Anyone else follow football in Macedonia? The league is rather corrupt, and the level of football is poor, but oh well The national team looks to be doing better as of late.
I can't believe Rabotnicki lost to Miravci in the Cup. I don't think this is gonna be our year if we keep it up. Did you see that some of Vardar's players got food poisoned?
Ahahah прва лига комити!!!! I cant believe we managed to tie things up vs Armenia. We are so close to finally qualifying for a FIFA tournament. If we can scrape a win vs Ireland or Russia, and perform well against teams we should have beat "Slovakia, Armenia" I think our chances this year are as good as ever.
I'm glad that we managed to tie it up in the end (we really played horrible in the last ten minutes or so), but that was a game we really needed 3 points from. We can start anew next matchday against Andorra, should be an automatic W.
wow our Armenian defender really gifted you guys a draw at the end very disappointed we didn't take 3 points.
I just found out that the IFFHS ranks Rabotnicki as a better team than AEK Athens and CSKA Sofia. These people are insane. This week's matches: Napredok - Pelister Shkendija 79 - Skopje Teteks - Vardar Bregalnica Stip - Turnovo Rabotnicki - Renova Metalurg - Sileks
First division after 12 rounds 1. Metalurg 22pts 2. Renova 22pts 3. Shkendija 79 21pts 4. Teteks 20pts 5. Rabotnicki 19pts 6. Turnovo 19pts 7. Sileks 18pts 8. Skopje 17pts 9. Bregalnica Stip 16pts 10. Napredok 15pts -------------------- 11. Pelister 5pts 12. Vardar 3pts 2nd division - after 10 rounds 1. Tikves 21pts 2. 11 Oktomvri 21pts 3. Ohrid 20pts 4. Miravci 19pts 5. Gorno Lisice 18pts 6. Belasica 16pts 7. Ohrid Lote 13pts 8. Rinija 12pts 9. Lokomotiva 12pts 10. Drita 10pts 11. Vlazrimi 10pts 12. Vlaznimi 9pts 13. Novaci 9pts 14. Cementarnica 55 6pts Good to see Belasica finally starting to turn it around
It's a little sad to see that Vardar is going to be relegated, barring a phenomenal and unlikely turnaround.
1st division games from last weekend - Round 17 Napredok 0 Turnovo 1 Rabotnicki 3 Pelister 0 Skopje 1 Vardar 0 Shkendija 4 Renova 1 Bregalnica 1 Metalurg 2 1. Shkendija 32pts 2. Renova 31pts 3. Rabotnicki 29pts 4. Metalurg 29pts 5. Turnovo 29pts 6. Teteks 24pts 7. Napredok 24pts 8. Skopje 22pts 9. Bregalnica Stip 22pts 10. Sileks 21pts ---------------------- 11. Vardar 10pts ---------------------- 12. Pelister 8pts One more round is to be played this weekend, before a winter break. Ohrid currently lead the 2nd division with 29pts, followed by Tikves with 28
Heh, I used timely adjectives. It's an absolute disgrace what's happening to the league. We're never going to get anywhere when half of a team leaves for cross-town rivals. I hope Braco likes the Vtora Liga, because his former team will be boasting another Europa League run.
http://youtu.be/yEdfnuYksoo Ohrid players protested against the club's management today by wearing black shirts to the introductions which read 'management, go away' and sitting the 1st minute of match (Teteks played it fair and kicked the ball around in their half).
Macedonia captain Sumulikoski charged for drunken rampage The 31-year old midfielder Velice Sumulikoski, who plays his club football for Russian second division side Sibir Novosibirsk, attacked a man in his home town of Struga on the morning of New Year's Eve in a drunken rampage after a night out. He then started insulting police officers who came to the scene and also verbally abused their colleagues in a police station where he was detained. "He was relentless in offending police officers in the station, where he was charged with breach of public order on two counts because he also refused to take a test to determine the level of alcohol in his blood," Macedonian police said. "Clearly intoxicated, he threatened to get the local chief of police and all his staff sacked by making just one telephone call and said he was willing to pay 100,000 euros for that." Sumulikoski, Macedonia's most capped player with 78 international appearances, has also played for Zenit St Petersburg, Bursaspor and English sides Ipswich and Preston.
Boško Stupić signs a 2-year deal with Rabotnicki Forwaed Boško Stupić is back in Macedonia after he decided to sign a two year deal with one of the most prestigious clubs in tha country, Rabotnicki. Frontmen Boško Stupić, who is well-known to Macedonian football fans after he played for Sileks and Vardar earlier in his career, will be at FK Rabotnicki, three times Macedonian Champions, Makedonski Sport reports. Stupić was born on 27 June, 1984 in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides Sileks and Vardar, he also played for Leotar Trebinje, OFK Mladenovac, Istra 1961, and Olimpic Sarajevo. Stupić becomes the first signing for Rabotnicki after Robert Pevnik took over as manager of the club.
Toshack: Macedonia, a huge challenge As FYR Macedonia coach, Toshack will face his native Wales in 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying. “It's a remarkable situation, but I hope we'll see two very good matches,” he exclusively told FIFA.com. The 62-year-old took up his current position in August 2011. He personally regards the task as more akin to a development role, although just over six months into the job, he described his initial impressions as “positive". Following a long coaching career including spells with Real Madrid, Besiktas and as Wales national coach in 1994 and from 2004 to 2010, the mission with the nation ranked 103rd in the world is refreshingly new and full of possibilities. Toshack's record with Macedonia so far reads two wins, two draws and two defeats. In qualifying for UEFA EURO 2012, Crveni Lavovi (The Red Lions) landed fifth out of six in Group B, so the focus now is on the campaign for a berth in Brazil. The nation in south-east Europe, a full member of FIFA since 1994, has yet to qualify for the global showdown. In four attempts between 1998 and 2010, only a pair of draws against the Netherlands in qualifying for Germany 2006 stand out from the norm. Once hostilities commence in autumn 2012, Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and the Welsh provide the opposition to captain Goran Pandev and his team-mates. “It's definitely an interesting and evenly-matched group. All the teams could do it," Toshack mused. It remains to be seen what the former striker can achieve with the Balkan minnows. Are Macedonia serious contenders for a place in Brazil, or just minor irritations on the way for the likes of Serbia, Croatia and the rapidly improving Belgians? A first verdict is due in mid-September, once Macedonia have traveled to Croatia and Scotland on the 7th and 11th respectively
Pandev scored the winner for Napoli in Coppa Italia Napoli snatched a late winner against Cesena amid protests that the ball had not crossed the line to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals on Thursday. Macedonia striker Goran Pandev's 86th-minute free kick was palmed away by Cesena goalkeeper Nicola Ravaglia, but the referee ruled it had crossed the line. The call was so close that even television replays were unclear, although Cesena's players had no doubts as they angrily protested the decision. Relegation-threatened Cesena took a first-half led when Stefan Adrian Popescu scored from the edge of the area after poor defending by the hosts. Pandev replaced Vargas in the second half and proved to be the match winner for the home side. Napoli equalised in the 65th minute when Pandev's shot was parried by Ravaglia and Uruguay forward Cavani snapped up the rebound for his 15th goal of the season in all competitions and later the Macedonian added the go ahead goal.
Pandev in great form but Napoli held at Siena Goran Pandev continues to impress at Napoli after finding the net again in a 1-1 draw at Siena. This is the fourth goal in five matches for the Macedonian striker who has found his scoring touch after leaving Internazionale FC. Siena went up in the secodn half after Napoli had the better chances but failed to convert. They even failed to tie the game on the 79th minute when Cavani missed a penalty shot. The Macedonian however came to the rescue by scoring in the 86th minute on a Dossena assist. The 28-year old had another great game, being a constant threat to the home side's defenders. Napoli continue to let games get away even though they are playing some exciting football. They held a 61-39 possession percentage edge and a 7-1 shot on target count against Siena, but still came away with just one point.
Friendly / Macedonia U21 - Italy U20 2:2 Macedonia U21 salvaged a late draw against Italy U20 after Yani Urdinov converted a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time to tie the game at 2:2. The match was played on a poor pitch in Kumanovo. Macedonia U21 looked the better side in the opening 20 minutes and took the deserving lead in the 16th minute when striker Samir Fazli found the back of the net after an assist by Stefan Spirovski. Italy soon found the equalizer in the 27th minute through Gianluca De Luca. Just before halftime, each team had a chance from a free kick, but Ilija Nestorovski's effort was blocked while Italy's free kick from a dangerous position was handled well by the Macedonian keeper Filip Gacevski. At the start of the 2nd half, manager Boban Babunski made numerous substitutions which negatively affected the play of the Macedonian side as Italy took control of the game. Italy capitalized on the dominance after the break by scoring a goal in the 51st minute to take the 1:2 lead on the road. Striker Giacomo Beretta beat keeper Stole Dimitrievski from close range after a mistake by defender Jasmin Mecinovik. Macedonia did not threaten for the majority of the 2nd half but did manage to tie the game at 2:2 in the third minute of stoppage time when Yani Urdinov converted a penalty. The penalty came after Stefan Ristovski was brought down inside the area by the Italy keeper and the referee immediately pointed to the spot and gave the keeper a yellow card. Urdinov calmly converted the spot kick to set the final 2:2 scoreline.
Pandev looking for permanent stay at Napoli Goran Pandev might extend his stay at Napoli beyond this season. After a rough start in the first few months with the Partenopei, he has convinced his new coach and won over the fans. The Macedonian has become a regular starter recently and has been on great form by also rediscovering his scoring abilities. His agent Carlo Pallavicino, tol SkySport that his client might become a permanent player at Napoli. Pandev is currently on loan from Serie A rivals Internazionale, who Napoli face tonight in the Italian Cup. "I think a permanent move to Napoli this summer is the best solution for both clubs and the player" said Pallavicino.
The Macedonian Cup final between the ethnic Macedonian club Teteks and the ethnic Albanian club Shkendija was prematurely ended due to nationalist chanting from the crowd, despite the players asking their fans to stop. The game will likely be played in the next few days in an empty stadium.
Teteks went on to win the cup on penalties. CL draw... Vardar vs Steau Bucharest Perhaps the worst possible draw for Vardar.