After re-watching the game on Saturday morning, we decided to do a player analysis of all 14 players that were used by Macedonia.

Instead of doing player ratings, which would not be pretty given the terrible result and lack of urgency by a portion of the team, we decided to do a player analysis for the Macedonian squad after the 2:1 loss against Belarus.

Tome Pachovski: Overall he had a solid performance. There was nothing he could do on the first goal as that was a perfectly placed shot by the Belarus attacker. He stretched out as much as he could, but the shot was too good. In the 2nd half, he made three really good saves to keep the game tied at 1:1, but then conceded a late winner that he would surely want back. On that play, he made a good intervention by coming out of his goal, but he couldn’t control the ball, leading to a rebound and an easy tap-in for Sergei Kornilenko.

Stefan Ristovski: Did okay defensively in the opening half, but things changed after the break. Had some problems with Ihar Stasevich who has a good left foot. Stefan continues to have concentration lapses that prove costly for Macedonia. On the second Belarus goal, it was his marker who outmaneuvered him to get in a good position, forcing Pachovski to come out of his goal. Tome made the first save, but obviously he could not stop the next effort. Needs to improve his focus.

Vanche Shikov: It was a typical Shikov performance. Won most of his aerial duels, but was exposed at certain times due to his lack of speed. Made several important clearances as the defense was put under a lot of pressure.

Bojan Markoski: In many ways, his play was similar to Shikov. It was so-so. He was caught out of position several times in the 2nd half, leading to the quality Belarus chances. He showed to be a strong tackler, but an issue is that he may be too similar to Shikov. Both lack speed and quick attackers could give them big time problems.

Daniel Georgievski: Lively and active on the left flank. Did a lot of running but he also made some sloppy passes in the 1st half. He gave away the ball carelessly to Belarus on two occasions, but both times they failed to capitalize. Similar to Ristovski, he can’t have those concentration lapses. Most of the game he was good, but those moments of sloppy passes can really prove costly.

Artim Polozhani: He played well during his half hour before he left with an abdominal injury. Displayed energy, was closing well on the ball and seemed to be in sync with Hasani and the defense. His injury came moments after Macedonia’s goal. He carried on for 20 more minutes, but then could not continue so he asked to be substituted.

Ferhan Hasani: Watching the replay of the game, he stood out. Definitely Macedonia’s best player in this game. Rarely lost possession of the ball and made several skillful moves to get the crowd oohing and ahhing. The main issue was that his form could have better been utilized in attack, as opposed to defensive midfield. Still, Hasani can be satisfied with his performance.

Aleksandar Trajkovski: Scored a nice early goal, but overall it was a subpar game from Trajkovski. Aleksandar has been Macedonia’s best player in these qualifications, but his form right now is not where it needs to be. Too quiet for long stretches of the game and then he was also selfish on several instances where a pass would have been a better option.

Agim Ibraimi: Bad game by Agim. He was completely taken out of the match as he made zero impact. His free kicks were terrible and his dribbling was just not working. Belarus neutralized him.

Besart Abdurahimi: It was evident that his long lay-off from injury affected his form. He was trying to dribble, but his touches were off. The effort was there, but execution was lacking. Will need to build up his fitness and get more game action to get back into good form.

Krste Velkoski: He looked lost out there. Definitely Macedonia’s worst player on the night. Did close to nothing during his 63 minutes on the pitch as the attack was completely out of sync.

Bench:

Enis Bardhi: Did not provide much during his hour appearance. His positioning was not the best which opened up a lot of space for Belarus. This was his debut. It was too much to ask an offensive minded player with little experience to play defensive midfield in a qualifier.

Blagoja Todorovski: Largely at fault for the second Belarus goal. That play started in the middle of the field with Todorovski’s marker getting by him with no resistance from Blagoja, leading to the eventual goal. Even in 30 minutes, Todorovski showed that he has no business being on the national team in the future. He looked overwhelmed out there.

Dejan Blazhevski: Did nothing during his 15 minutes on the pitch. I don’t even recall him touching the ball once after he was introduced.

As we head towards Australia on Monday, who would you like to get a chance in that friendly?