Mensur Jakupi has announced the Macedonian U19 national team squad for the UEFA European Under-19 championships.
Macedonia is in Group 6 alongside Switzerland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Macedonia is the host country as the matches will be played in Strumica and Turnovo. The top two teams in the group will advance to the elite round of the competition. Switzerland is considered the favorite but Macedonia will battle with the other teams in the group for a top two finish.
The squad is led by Barcelona midfielder David Babunski, Rabotnicki goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, and Basel attacker Valmir Nafiu. Another interesting player on the squad is Boban Nikolov from the football academy of legendary Romanian footballer Gheorghe Hagi.
Here is the complete list that Jakupi submitted to UEFA:
Goalkeepers:
Stole Dimitrievski – Rabotnicki
Valon Neziri – Vlazrimi
Defenders:
Tomislav Iliev – Horizont Turnovo
Filip Gligorov – Rabotnicki
Visar Musliu – Renova
Mite Cikarski – Vardar
Ersen Asani – Renova
Midfielders:
Zan Manovski – Rad, Serbia
Gjoko Aleksovski – Gorno Lisice
Mario Donev – Belasica
Isnik Alimi – Ohrid
Goran Zdraveski – 11 Oktomvri
David Babunski – Barcelona, Spain
Attackers:
Valmir Nafiu – Basel, Switzerland
Edin Skenderovik – Rabotnicki
Icko Jankoski – 11 Oktomvri
Antonio Kalanoski – Ohrid
Boban Nikolov – Academia Gheorghe Hagi, Romania
The Macedonian U19 squad will gather on 5 November to begin preparations for the upcoming qualifiers. Macedonia U19 first plays Switzeland on 10 November, then plays Ukraine on 12 November, while it closes the qualifiers against Kazakhstan on 15 November.