At today’s press-conference, Goran Pandev and Chedomir Janevski shared their thoughts regarding the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Croatia.

“The atmosphere in the team is great. All of the players are healthy, except for the injured Spirovski who has already been substituted with Stjepanovikj. Even in the first training session, I saw that the players are highly motivated and want to put on a good display. Our solid showings in the opening two games in Zagreb and Glasgow gave a boost to the team spirit, but have also risen the expectations among the fans. I was informed that the tickets are 95% sold, so we will play in front of a full audience. We aren’t thinking much of the opponent, instead we are concentrated on us. We want to repeat the play from the September games and this time to get good results. Regarding the tactics and formation, we won’t change much from the first two games. I saw the game between Croatia and Belgium and I can say that in this away game they (Croatia) played much less attacking than against us. We are aware that now they know us better, are aware of our qualities and will go into this game more seriously. It’s our duty to get a result here, we all know that points count for a place in Brazil and not how you play. Regarding the scoring problems, we are working on that during the trainings.” said national team coach Chedomir Janevski.

“It’s true that we are highly motivated, but we must stay calm. We shouldn’t let the fans’ expectation get to us, we must be careful and patient because we must not attack the Croats at all costs. Croatia is a strong and experienced team, they can punish us easily. I know we’ve had problems scoring, but every game is different and I believe we can and must use every opportunity to score.” said captain Goran Pandev.