The Macedonian U21 national team defeated its Dutch counterparts 0:1 in Innsbruck, Austria thanks to a late goal by attacker Aleksandar Trajkovski in the 82nd minute.
The friendly took place in the Austrian city of Innsbruck and Macedonia U21, despite missing several regulars who were with the senior national team, defeated Netherlands U21 0:1 with the lone goal scored by Aleksandar Trajkovski. The match was not televised and there were no links showing the game, so the fans did not get a chance to see the impressive win, which ensured that the Macedonian U21 national team has now gone 14 consecutive matches without a loss.
Based on the players who played, as listed by FFM, manager Boban Babunski likely fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation with Filip Gachevski in goal, Vladica Brdarovski, Goran Bogdanovikj, Kire Ristevski and Goran Siljanovski in defense from right to left, Zeni Husmani and Filip Najdoski as the two defensive midfielders, and Filip Timov, David Babunski and Aleksandar Trajkovski behind the lone striker Marjan Altiparmakovski. In addition, Simeon Hristov, Bojan Gjorgievski and Darko Micevski were the three substitutes made by Babunski, one of them coming on for the injured Filip Najdoski.
After the game, Boban Babunski gave the following statement to FFM’s official website, “We played a great match which was needed for our national team and these young players. What makes me particularly happy is that all players who were given a chance showed character, and played our game with excellent tactical fortitude. We played motivated and without respect against an extremely strong and quality opponent, although our team was missing many regular players. I expect, in the same style, to also play against Albania as well which will only serve as positive momentum before the important qualifiers against Faroe Islands and Denmark.”
The Macedonian U21 team, as Babunski stated, will now focus on the upcoming friendly against Albania on 25 May, also to be played in Innsbruck. After that, two qualifiers follow suit against Faroe Islands on 1 June and Denmark on 5 June, both on the road.