Macedonia may just as easily be sitting at 4 points today, instead we have 1, and are looking at en early trip across the border. Against Sweden, the match was tied, we had the last chance to score, and we didn't. Against Germany, the red and yellow managed to do something not too many can do, lose an already won match!? One can sense the pressure on the Macedonian players. You can see it in their faces. They play as if carrying 25 kilos on their shoulders. In particular this is the case with Mak handball legend Kiril Lazarov who has played well below his abilities. Frankly, not to sound overly critical because I am a huge Lazarov fan, the sad truth is he is our worst player at the moment. Against Sweden and Germany, Lazarov scored 14 goals. Pretty good, right? Not if you look at the statistics. Lazarov scored 14 goals out of 36 shots! 36!!! Should I add he missed 5 penalties, which brings his stats to 14/41!
You can see Lazarov's heavy legs. He is under such pressure to take Macedonia into the second round (some are even talking about Olympic qualification), that he is literally unable to move on the floor. The pressure has affected his shot selection which for the past two games has been brutal, and the statistics show that. Only a win will see Macedonia progress... a tall order indeed. Naum Mojosvski on the other hand has been hiding on the floor. Even when he scores he is invisible, uncharacteristically quiet. In two games he has sent only 15 shots, and scored 9 goals, not good, but much better stats than Lazarov. Mojsovski is the leading scorer in the Champions league, where all the best European players play. He is virtually unstoppable while playing for Skopje based Metalurg, averaging 9 goals per game. In Metalurg he roars, for the national team one can not notice him. And then you have Stoilov who scored 9 goals out of 12 shots. The HC Vardar player and goalkeeper Petar Angelov are the only bright stars n the team. There is one game remaining. It's against the Czech Republic. We sure hope for a win, however if we are realistic and judging from what we have seen thus far, it will be very hard for Macedonia to beat the Czechs. Perhaps the Czech coach described tomorrow's match perfectly: "it will be a small civil war" .
//Pero Stamatovski
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