MACEDONIAN newsmen, waiting in the bleak surrounds of Skopje airport for the Aer Lingus plane taking the Republic of Ireland squad to World Cup duty, were as surprised as the rest of us by the day's shock development.
No Paul McGrath meant that stories had to be revised and, like their Irish counterparts, they regretted the big man's absence, albeit for different reasons.
McGrath's return to the Irish team at the age of 37 was interpreted as a weakness which Goko Hadzievski, the national coach, was apparently ready to exploit.
"I think he will be disappointed," said one journalist. "He was planning to concentrate on McGrath because he is old.
A big danger from an Irish viewpoint is the accomplished striker Vanco Micevski, who plays in the Belgian League with Mechelen and was designated by the Macedonian coach to exploit McGrath's perceived lack of mobility.
When the Macedonians visited Liechtenstein last November they ran in 11 goals against the part timers. In December however they lost 3-0 at home to Romania.
According to one local source, some 15,000 match tickets are in circulation for tomorrow's game, but the expectation is that not more than 10,000 of them will be sold before the 5.0 p.m. (local time) kickoff.
