FYR Macedonia defender Daniel Georgievski was born and raised in Sydney and stars with Melbourne Victory in the A-League – but he has no divided loyalties at the prospect of facing Australia in Skopje on Tuesday morning (AEDT).
With 21 caps for the country of his parents and with all but one season of his professional career in Europe, lining up against the green and gold isn’t tugging at the heart strings of the left-back, who has been an instant hit since arriving at Victory this season.
However the 27-year-old defender admits it’s more than just any match, explaining: “Being born and raised in Australia this game is going to be more memorable for me.
“To get the chance to play against Australia in my career is good thing. I’ll do my best to look at it like any other game because if I think different I might end up playing badly. You don’t want to get emotions mixed into it.”
Having escaped the attention of the Socceroos set up, Georgievski said: “I don’t think I have anything to prove. I did play in Australia and my parents are there.
“But I moved to Europe really because of Macedonia (playing for the national team).
“I was never contacted by Australia. So it was a one-way decision. The only time there was any contact was when they wanted training compensation for me playing in Europe, which was wasn’t very nice.
“I was waiting for Australia but no call was ever made … and I don’t look back on it.
“By playing for Macedonia I ended up playing Europa League and Champions League (with Steaua Bucharest), and got to where I am now, so I will never look back (with regret) over the decision I made seven years ago.
“I am here now and I am happy representing my country.”
Pressed on whether he thought that he could do a job for Australia in a left-back position which has often been up for grabs, he replied: “The fact you can’t switch national teams, I don’t even look into it.
“People like to have conversations about what if … but why would I waste my time thinking about what ifs when I have been involved in the Macedonian team for so long?”
With just two points from five games in EURO 2016 qualifying, FYR Macedonia suffered a 2-1 home loss to Belarus last week and is already out of contention in a group featuring Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine as it limps into battle with Australia in damage limitation mode.
“We have a lot of young players and a taken few bumps from the game against Belarus, but there is some quality there and hopefully that will shine through against a big country like Australia,” he added.
Georgievski, who has many relatives still in FYR Macedonia including an uncle who owns the hotel in which the Australian team is staying, said that coming from Australia, where he played his formative football with former national League side Marconi Stallions, he had had to rein in his aggression.
“I had to adapt to a lot of things coming to Europe,” he said. “And that was one thing. Obviously, coming back to Australia I have adapted again.”
While far from confident FYR Macedonia can pose a genuine threat to a Socceroos side riding a wave of belief after their 2-2 draw with Germany last week, he said: “It’s going to be an aggressive game. We do what we do and try not to worry too much about the other team.”
Despite his broad Aussie accent and western Sydney roots, Georgievski never devoted much energy to following the national team until the AFC Asian Cup 2015 which he watched with friends, insisting: “There’s no doubt I have soft spot in my heart for Australia.
“Against Germany, though, I didn’t want them to have a good result because I didn’t want them to face us with too much confidence. But they will come with a lot of confidence.
“I am happy for them but not so much for ourselves right now.”
source:theworldgame.sbs.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 