Macedonian national team coach Blagoja Milevski held a press-conference on Thursday to announce the squad list for the first two matches of the new season of the UEFA Nations League.

photo by FFM: Milevski at the press-conference

New name on the list is Kristijan Trapanovski from Scottish side Dundee United. So far he has only 1 appearance, but in the FIFA unofficial match against Saudi Arabia in 2022 when Macedonia played with a third team. Due to an injury absent is goalkeeper Dejan Iliev.

“On the list there are no major changes from those who completed the 2024 EURO qualifiers. The players we estimate have shown that they have the potential to be here and beyond. I’m sorry that Darko Velkovski is without a club and won’t be in match day squads. Deni Iliev also won’t be here due to injury. The debutante is Kristijan Trapanovski, who with his performances for Dundee United deserved to be part of the national team. I followed his games even before making the transfer to Scotland, we talked and he is aware of certain flaws in his play. Knowing what kind of person he is, he is on the right way to earn his place in the national team. A few players from the U21 national team are potentially for a call-up to the team. After the end of their EURO qualifiers, several of them should join our team”, said the coach at the press-conference.

He talked about the first opponent, the Faroe Islands, whose national team Macedonia has faced only once so far, and that was a friendly match in Skopje in March 2023. Macedonia will visit this country for the first time, of course, not counting the matches of the youth national teams.

“The Faroe Islands are a tricky adversary, aggressive and disciplined opponent. We will play on artificial grass and we will have to get used to that moment. We have to be at the maximum of our possibilities, all put into the team’s function, but with respect to every opponent in the group. The Faroe Islands are not naive, the conditions will be difficult and we have to work as hard as possible”, analyzed Milevski.

Besides the Faroe Islands, our opponents are also Armenia and Latvia. The goal is, of course, the first place, which leads to the League B, but it could also potentially lead to a play-off for the 2026 World Cup.

“This Nations League gives the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, but the road to that is really difficult. Opponents who are difficult expect us, physically well prepared, who play disciplined and with good dynamics. I’m happy that before the September matches almost everyone completed their preparations and are as ready as possible, unlike the June window, which is always problematic for us”.

In that June window, Macedonia recorded two new defeats, so now it’s in a series of three defeats in a row.

“I don’t care about the bad results of the last friendly matches. We were aware of the rivals for the friendly matches. As a coach, I am not chasing ratings through San Marino and Andorra, it is important for the players to progress through quality tests with strong rivals. Although we lost both matches against Czechia and Croatia, there were positive and negative things. I’m not satisfied with the matches in June, unlike those in March, for which there was nothing to complain about, except for the scoring”, concluded the coach.

The first match against the Faroe Islands is scheduled on September 7 at 15:00 CET, while the second one is scheduled for September 10 at 20:45 CET against Armenia in Skopje.