Manager Boshko Gjurovski unveiled a list of 23 players for next month’s EURO 2016 qualifier against Spain.
The start of the EURO 2016 qualifications tournament will be the first time in over a decade that Macedonia will not have Goran Pandev or Nikolche Noveski at its disposal. Both players decided to retire from the national team in order to focus on their club careers. Furthermore, other regulars such as Ivan Trichkovski, Goran Popov, Daniel Georgievski, Boban Grncharov and David Babunski are also missing from the list. Popov and Georgievski are still without a team, Trichkovski does not feel physically ready to contribute, while Grncharov and Babunski were dropped in favor of other players.
Arijan Ademi is the lone new name on the list, while every other player has been capped by Macedonia in the past. Ademi is a quality player who plays in defensive midfield for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. However, he can also play further up the field as well. That’s where he has played over the past couple of games after Dinamo Zagreb recently signed defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojević. Ademi will be a good edition who can take over from the injured Ostoja Stjepanovikj (out with a torn ACL).
Gjurovski got defensive at today’s press conference when asked why he didn’t call up certain players, but he feels that this squad gives him the best chance to achieve a result against Spain. He noted that if he will be held accountable for results, then he wants the ability to choose the players.
Note*: Ezgjan Alioski might also withdraw from the team. On Sunday, he missed a Swiss Cup encounter for Schaffhausen for what the team described as an injury in the game notes. If that were to happen, then Gjurovski will still have two left-backs on the roster in Ardian Cuculi and Darko Glishikj.
The complete squad:
Tome Pachovski – Mechelen 
Martin Bogatinov – Ermis 
Kristijan Naumovski – Levski 
Stefan Ristovski – Parma 
Aleksandar Todorovski – Sturm 
Vanche Shikov – Austria
Daniel Mojsov – Brann 
Aleksandar Damchevski – NAC Breda 
Kire Ristevski – Slavia
Ardian Cuculi – Partizani 
Ezgjan Alioski – Schaffhausen 
Darko Glisikj – Vardar 
Muhamed Demiri – St. Gallen
Arijan Ademi – Dinamo 
Stefan Spirovski – Beroe
Aleksandar Trajkovski – Zulte Waregem
Agim Ibraimi – Maribor 
Ferhan Hasani – Brøndby 
Adis Jahovikj – Rijeka
Besart Abdurahimi – Lokeren
Jovan Kostovski – OH Leuven
Krste Velkoski – Sarajevo 
Marjan Radeski – Metalurg