese giants, where Drulović also played during his career, after impressing for Serbia U19, but he was later relegated to the B team since the coaches felt he wasn’t ready. Pavlovski is currently not on the radar for Serbia’s senior national team, so he may opt to join up his former coach with Macedonia.

In statements that Drulović gave to Serbian newspapers, he acknowledged that Pavlovski’s first preference is Serbia, but he will check in to see whether Marko will reconsider. Serbia’s squad is much deeper and thus it is more difficult to make that team as opposed to Macedonia. Based on Pavlovski’s relationship with Drulović, the odds are strong that Marko will one day represent Macedonia under Ljubinko’s watch.
Pavlovski was born in 1994, so technically he’s still eligible to play for an U21 national team.
What do you guys think? Does the fact that Marko already rejected Macedonia once influence your decision one way or the other?