
Nikolce Noveski the defender from Mainz and Aleksandar Mitreski the defensive midfielder from FC Koln, have been removed from the squad because of slight injuries. Vance Sikov the defender from Olympiakos (loaned to Apollon Kalamarias) will be the player to substitute Noveski. On Mitreski’s place, Katanec has called up Vanco Trajanov from the Bulgarian club Chernomorets, who has already 27 appearances in the Macedonian NT but has been long time out of the squad because of injuries.
But the biggest problem for Srecko Katanec is the missing of Goran Pandev from Lazio. Because of tiredness and the heavy schedule of his club, he will be rested for this friendly in order to have him fit for the important qualifying match against Russia. Dusan Savic, the young and talented forward from Vardar and regular member of the U21 NT team will have the chance for debut in the Macedonian senior national team.