Macedonia’s Trickovski joins Al Nasr

Macedonia’s Ivan Trickovski (centre) vies with Belgium’s Toby Alderweireld during the 2014 World Cup qualifying match. — AFP

Al Nasr have signed Macedonian international striker Ivan Trickovski from Belgium outfit Club Brugge, with the 27-year-old penning a two-year deal here at Al Maktoum Stadium.

Trickovski, who is expected to wear the number seven jersey for the Blue Wave, has a wealth of European experience in the now-defunct Uefa Cup and Uefa Champions League with Red Star Belgrade and APOEL Nicosia.

Indeed, in Cyprus, Trickovski worked under Nasr boss Ivan Jovanovic and he appeared in all but one of APOEL’s Champions League matches as they unexpectedly reached the quarter-finals in the 2011-12 season. He netted in a 1-1 group-phase draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine and also slotted home a penalty as his side registered a sensational 4-3 shootout victory over Olympique Lyonnais in the round of 16.

Such showings earned him a €1.2m move to Belgium’s Juliper Pro League, where he struggled to acclimatise and adapt in Bruges prior to a season-long loan at Waasland-Beveren last term. There, he hit the target five times from 33 appearances. His most prolific spells to date have been at APOEL (17 goals in 51 games between 2010 and 2012) and FK Rabotnicki (14 goals in 26 matches from 2006 to 2007).

Trickovski has been capped at U17, U19, U21 and senior representative levels. He has amassed 34 caps as a fully-fledged international since making his goalscoring debut in a 3-1 friendly win against minnows Azerbaijan four years ago.

His three other efforts for Macedonia have come against Malta (a 1-1 friendly draw in August 2010), the Republic of Ireland (a 2-1 Euro 2012 qualifying loss in March 2011) and Wales (a 2-1 Fifa World Cup qualifying victory in September 2013). It is expected that Trickovski shall replace Eder Luis at Nasr as the crocked Brazilian flop is unlikely to return from injury until midway through the forthcoming season.

alex@khaleejtimes.com