But it took only 17 minutes for Liverpool to silence the locals and register the first goal of the Hodgson era.

A quick free-kick on the halfway line from Lucas Leiva – who retained the captain’s armband – was lifted over the Rabotnicki defence, centre-backs Fernando Lopes and Egzon Belica collided and Ngog capitalised on hesitant goalkeeping from Martin Bogatinov to nip in and finish with aplomb.

Rabotnicki, playing perhaps the biggest game in their European history, were guilty of being caught up in the occasion during the first half, any promising attack ending with a wildly ambitious stab at goal from ridiculous distances and angles.

It took the Macedonians until the half-hour to test Liverpool goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri, the goalkeeper safely fielding a frankly silly 35-yard shot from Ze Carlos, one of three Brazilians in the Rabotnicki starting XI.

Amoo was handed his competitive debut for Liverpool after sufficiently impressing on the right flank in the previous two friendlies.

The 19-year-old is a raw talent but showed signs of genuine promise last night with his pace and direct running consistently unsettling the Rabotnicki defence.

But it was from the left wing that Amoo created an opening shortly before the break, the youngster ghosting past one defender before slipping a low cross into the six-yard box that drifted narrowly out of reach of Ngog and Milan Jovanovic.

Jovanovic was another making his bow for the club, his diligence on the left wing epitomising the strong work ethic that ensured Liverpool were never in any real danger.

That said, Rabotnicki at least showed greater intent at the start of the second half, Wandeir outpacing Kyrgiakos to a hopeful punt forward by sidefooting hurriedly straight into the arms of Cavalieri.

And any hope of a home comeback dissipated on 59 minutes when Ngog struck for a second time. It was a good goal, too, the Frenchman unleashing a neat volley from close range to direct Martin Kelly’s right-wing cross beyond Bogatinov.

Clever footwork by Jovanovic on the left flank should have been rewarded with a third goal, but a heavy touch from the disappointing Alberto Aquilani meant the chance was lost.

During the closing stages, a power outage sent one of the new stands at the reconstructed Philip II National Arena into darkness.

But this was a bright start to the Hodgson era.