Strolling down the streets of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, a Crvena zvezda lookalike shirt inside a clothing shop called 'Sheezick na reezick' catches my eye.
Upon entering the store, the owner notices that my attention is drawn to their football-inspired pieces and immediately begins telling me a story about their collection inspired by the career, and more specifically, by the winning penalty in the 1991 European Cup final of the so-called 'Cobra', better known as Darko Pancev, who is, interestingly enough, next on my interview list.
Amazed by the coincidence, the owner's mood lights up, and he recalls the childhood days when, accompanied by his friends, he went to Vardar's first-team training sessions and watched the Macedonian striker's shooting practices in the hope of passing the ball back to him if he failed to find the back of the net, which was a rarity.
With me leaving the store with one of their unique shirts in the bag, the owner hands me a free beanie from the 'Cobra' collection as a gift for his boyhood hero, such is the influence and legendary status of Darko Pancev, even almost 30 years after his retirement.
"I vividly remember the times when Skopje City Park was full of people. Even when we had first-team trainings, sometimes more than a thousand supporters were present and the training pitch was full of football fans," Pancev begins.
"We lived for football and we lived for Vardar. It was a wonderful time, not only for us as a squad, but also for the fans who enjoyed watching their favourites and witnessing the successes of our generation.
"Every kid starting a football career at some club dreams of playing professionally for that club one day and winning titles, and my dreams definitely came true in Vardar's shirt," begins Pancev.
Conquering Europe
After developing into one of the best strikers in Yugoslavia and becoming the Yugoslav First League top scorer (19 goals) in 1983/84, he then led Vardar to the club's historic Yugoslav First League title in 1986/87 before joining Crvena zvezda in the summer of 1988, as one of the most talented young forwards in Europe.
"I joined Crvena zvezda at almost 23 and had already earned a good reputation. I was playing for Yugoslavia's senior national team and the expectations were high with me coming to Belgrade," he remembers.
"However, I came to an environment I was already familiar with, alongside players I knew from the national team. The difference was that Crvena zvezda was a more organised club than Vardar, with more fans, both on and off the pitch.
"Belgrade is a big city, a beautiful city to live in, at least in our time; I hope it's the same now. And of course, with the success of that Crvena zvezda team in those four years, it was truly a wonderful feeling to be there. Many beautiful memories from that period of my life and truly only positive memories."
The Macedonian fit in like a glove in Belgrade alongside the likes of Dragan Stojkovic and Dejan Savicevic, who he labels as the best players that he ever played with, and the club established domestic dominance in Yugoslavia by winning the league for three consecutive seasons, from 1989 to 1992.
They were gaining prominence in Europe as well, and reached the 1991 European Cup final in Bari, where the match against Marseille went to a penalty shoot-out, and no other than Pancev was the final penalty taker.
"I was feeling the pressure as I was walking from the halfway line to the penalty spot, but when I picked up the ball, the pressure was gone.
"Personally, I was not the type of penalty taker to pick a side before taking the penalty, and I always waited for the goalkeeper to move before taking my shot. That was also the case at that moment, as I waited until the final moment to find out Pascal Olmeta's movement and then I picked a side and hit the ball as hard as I can in the net."
Struggles at Inter and turning down Man Utd
With Yugoslavia on the verge of collapse, a lot of Crvena zvezda's stars ended up leaving the club in the summer of 1992, and with Pancev being the Yugoslav First League top scorer for three consecutive seasons and fresh off winning the European Golden shoe in 1991, it was no surprise to see the giants lining up to sign him, with Inter winning the race for his signature.
"In 1992, Yugoslavia started to fall apart with several republics proclaiming independence and it became clear that it was the end of the country that we all knew. And it was only logical for us to look for moves abroad, as the Yugoslav First League, which was one of the strongest in Europe at that time, was affected as well," he states.
"I was one of the most sought-after strikers at the time as the leading goalscorer for several years in Europe and a lot of the big clubs like Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United and Inter were interested in signing me.
"However, back in the day, we didn't have the chance to follow the foreign leagues as much as today, social media didn't exist and I didn't have evidence of how Inter was playing and so on. And knowing what I know now, almost certainly I wouldn't have joined Inter and instead, I would've joined a team which plays much more attacking football, as every striker's output depends a lot on the team.
"If the team isn't creative enough and doesn't create chances, it's difficult for any striker to adapt to a defensive team. Unfortunately, it was my bad choice."
Despite a promising start in the Nerazzurri shirt, with him scoring five goals in a Coppa Italia tie at the start of the 1992/93 season, Pancev quickly fell out of favour with coach Osvaldo Bagnoli and struggled for playing time in Serie A, limiting him to less than 20 league appearances across three seasons.
"Looking back, there were a lot of irrational things going on, as I scored five goals in Coppa Italia.
"After that, in 1992, that was a politically tense period and I know an Italian journalist who told me that he received complaining letters and e-mails about why the newspaper was referring to me as 'Il Macedone', which gained attention. It might have had a certain influence because there was no reason for the coach to leave me out like that.
"I was also a bit arrogant as well, and I argued with him about that, then I fell out with the board as well, and our relationship became irreparable."
Sir Alex Ferguson closely followed Pancev's career, admiring his goalscoring instinct, and after taking note of his struggles in Italy, a fax came in December 1992 with Manchester United expressing interest in signing the out-of-favour striker.
"Ferguson was in love with our Crvena zvezda team because despite losing in the 1991 European Super Cup, we were the better team at Old Trafford that night. We played very well and he has always likened our generation to Barcelona's 2008/09 squad, which included the likes of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi. Not in the sense of the style of play and the so-called tiki-taka, but in the sense of individual quality and the attacking build-up.
"With that being said, I joined Inter in the summer of 1992 and already in December, upon seeing my struggles at Inter, an offer came in and he wanted to sign me. However, my Balkan mentality and stubbornness didn't let me leave, as I wanted to prove myself at Inter and that was the second biggest mistake of my career. As if I would've left for Manchester, I'm certain that their style of play would've suited me better."
After leaving Inter for Dusseldorf in the summer of 1995, Pancev never reclaimed his best form and the Macedonian finished his career in 1997 playing for Sion in Switzerland at the age of 31.
'Cobra' remains remembered as one of the best strikers in Europe from the 90s though, and boasts the best goal ratio (0.69 per match) in the Yugoslav First League as well as in a Vardar shirt (0.65 per match).
North Macedonia's World Cup dream
Pancev featured and scored in the Republic of North Macedonia's first-ever official match against Slovenia back in 1993, and although the Skopje-born striker only picked up a few more caps afterwards, the Inter forward was the captain of the squad which faced the then European champions Denmark, with the likes of Peter Schmeichel, in the Euro 1996 qualifiers.
"My generation was lucky enough to play against the reigning European champions, Denmark, and we famously drew in Skopje in an excellent match where I was wrongfully sent off, and if it wasn't for that, maybe we would have won, as we conceded late into the match," he recalls.
"Then in the return match, we lost (1-0) in Copenhagen, but the Danes didn't have it easy against us, and they scored a winning goal in the final minutes of the second half."
Even though the Macedonian national team made notable progress over the past three decades since his retirement and featured in their first-ever major tournament at Euro 2020, reaching the World Cup remains the ultimate dream, and they are now only a couple of matches away from realizing it.
North Macedonia will play Denmark again in the 2026 World Cup semi-final play-offs on the 26th of March, and when quizzed on his compatriots' chances now, Pancev says: "There is always a chance, but the players have to believe and try, as they've nothing to lose.
"Denmark are the favorites and with the favourites' role on their side, the pressure is on them and it might be difficult for them to justify that role. We don't have anything to lose, and as was the case in Palermom, maybe we'll surprise them and achieve a positive result.
"The main thing is to believe in ourselves, but it won't be easy."
If the underdogs manage to surprise Denmark in Copenhagen, then an away final awaits them against the Czech Republic or Ireland, with a 2026 World Cup ticket on the line.
"If by chance, God willing, we win, I think that Ireland would be more favourable opponents for us, because I think the Czech Republic play way more creative football," Pancev says.
"The Czechs know how to create chances and are more dangerous on the ball. The Irish are way more predictable with their long balls, jumps and I think we can be much more competitive against them."
Over the past year, the Football Federation of North Macedonia underwent major structural changes with Masar Omeragic being named new president and the legendary Goran Pandev taking over as the sports director.
Additionally, the head coach, Blagoja Milevski, was replaced ahead of the 2026 World Cup play-offs and Goce Sedloski was tasked with leading the squad, which might not seem like a decision that Pancev necessarily agrees with.
"Only time will tell whether the changes will be positive or negative, as it's still too early to draw any conclusions and I would leave them all to do their work, but personally, I wouldn't have replaced the coach, Blagoja Milevski, ahead of the World Cup play-offs.
"In the end, this was his success and I would've let him finish the play-offs and then maybe I would make changes, but we'll see how it will turn out."
Pancev is not too optimistic about the future of the Macedonian national team. He sees the captain Enis Bardhi as the best player and Bojan Miovski as the best striker, but apart from that, he isn't hopeful about the talents progressing within the youth categories.
"Honestly, from what I saw from the U21s across the past few matches, that doesn't give me much hope that we'll build a strong young team in the near future because only a few players like Memetriza Hamza, Matej Gashtarov, Dimitar Danev and Dimitar Trajkov stand out.
"I don't see a lot of quality in the rest of the players, so we'll have to work harder to develop better players who'll be good enough to play for the A team in the future."