The North Macedonia goalkeeper who stopped Bellingham and will look to do the same to England

“My first year I didn’t learn the words of the song, as we didn’t win so many games,” says Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. “But the three or four years since, we have had plenty of victories, so I know the words well now.

“It makes me proud to sing ‘La Vida Pirata’ with our fans. There is a connection, a positive energy — they represent us, we represent them — which creates an authentic, original atmosphere. There are very few stadiums where you get that feeling.”

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North Macedonia goalkeeper Dimitrievski is speaking to The Athletic in Madrid about the song which begins “The life of the pirate is the best life” and rings out around Rayo’s Vallecas stadium after every home victory.

As the 29-year-old Dimitrievski says, he has had plenty of occasions to gather with his team-mates and sing with the club’s fans in recent seasons. Under previous coach Andoni Iraola (now at Bournemouth), Rayo won two and drew two of their games against Barcelona through 2021-22 and 2022-23. They also beat Real Madrid 3-2 at Vallecas last season and held them to a goalless draw at the Santiago Bernabeu a few weeks ago.

“We have shown that, with hard work and positivity, even the smallest teams can compete against anybody else,” Dimitrievski says.

“Last year, it was a pity when I conceded (after three consecutive clean sheets) against Barcelona, although we were already winning 2-0. There is a lot of motivation when you are playing against Barca or Madrid.

“I have always liked to play with pressure and tension, that makes me better. But I also see a clean sheet or a victory against Cadiz, Las Palmas or Alaves, teams like us, as really important. The boss this year (Francisco) is always insisting that we need to go out to win every game.”

That clean sheet against Madrid means Dimitrievski is one of the very few goalkeepers to have stopped Real Madrid’s latest Galactico, Jude Bellingham, from scoring during his first few months in Spain. He would have had another chance to thwart Bellingham in North Macedonia’s European Championship qualifier against England on Monday night, but the 20-year-old midfielder has been ruled out with a shoulder injury.

“(Bellingham) is an incredible player, with so many attributes, and can score with a long-range shot, a header, by arriving late in the box,” says Dimitrievski, who saved a Jorginho penalty in Friday’s 5-2 defeat against Italy in Rome.

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“The boss talked a lot about his movement, to always have one of our players close to him. To follow him when he is arriving in the ‘second line’. And the plan worked perfectly, except maybe we lacked a bit in attack to score and win the game. But we left the stadium happy.”

During a heated moment at the Bernabeu, TV cameras picked up Madrid forward Vinicius Junior telling Dimitrievski: “Me and you, outside afterwards.”

“Vinicius likes to have those conversations, for sure it motivates him more,” the ’keeper says with a smile. “I also enjoy these moments. It is all healthy, all normal, with some humour, no hard feelings.

“After the game, (Vinicius Jr) left quickly, so I could not give him a hug — as I like to do after the game to everyone, my team-mates and the opponents. It is just a game, a spectacle, you have to enjoy the moment, doing your job, trying to get points for your team.”

Dimitrievski began his career with North Macedonian club Rabotnicki, then played for Udinese in Serie A, Cadiz, Granada and Gimnastic before joining Rayo in 2018.

Last May, he passed much-loved Nigerian Rayo legend Wilfred Agbonavbare as the goalkeeper with most La Liga games for the club. Agbonavbare suffered racist abuse when playing in Spain in the 1990s, as Vinicius Jr has on regular occasions when playing for Madrid through recent seasons.

“What Vinicius has suffered is obviously wrong,” Dimitrievski says. “I am against all racism, and with the people who just come to the stadium to enjoy the game. Nobody should be doing that at a game. Obviously, they are trying to make him lose focus. But he is still a decisive player, one of the best in La Liga.”

Vallecas is a traditionally working-class, left-leaning neighbourhood to the south-east of Madrid, whose population has grown in recent years with immigrants from many different areas of the world, including South America and Africa.

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“There are many nationalities and backgrounds (in Vallecas), but nationality is not so important,” Dimitrievski says.

“When you come from another country and you live in this neighbourhood, you simply connect. You say ‘Wow — I am not from here, but that does not matter’. At many big clubs, the players win trophies and feel good, comfortable. Here, we do not win many trophies, but you have this connection, with the fans showing their love for the club, for where they come from, the stadium, the players.”

Along with the ‘Republic of Vallecas’ — as residents affectionately call it — Dimitrievski proudly represents another country. He was born in December 1993, two years after North Macedonia gained independence on the breakup of the former Yugoslavia (it changed its name from Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019 following a dispute with Greece).

The highlight so far of his international career came in the summer of 2021, when the country of just over two million inhabitants played in the postponed Euro 2020, its first senior international tournament. North Macedonia finished bottom of their group, but it was a significant step. 

For Dimitrievski and his team to play their three group games in the Romanian capital of Bucharest had extra meaning, which many outside the Balkans would not have realised.

“To play for Macedonia is something sacred, the most important, you represent a nation, a people,” he says. “To play in a Euros finals in Bucharest, with all the people hearing our national anthem in that place, that filled the team with pride.”

North Macedonia finished second in their group in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, reaching the play-offs — where they stunned two-time European champions Italy before narrowly falling at the final hurdle to Portugal.

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“We were one step from a World Cup, which for Macedonia would be incredible,” he says. “But there are still various tournaments left for me — and why not, to play a World Cup would be the best thing possible in my career.

“We have young players with energy and excitement, like (Napoli midfielder) Elif Elmas, (Burnley winger) Darko Churlinov, and (Aberdeen striker) Bojan Miovski. And we have older players with experience. We have to go for it now.”

Dimitrievski and his colleagues will not be at Euro 2024, however. Their hopes of making those finals were dashed by a 3-2 home defeat to Ukraine last June in which they had been 2-0 up at half-time.

The ’keeper says the hangover from that game was to blame for their 7-0 defeat to England at Old Trafford a few days later, but that they will be looking to make amends in Monday’s game in Skopje.

“Losing the game to Ukraine was difficult for us to take,” he says. “But now we have another game against England to show what we can do, to play much better. In our stadium, we will have a lot of support from our fans. Hopefully, we can get something positive.”

(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

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