Just being here is a big deal but this creative team can go further, particularly with two group games close to home in Bucharest
This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2020 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 24 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.
North Macedonia will make history this summer, taking part in their first major tournament, and the national team’s success has created total euphoria in the country. Goran Pandev, Elif Elmas, Enis Bardhi, Arijan Ademi, Stefan Ristovski, Ezgjan Alioski, Boban Nikolov and the rest are already heroes back home for what they have done. Just to qualify is a huge success for a small Balkan country with a huge football heart but the coach, Igor Angelovski, does not want the story to end there. The main aim is to continue to achieve this summer and not be a footnote.
