Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski aims to bounce back from the Dons’ Parkhead pain by shooting down Euro giants Italy and England.
Miovski led the line for the Reds in the heavy 6-0 loss to Premiership champions Celtic in Glasgow on Sunday.
Immediately after that defeat, the centre-forward jetted out to meet up with the North Macedonian international squad for a Euro 2024 qualifying double-header.
North Macedonia will face Euro 2020 winners Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Friday.
They will then face beaten Euros finalists (and qualifying Group C leaders) England on Monday at the Tose Proeski Arena, Skopje.
Capped 13 times, the in-form Reds’ goal hero is in contention to start against both Italy and England.
Miovski is Aberdeen’s top scorer this season with 10 goals in all competitions.
He reckons starring for the Dons has elevated his standing within the North Macedonian squad.
Miovski has already helped North Macedonia shock four-time World Cup winners Italy twice in recent years.
And he reckons lightning can strike again in Rome.
He said: “It is always a pleasure to play against the best national teams in the world.
“I have a better chance of playing in the matches because I have got so many minutes at Aberdeen.
“I think we will outplay them (Italy) again.
“It is obvious that Italy will have control and possession of the ball, so it is up to us to wait for a chance from a counter attack.
“We can surprise them.
“We will be playing on a better pitch and therefore I think there will be better quality football and a great game to watch.”
Miovski has underlined his quality on the continental stage by scoring in four of Aberdeen’s six European games so far this season.
A £535,000 signing from Hungarian club MTK Budapest in summer 2022, Miovski also scored the winning goal in the Viaplay Cup semi-final against Hibs.
Last season he netted 18 goals in all competitions and is already on course to smash that goal tally this term.
Miovski’s prolific scoring form will inevitably draw attention from other clubs in future transfer windows – potentially January.
🇲🇰⚽️ pic.twitter.com/iAHWo7ccuj
— Bojan Miovski (@bojanmiovskii) November 15, 2023
English Championship club Southampton were understood to be monitoring the striker last season.
Italian Serie A club Lazio reportedly considered moving for Miovski in the January transfer window.
French club Stade de Reims had Miovski on their radar, as did Italian top-flight clubs Bologna and Spezia.
The striker is contracted to the Dons until summer 2026.
Miovski’s North Macedonia ‘will try to surprise’ Italy after previous shocks
Miovski has already featured in two fixtures where North Macedonia stunned two-time Euros champions Italy.
In March last year, Miovski’s flicked header played in Aleksandar Trajkovski to score a dramatic injury time winner in the 1-0 World Cup play-off semi-final victory against the Italians.
However, North Macedonia and Miovski’s World Cup dream would eventually end when losing 2-0 to Portugal in their play-off final.
Miovski then played the entire 90 minutes in a 1-1 Euro 2024 qualifier draw with Italy in Skopje in September this year.
The Azurri were 1-0 up through a goal from Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.
However, North Macedonia levelled in the 81st minute via a stunning free-kick from Trabzonspor’s Enis Bardhi.
Miovski said: “In the last few games against Italy, we have achieved excellent results.
“Against the Italian team we will play our own game and we will need to wait for our opportunities in counter-attacks.
“It is normal for the Italians to possess the ball more than the opponent and control the game.
“However, we will try to surprise them.”
Miovski testing himself against the best – as he gets set for belated crack at England
North Macedonia currently sit fourth in the five-nation Group C, three points behind third-placed Italy.
Both Italy and North Macedonia have a game in hand on second-placed Ukraine
Group leaders England have already qualified for Euro 2024.
North Macedonia have a slim chance of qualifying, but need to win both of their final matches against Italy and England whilst also hope results elsewhere go their way.
Miovski will finally get to face England on Monday after missing out on the summer’s clash with the beaten Euro 2020 finalists at Old Trafford due to injury.
The striker suffered ankle ligament damage from a reckless tackle by St Mirren’s Thierry Small in the last home game of last season.
Miovski was stretchered off the Pittodrie pitch with an injury which ended his domestic campaign and ruled him out of qualifiers against England and Ukraine.
North Macedonia lost 7-0 to England.
He said: “The upcoming matches against Italy and England will allow us to realise what level we are at.
“And I think now is the right time for that.
“There is no more pressure on us in terms of fulfilling tournament objectives.”
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