The friendly match between Macedonia and Peru that was scheduled for 29 February of next year has been cancelled.
FIFA removed the fixture from their website two days ago but no explanation was given for the cancellation of the friendly. Both national teams agreed to a friendly earlier in the month that was to be played on 29 February 2012, and the match was even confirmed on FIFA.com, but it was removed from the website two days ago. This was the second time that Peru has cancelled a match against a European nation for that date after also doing the same to Lithuania. There was no explanation given for the cancelled friendly but it likely had to do with either the stadium in Skopje not being ready by that time since it is undergoing renovations or Peru asking for too much money from FFM for the fixture.
Therefore, with the cancellation of the friendly, Macedonia remains without an opponent for that open date on 29 February of next year. Thanks to a member on our forum, who did some research, there are an additional 19 national teams in Europe who are without an opponent for that particular date.
Below are the following 19 European national teams who are also without a friendly for 29 February:
1. Serbia
2. Belgium
3. Wales
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4. Slovakia
5. Armenia
6. Azerbaijan
7. Andorra
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8. Spain
9. Italy
10. Greece
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11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. Turkey
13. Latvia
14. Lithuania
15. Cyprus
16. Faroe Islands
17. Luxembourg
18. Kazakhstan
19. San Marino
The first three opponents come from the next qualifying cycle for the 2014 World Cup qualifications so it is very unlikely that a friendly will be arranged with those teams. The following four teams on the list played Macedonia in the previous three to four months so they are also unlikely to face Macedonia. With Spain and Italy, it would be tough to believe that either side would have an interest in playing a friendly against Macedonia while Greece is not an option due to obvious reasons. That means that nine national teams remain if Macedonia chose a European opponent. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey would be good opponents, Latvia, Lithuania, and Cyprus would not be that bad, especially if Macedonia was unable to agree to a friendly with a more quality opponent, while the other four teams (Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, and San Marino) may as well be rejected because they would be catastrophic choices. Therefore, unless Macedonia finds an opponent from another continent, the likely choice for the friendly will be one of those nine teams on the bottom of the list.
Who would you want to see play against Macedonia on that open date of 29 February 2012?