On the strength of its brilliance against Italy, North Macedonia prepares for its match “the hardest” against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on Tuesday to achieve the “dream” of an entire country, to play a first World Cup in Qatar. The team from the small Balkan country comes to the play-off final full of confidence after its victory in Palermo against the Nazionale (1-0), deprived of the World Cup for the second time in a row.
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“Honestly, this might be one of the toughest and most exciting matches for all of usattacking midfielder Elif Elmas said on Sunday. We will have 90 minutes to realize our childhood dream, not only ours, but that of the whole country. Quite simply, we must realize that we cannot miss this chance.”
North Macedonia are aiming for a fourth consecutive international victory away from home but will have to face Cristiano Ronaldo who, at 37, will probably not have another opportunity to participate in a World Cup. “We don’t want to hurt Ronaldo’s career but we think we can win against Portugal“, commented winger Ezgjan Alioski.
Portugal and North Macedonia have faced each other only once in the past, in a friendly match in 2012 which ended in a goalless draw. Despite the difficulties ahead, the capital Skopje is bubbling with the hopes of the inhabitants encouraged by the goal scored last week against Italy by Aleksandar Trajkovski.
The country of less than two million people played its first international match in 1993, two years after declaring its independence from the former Yugoslavia. Despite their relative lack of experience, the team had other notable results on the international stage, including an iconic win over Germany last year in Duisburg in Euro qualifying. .
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