NORTH MACEDONIA will appear at their first ever European Championships this summer after winning Play-Off Path D in order to earn qualification.
The European minnows line-up in Group C alongside the Netherlands, Austria and Ukraine and will fancy their chances of progressing to the knockout phase of the tournament.
The nation reached Euro 2020 thanks to a Goran Pandev winner against Georgia in the Play-Off Path D final, after beating Kosovo in the semi-final.
Skipper and 37-year-old Pandev is widely recognised as the nation’s greatest ever player and is actually older than the country of North Macedonia itself.
The country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, which makes him seven years older than the nation he plays for.
Pandev has played a WHOPPING 119 times for his country, scoring 37 goals in the process and cementing his status as a national hero.
He has played for the likes of Lazio, Inter and Napoli in Serie A and currently plies his trade for Genoa, where he has played for the last six years.
Who are North Macedonia’s star players?
As well as Goran Pandev, Leeds United’s Ezgjan Alioski is one of North Macedonia’s better known players.
The 29-year-old has played 44 times for his country, scoring eight times.
Alioski is also a highly popular figure at Elland Road, playing 161 times for the Whites in four years at the club.
North Macedonia kick off their Euro 2020 campaign on June 13 as they take on Austria at the National Arena in Budapest.
After that they face Ukraine on June 17 at the same venue before flying to Amsterdam to take on the Netherlands in their home ground on June 21.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
