Ilija Najdoski ( mk, Илија Најдоски; born 26 March 1964) is a retired Macedonian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played for

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

and was part of their European Cup victory in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Club career

He also played in Spain for

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

in Spain's

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

and

Denizlispor Denizlispor, due to current sponsorship Altaş Denizlispor, is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. ...

in Turkey's

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

International career

Najdoski represented both

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

in international matches. Even after Macedonian independence, he was included in the Yugoslav squad for Euro 1992, but the nation would be suspended due to the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. Najdoski later played in the first ever official match of Macedonia, played on 13 October 1993, against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. His final international was a March 1996

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Personal life

He is the father of Macedonian player Dino Najdoski. Najdoski is an ethnic Aromanian.

References

External links

*
Profile at Macedonian Football

Reprezentacija.rs
1964 births Living people People from Kruševo Macedonian people of Aromanian descent Association football central defenders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Macedonian footballers Macedonian expatriate footballers North Macedonia international footballers Dual internationalists (football) FK Pobeda players FK Vardar players Red Star Belgrade footballers Real Valladolid players Denizlispor footballers PFC CSKA Sofia players FC Sion players Yugoslav First League players Segunda División players La Liga players Süper Lig players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Swiss Super League players Expatriate footballers in Spain Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland {{Yugoslavia-footy-bio-stub