When Macedonia were five minutes away

When Macedonian clubs were competing in the old Yugoslav league system they never won the title. The best performing Macedonian club were FK Vardar from the Macedonian capital of Skopje. In the all-time Yugoslav league table you will find Vardar in 11th with a total of 907 points from  1005 games. Independence followed and gave Macedonian clubs the chance to compete at champions league level in time. It wouldn't be until 1996-97 that the Macedonians would be able to field a side in the champions league qualifiers however. FK Sileks were the first side to compete at champions league level. Vardar's first champions league campaign wouldn't be until the summer of 2002 when having ousted Luxembourg champions F91 Dudelange they fell to Legia Warszawa in the 2nd qualifying round. However Vardar were going to be back the following year and they were going to make an impact.

2003-04:

Just six weeks after securing the 2002-03 league title, Vardar were taking the field in the first qualifying round for the 2003-04 champions league against Welsh powerhouse Barry Town. A 3-0 home first leg victory gave the Skopje side the platform to progress despite losing the 2nd leg 2-1. 

That set up a 2nd qualifying round tie with Russian side CSKA Moskva. A tie that would have many talking about what happened on and off the pitch. On the pitch in the first leg, Vardar came away from the Dynamo stadium with a shock 2-1 lead. Goals from Vlatko Grozdanoski and Brazilian Wandeir meant Vardar were halfway to getting through. The late CSKA goal from Sergey Samodin did leave an element of doubt heading into that second leg in Skopje. 

That second leg was to be both a nervy and heated affair. Nervy on the pitch as Vardar were bidding reach the third qualifying round against the odds while being heated due to the provocation of some local fans by pro-Chechnyan chanting. A few incidents occurred in the Philip II arena in Skopje which involved local fans and the visiting CSKA fans. On the pitch Vardar went 1-0 down on the night when Spartak Gogniyev pounced on a rebound in the box. Still Vardar were leading on the away goals scored in Moscow but nerves were kicking in. Then Wandeir headed Vardar in front in the tie. 1-1 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate and Vardar were now in the driving seat. The Macedonians held on for a famous victory over two legs to progress to the third qualifying round. 

The third qualifying round was new ground for Vardar and Macedonia. Never before had a Macedonian side progressed this far in the champions league. Also the lucrative group stage was now only two games away and again Macedonia had never reached that pot of gold even in Yugoslav times. Standing in the way of history was Czech side Sparta Prague. Vardar were at home in the first leg just a week after overcoming CSKA. 

However they were 2-0 down at half-time after Karel Poborsky and Igor Gluščević scored for the visitors. It seemed Vardar were going down until another of their Brazilians, Rogério da Costa got them back into the game with a header. Vardar then levelled the game through Slavco Georgievski with an unmarked volley. Sparta were in the end to have a sting in the tail as Poborsky put Sparta in front in the last minute of the game. Sparta took a 3-2 lead back to the Czech Republic and Vardar were fuming at the controversial free-kick that Gluščević had scored to put Sparta 2-0 up. 

Sparta Prague v Vardar
source: fotbal.idnes.cz/

The Letna Stadion in Prague was the venue for Vardar's date with destiny on August 26th 2003. Vardar sensationally leveled the tie by going ahead in Prague through a goal from Georgievski and now it was really game on. Well it was for minute or two because Karel Poborsky would haunt Vardar for a 3rd time as Sparta equalized almost immediately afterwards. Sparta were now 4-3 up on aggregate. Vardar were to find the lead on the night midway through the 2nd half when Nigerian Blessing Chinedu found a way past Sparta keeper Jaromír Blažek. 4-4 and one more goal was all that was need to take Vardar through to the champions league group stage. Vardar countered dangerously and despite having the best of the possession late on they just couldn't get that elusive goal. There was to be one more goal but it was for Sparta in the 85th minute when constant thorn in Vardar's side, Karel Poborsky crossed for Libor Sionko to head Sparta level on the night and 5-4 in front on aggregate. Vardar's champions league dream had ended and it was Sparta who went on to the group stage. 

Vardar's fall at the third qualifying round did enable them to take part in the UEFA cup first round where they took on Roma. However Vardar were outclassed by the Italians, who ran out 5-1 winners on aggregate. The European run was over and Vardar were five minutes away from possibly taking Macedonian football to a new level. 
No Macedonian side since this campaign have come close to emulating Vardar's run, not even Vardar themselves. In fact Vardar were to be absent from the champions league qualifiers until the 2012-13 season when they fell to BATE Borisov of Belarus in the 2nd qualifying round. The same stage they have fallen on the two further occasions they have taken part in (2013-14 & 2015-16).