One can wonder what kind of a football manager Alexander the Great would have made. What Xs and Os would he have drawn up to conquer Scotland and Norway in September? And which Chinese conglomerate would he have used to carve his way through the Kalahari and into South Africa in 2010?
Macedonia recently had a manager with some Iskander-like qualities.
Srečko Katanec resigned his post on April 6th, preferring to pull out of a player power war with Goran Pandev. Katanec was always admired, but never feared. The silky Slovene is now managing the United Arab Emirates and has collected 110 friends on Facebook! Meanwhile, Goran Pandev received a “Medal for Service” from the Macedonian President.
Many will remember Katanec for leading Slovenia to respectability in Euro 2000, and to the 2002 World Cup, where the petulance of Zlatko Zahovic poisoned the squad. Katanec was always a team man, influential in securing bronze for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Olympics and a crucial cog in Sampdoria’s 1991 Scudetto triumph. He could have captained Yugoslavia (then widely considered the best team in Europe) to victory in the 1992 European Championships. It could have been Katanec, not Dunga, receiving the World Cup from Vice President Al Gore in 1994. (It is cruel to consider the prospect of football glory staving off ethnic and sectarian conflict in places like Sarajevo, but those of us who believe in the beauty and power of the game sometimes look back and wish it was folks in Srebrenica, and not Copenhagen, celebrating in 1992.)
The disassembled Yugoslav Republics now make for interesting fairy tale football, with Bosnia and Herzegovina attracting the most attention.
Meanwhile the Macedonians have regrouped under the command of U21 Lieutenant, Mirsad Jonuz, though they lack the current Bosnian espirit de corps, flair or technique. Macedonia may have beaten Scotland and held Norway in Skopje, but the prospects of Macedonia sweeping through the North Atlantic and making it through the permutations and playoffs seem overly reliant on the poaching of Pandev. It’s possible, but unlikely.
We will refrain from linking you to a You Tube compilation of Goran Pandev. We don’t want to abuse the viewers at home with a collection of Lazio goals and heavy metal music.
Greece should be pleased. The South African Organizing Committee will also probably be relieved. A Scottish invasion will be very good for business. And there are probably more Norwegians based in Africa than there are Macedonian football fanatics prepared to venture South.
What’s more likely than a Macedonia advance into Africa, however, is Pandev popping up with a goal or two in Glasgow and Oslo, forcing a share of the spoils, and leaving whoever finishes 2nd in Group 9 with a one-way ticket to Palookaville. And there ain’t no place called Palookaville in KwaZulu Natal.