35 players appeared for Macedonia in the 10 qualifying games for the EURO 2012 qualifications.  Only Ivan Trickovski played all ten games and also played the most minutes as well.  Below are the statistics of every Macedonian player in these past qualifiers.

From the maximum 900 minutes, Ivan Trickovski only missed ten minutes from the 10 qualifying games for EURO 2012.  He played all 90 minutes in nine of the games while he was substituted in the 80th minute of one match which was the opening game of the qualifications against Slovakia on the road.  Tricko did not receive any yellow or red cards but only managed to score one goal which came in the 2:1 road loss against Ireland.

In total, 35 players suited up for Macedonia in the 10 qualifying games.  The team only scored 8 goals, picked up 24 yellow cards and 3 red cards, while also being managed by two coaches (Mirsad Jonuz in the first 6 games before he was sacked and then John Toshack in the final 4 games).  There were no own goals. Below, you can see the stats of each player:

LEGEND:
GP – matches played
MP – minutes played
GS – goals scored
YC – yellow cards
RC – red cards
Pen – penalties converted / total
B – bench
GA – goals against (only for goalkeepers)

Total goals scored: 8
Total goals conceded: 14
Total yellow cards received: 24
Total red cards received: 3

From what we can see on the table, Macedonian star player Goran Pandev played in only half of the games and did not score a goal, but instead received 3 yellow cards and one red card shortly after the road match against Russia.  That was one of the main reasons for the bad results by the national team since Pandev was underperforming and that became contagious to the rest of the team.  Mario Gjurovski played in seven games but wasn’t given many minutes, same as Stevica Ristić who appeared in only five games.  Both players should have gotten more minutes.  Also, Aleksandar Todorovski played only once while Aleksandar Lazevski featured just three times, another two players that most Macedonian fans want to see play more regularly.  Noveski, Sikov, and Sumulikoski missed only one game apiece, all caused by suspensions, so they trailed Trickovski by one game.

Macedonian player of the qualifications: Ivan Trickovski

Not only did he play in all ten games and missed just 10 minutes, but Trickovski was the top performer in many of the matches despite the bad results for the senior national team.  He probably should have scored more than one goal but football is a team sport and he didn’t have much help in attack from his teammates.  Also he failed to convert a penalty kick when he hit the post in a home game against ireland.  Tricko showed many of his skills and was a consistent threat for the opponents with his dangerous runs from the left wing.  He is expected to be a key player, along with Goran Pandev, for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifications which will be held in Brazil.