Football team North Macedoniae debuts in a major competition - today (18 p.m.) at the "National Arena" in Bucharest - Goran Pandev and friends play against Austria the first match at the EP. Austria is the favorite, in the qualifiers it was twice better than today's rival, who won a historic participation through the League of Nations, but the European Championship is a completely different dimension.
- A lot has changed since we played in the qualifiers. That was two years ago - the players have improved, the team is playing better... This will be completely different from those games - said coach Igor Angelovski.
The Macedonians will be led by Pandev - a veteran who has won the Champions League, and is looking forward to playing with the national team on the big stage.
- That day has come - the day I dreamed about during my career. Maybe these are my last matches in the national team jersey. I am proud of every moment and every drop of sweat shed in the sacred jersey. Be with us, cheer for Macedonia - said Pandev.
Pandevu was a teammate at Inter in the 2009/2010 season. was a representative of Austria, Marko Arnautović.
- Macedonia has very good players, among them my good friend - Goran Pandev. Many write him off because of his age, but you have seen what he can do and how good he is - said Arnautović in the announcement of the match. Austria is still waiting for a victory at the European championships - two draws and four defeats is the current balance in the continental competitions. The best opportunity for the first triumph is the match against the Macedonians.
- We have a solution for them and we will try to apply it on the field - said the coach of Austria, Franko Foda.
Probable lineups - Austria (4-2-3-1): Bahman - Lajner, Dragović, Hintereger, Ulmer - Lajmer, Schlager - Sabicer, Baumgartner, Alaba - Arnautović.
North Macedonia (4-3-3): Dimitrievski - Ristovski, Musliju, Velkovski, Alioski - Ademi, Nikolov, Bardi - Elmas, Pandev, Trajkovski.
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