Milevski: ‘Macedonia not tourists against Italy’

North Macedonia coach Blagoja Milevski warns that they are not in Rome ‘as tourists’ and will give Italy a battle on the pitch in tomorrow’s EURO 2024 qualifier.

It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday at 19.45 GMT.

The Azzurri need four points from their remaining two matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine to secure qualification for the tournament, by-passing the play-offs.

North Macedonia are effectively out of the running for even a play-off spot and the final two games will be against Italy and England.

“When you work in football, you always hope to have success, and that changes nothing for us tomorrow,” said coach Milevski said in his press conference.

“We did not come here to be tourists, but to get the best possible result from this game. Every match is its own unique story, none of them are similar to the previous ones. Tomorrow’s match is special, it has a lot of weight for us and we are here to give our best.”

North Macedonia had one of their greatest moments in football when beating Italy in the 2022 World Cup play-offs thanks to a last-gasp goal.

They also held the Azzurri 2-2 during this qualifying group stage, which is why they are currently third behind Ukraine, so once again all the pressure is on the Nazionale.

“When we are representing our own country, we must always give our best, even against a top team like Italy. We can still be competitive, even with young players who want to prove themselves.

“Our focus is not on what happened in the past, but what we must do tomorrow. We need to play at a superior level to Italy in order to get out of here with a positive result.”

Winger Aleksandar Trajkovski is out of the game with a muscular issue. His most famous goal for North Macedonia was that late winner in the World Cup play-off in March 2022.