Macedonia coach offers resignation
| Macedonia were brought down to earth with a bang after Saturday's 2-2 draw against the Dutch |
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SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonia coach Dragan Kanatlarovski said on Thursday he had submitted his resignation after Wednesday's embarrassing 1-0 defeat by Andorra in their World Cup qualifier.
"I offered to quit as I felt guilty over this shameful result for Macedonian soccer," Kanatlarovski told a news conference.
"Everyone is proud when we achieve a good result but when we lose as we did last night there is just one man to be blamed and that's me."
Macedonia Soccer Association president Haralampie Hadjiristeski said he had asked the coach to write a report on the match, which will be discussed at a meeting next week.
"After that I will take the decision whether to release him," Hadjiristeski told Reuters.
Macedonia, who beat Armenia 3-0 in their opening Group One match and held the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw on Saturday, have dropped to fifth place in the group standings.
The timing of the loss could not have been worse because the match was Macedonia's 100th international since the former Yugoslav republic gained independence in 1991.