Kanatlarovski to carry on

Surprise defeat
The 44-year-old had offered to stand down after the national team were beaten 1-0 by Andorra in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 13 October, but the FAM executive committee decided that he should stay on in his role until the end of the qualifying campaign.

Unanimous decision
"All 13 members of the executive board voted for Kanatlarovski to stay until the end of his contract in December 2005," said FAM press officer Zoran Nikolovski. Meanwhile, the coach himself added: "I will do my best to ensure that this is the team's last shameful defeat."

Reasonable start
F.Y.R. Macedonia had started their Group 1 campaign well with a 3-0 win against Armenia and a creditable 2-1 defeat in Romania before pulling off a surprise result in holding the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw in Skopje on 9 October. However, the defeat against Andorra four days later was a major humiliation.

Previous dismissal
Andorra had never previously won a competitive international game in 31 attempts and indeed had lost their previous 30 games. Kanatlarovski has tasted disappointment with the national team before, having been dismissed as coach in 2001 after their qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup.