08.06.2015, 01:30
Kiril Lazarov in doubt for FYR Macedonia’s next EHF EURO qualifier

PREVIEW: The powerful right back and recent winner of the VELUX EHF Champions League with FC Barcelona is likely to be sidelined for the match against Switzerland on 10 June

Kiril Lazarov in doubt for FYR Macedonia’s next EHF EURO qualifier

FYR Macedonia enter the final two rounds of the EHF EURO 2016 Qualification ranked third with three points in Group 6.

While their match on 10 June against Switzerland is a must-win one to stay in contention for the second spot in the group, the decisive game will come four days later when they face Czech Republic, who currently have five points, in Skopje.

Even though they lost their two most recent qualifiers against France (25:27 / 24:35), the confidence is high among the Macedonian players.

"We are satisfied with what we have shown so far in this qualification campaign. We secured a very important point in the away game against Czech Republic.

"Against France we played an equal match in Skopje, but unfortunately the decisive moments didn’t go our way. However, if we take into consideration the fact that we faced the current champions, than we should be satisfied with the good performance we produced on court," says left back Filip Lazarov.

What worries FYR Macedonia slightly these days, is an injury that Filip Lazarov’s brother Kiril sustained at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 at the end of May.

At the Cologne event Kiril Lazarov became the first Macedonian to win the VELUX EHF Champions League, but he is likely to miss the game against Switzerland – a return for the game against Czech Republic is possible though.

"Both Switzerland and Czech Republic are very good teams. If we compare the two, maybe Czech Republic are slightly better than the Swiss national team.

"In our match against Switzerland we have to take advantage of our experience. Another plus for us is the fact that they don’t have the chance anymore to qualify for the European Championship, so although they are the hosts I think that we are the favourites in this match," says Filip Lazarov.

While FYR Macedonia beat Switzerland with ease 27:20 in the first leg, the first match game against Czech Republic back in November ended in a dramatic 27:27 draw.

"It will be a very tough game against the Czech Republic, but we play at home and we all know that this is a very big advantage. This is why we will try to show our best and produce a great result," concludes Lazarov

The FYR Macedonia squad for the EHF EURO Qualification matches against Switzerland and Czech Republic

Goalkeepers: Borko Ristovski (Creteil handball), Petar Angelov (Vardar)

Wing players: Dejan Manaskov (HSG Wetzlar), Goce Ojlevski (Metalurg), Goce Gerogievski (Fenix Toulouse HB), Nikola Kostevski (Metalurg)

Line players: Stojance Stoilov (Vardar), Nikola Markoski (Zomimak), Zarko Pesevski (Metalurg)

Backcourt players: Naumche Mojsovski (Lakhwiya), Filip Lazaraov (Vardar), Ace Jonovski (BM Ciudad de Logrono), Velko Markovski (Zomimak), Filip Mirkulovski (TSV Burgdorf), Nemanja Pribak (Vardar), Kiril Lazarov (FC Barcelona), Vlatko Mitkov (HC Krems), Lazo Majnov (HC Odorhei)

TEXT: Amina Idrizi / ts