International Friendly Preview: Montenegro – Macedonia

Montenegro host Macedonia in an international friendly match tonight in Podgorica. It promises to be an evenly contested battle between two up and coming European nations.

Montenegro

The Montenegrins have been solid in their first ever qualifying campaign as an independent nation, despite the fact that they have failed to win any of their first three games.

They have managed two draws, and a defeat against Italy thus far, to sit in fourth position in Group 8 of their World Cup qualifying group.

The Balkan side are guided by none other than Red Star Belgrade’s legendary striker of the 1970s, Zoran Filipovic, who certainly possesses plenty of experience to get the best football he can out of this side. He has a talented squad, with a good mix of youth and experience, the key to a successful international squad.

With the likes of Roma’s Mirko Vucinic, Rapid midfield Branko Bošković, and Fiorentina’s young starlet Stevan Jovetic, the signs are promising for the immediate footballing future of this nation.

They will be very motivated to win this contest, to regain some confidence before they resume their World Cup qualifiers early next year.

Their weakness is undoubtedly at the back, especially for this contest as their two first-choice centre-backs, Radoslav Batak and Jovan Tanasijević, will both miss through injury. As a result, expect to see them approach this match in a very attacking manner, as they go for the win in Podgorica.

Macedonia

Despite this particular contest being only a friendly, one in which many countries would utilize to test new players and tactics; the Macedonian coach Srečko Katanec has continued his style of naming just an 18-man squad for his side’s trip to Montenegro.

He has one new player amongst his ranks, with that being Dejan Milosevski from Lithuanian club Vetra. Consequently, his squad is almost identical from the one that he selected a little over a month ago to face Iceland in their World Cup qualifier.

This approach to matches has brought his nation results in the past; however, it is only a friendly in this case, meaning that the reward for victory is almost non-existent.

In terms of their World Cup qualifying campaign, the Macedonians have been in decent touch despite only winning one from three to date. Their victory came at home against Scotland in their opening qualifier, and since then they have been defeated by both the Netherlands and Iceland, leaving them in fourth place in Group 9.

Despite their great domestic form, the attacking duo of Filip Ivanovski and Ivan Trickovski have been left out of the squad once again, whilst the Macedonian captain and key defender Goce Sedloski is still out, following a disagreement with the coach.

The Macedonians will be very motivated heading into this match, as they will be looking to make amends for their two successive defeats in the World Cup qualifiers, so expect them to give their all in this enthralling contest.

TEAM NEWS

Montenegro Squad:

Goalkeepers: Mladen Božović (Partizan), Vukašin Poleksić (Debrecini)

Defenders: Vladimir Božović (Rapid Bucureşti), Miodrag Džudović (Spartak Nalchik), Milan Jovanović (Universitatea Cluj-Napoca), Dejan Ognjanović (Łódź), Savo Pavićević (Energie Cottbus), Luka Pejović (Mogren), Elsad Zverotić (Luzern).

Midfielders: Branko Bošković (Rapid Wien), Nikola Drinčić (Amkar Perm), Mitar Novaković (Amkar Perm), Milorad Peković (Mainz 05), Simon Vukčević (Sporting Lisboa).

Forwards: Đorđije Ćetković (Hansa Rostock), Radomir Đalović (Rapid Bucureşti), Stevan Jovetić (Fiorentina), Mirko Vučinić (Roma), Nikola Vujović (Mogren).

Macedonia Squad:

Goalkeepers: Petar Milosevski (Enosis Neon Paralimni FC, CYP), Tome Pacovski (FK Vardar Skopje).

Defenders: Igor Mitreski (FC Energie Cottbus, GER), Vlade Lazarevski (Polonia Warsaw, POL), Nikolce Noveski (1. FSV Mainz 05, GER), Boban Grncarov (Maccabi Petah Tikva, ISR), Aleksandar Vasoski (Eintracht Frankfurt, GER), Daniel Mojsov (Makedonija Gjorce Petrov), Goran Popov (Heerenveen, HOL).

Midfielders: Vlatko Grozdanoski (FK Vojvodina Novi Sad, SER), Darko Tasevski (PFK Levski Sofia, BUL), Vanco Trajanov (FK Chernomorec, BUL), Velice Sumulikoski (Ipswich Town FC, ENG), Dejan Miloseski (FK Vėtra Vilnus, LIT).

Forwards: Goran Pandev (S.S. Lazio, ITA), Goran Maznov (FK Tom' Tomsk, RUS), Aco Stojkov (Nyíregyháza Spartacus, HUN), Ilco Naumoski (SV Mattersburg, AUT).

PREDICTION

Despite it being just an international friendly match, expect both sides to play for the win. It should be an intriguing battle, between two sides that are vulnerable at the back, but possess great attacking players to do the damage up front. Expect goals, as the likes of Vucinic, Jovetic and Vukcevic will all be keen to get their names on to the score sheet in front of their home crowd. The visitors will defend as well as they can, and look to counter attack wherever possible, making it an enthralling contest in Podgorica. It will be a tight tussle, but the Montenegrins will lift in front of their home supporters and account for their opponents tonight.

Montenegro 3-2 Macedonia

Adrian Del Monte