It was not just Gerrard who knew very little about the Macedonian team. Even Tony Twain was not familiar with the opponent they were about to face.

Not to mention Twain, perhaps most British people, would not easily be able to locate where Macedonia was on Earth with a map. Had it not been for the fact that they were participating in the UEFA European Championship Qualifying tournament, the citizens of the United Kingdom would have thought the little-known country would have been somewhere on the continent of Antarctica.

Long ago, Twain had thought that Macedonia was in Western Europe. He only found out later he was severely mistaken. Macedonia was part of what was once called Yugoslavia, and their football prowess was little to boast about. FK Vardar, the country's most successful football club, had played in three major European tournaments eight times, but the best results they had achieved had only been to advance to the second round twice...

As for the current Macedonian team,