Martin Valjent and Aleksandar Trajkovski have made history with their countries having qualified for next summer’s European Championships. Although our stars were unused substitutes in the play-off finals, the former's Slovakia reached their second-ever European Championships courtesy of a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in extra time, while Trajkovski and North Macedonia have qualified for the tournament for the first time in their history. Prior to the fixture, the pair spoke to club media about what it would mean to them and their countries should they qualify.
On being selected by the national side...
Martin Valjent: “I value it a lot. A player who can play in the national team and can play at an important club like Mallorca is very lucky and satisfied. I value that work and want to do it for a long time.”
Aleksandar Trajkovski: “I was an international when I was very young. My first game was when I was 17-years-old. After that, I have always been in the international squad and I’ve had presence in the international squad, not loads, but enough of a presence.”
On qualifying...
Aleksandar Trajkovski: “For us it would be history in our country. It’s never happened before, so I think for us, it's normally that we have this pressure, but that motivates you. You see the people giving you their support, so for us, we’re going there to play this game, give it our best and go for the Euros. These are the biggest goals of my career: to get promoted to the first division and to play at the Euros. It’s my personal objective, but also for everyone and the whole island as well.”
Martin Valjent: “When it’s only one game, you have to think a little like it’s going to be just 90 or 120 minutes and everything will be played and qualified. You have to give it everything and you need to have that luck to get those big results. I value it a lot. A player who can play in the national team and can play at an important club like Mallorca is very lucky and satisfied. I value that work and want to do it for a long time.”
On the opposition...
Martin Valjent: “It’s going to be difficult like it was in the semi-final. It’s a team very similar in the style of football in which they play and like I we did in the semi-final, we have to give it everything playing our football. I think in the national team you always rely a little bit more on the group and that energy which you can transmit inside or outside the group which can be decisive.”
Aleksandar Trajkovski: “It will be a difficult game because we will play away there away from home. I think we have very good players and a really good team. We have played against them and we know how they play. It’s football. It’s 50-50. We’re going to give it everything on the pitch. From there, what happens, happens I think we have a big chance of winning because we’re a good team."
