Bernard Berisha / Photo: © REUTERS/Laura Hasani
The behavior of the fans shocked even local football players.
Another day of the qualifying round for the European Football Championship ended in a resonant scandal. The action of the fans of the Romanian national team led to a long stoppage of the match.
Even the captain’s intervention did not help.
The day before, qualifying for the 2024 European Football Championship crossed the equator. The important moment has come when the result of one match can decide the fate of the team in the qualifying round.
The confrontation between Romania and Kosovo was important for both teams. The defeat practically put an end to the Kosovars’ dreams of traveling to Germany. The Romanians needed to win in order to maintain second place in the Group I table, because only two teams receive tickets to the Euro.
A representative of the Russian championship also took part in this match. Akhmat midfielder Bernard Berisha appeared on the field in the Kosovo national team from the first minutes. The visitors got off to a good start and were the first to create a dangerous scoring chance. Edon Zhegrova could have become a hero for Kosovo, but his shot was parried by the goalkeeper.
However, already in the 18th minute, football faded into the background after Romanian fans hung a banner with political content on the podium: “Kosovo is Serbia.” The guests were furious and called on referee Danny Makkelie to take action.
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The referee stopped the game, but this had no effect on the fans. On the contrary, they became angry and began chanting: “Serbia, Serbia, Serbia.” Then they lit fires. Even the Romanian football players were shocked by what was happening. Home captain Nicolae Stanciu personally tried to calm the crowd. The fearless player went straight to the stands and asked for the banner to be removed, but the fans were adamant.
Makkelie sent the teams to the locker rooms. It took more than 40 minutes to restore order in the stadium. Only after this the meeting resumed.
It must be said that the scandalous story benefited the owners. The Kosovo team remained in the minority and conceded twice in the end, practically losing their chances of traveling to Germany. Berisha also cannot count this meeting as an asset. He only received a yellow card on the scoresheet and was replaced in the 81st minute.
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The behavior of the fans did not find support even from the owners. The local federation sharply condemned the appearance of the provocative banner in the stands.
— The Romanian Football Federation strongly condemns the irresponsible behavior of fans in the south stand, which led to the stoppage of yesterday’s match. First of all, we adhere to the principle of non-interference of politics in sports activities,” says a statement on the official website of the federation.
After this behavior of fans, we should probably expect severe sanctions from UEFA. There is no doubt that the association will punish the fans for the political banner. So far, the main football body in Europe has not made official statements on this matter.
Watch matches of the Euro 2024 qualifying stage on the channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
Former coach of the Ukrainian national team Jozsef Szabo Meta.ua has exclusively chosen the version of the three best Ukrainian football players of this season for its website.
“In the first row, Ilya Zabarny is almost out of the competition,” Sabo said. – As far as I remember, there has been no regression in the game yet. Yes, the defender had unimpressive tackles, but these were isolated cases. But he’s only 23 years old. The contract with Paris Saint-Germain shows that this football player is currently one of the best in Europe. And do not forget that at that age he played 55 matches for the Ukrainian national team.
I will give second place to Ruslan Malinovsky, who seems to have found a second youth after being injured. This guy’s head is clear, making great passes is not difficult for a midfielder. Largely thanks to Malinovsky’s effective play, the Ukrainian national team managed to qualify for the play-offs in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament.
The third will be Everton’s left back Vitaly Mikolenko. He is a consistent starter for his team. And no matter what position the team is in, the English league is still the strongest league in Europe. He is an irreplaceable football player in the national team.
Source: Sport UA
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
Forward from Togliatti “Akron” Artem Dzyuba he wants to play as a goalkeeper for the rest of his career.
“I would be interested in trying to play in goal at least once. I would like to do it in the match,” Dzyuba said.
Dzyuba is the best scorer in the history of Russian football.
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
Leonid Slutsky last year he performed well as coach of the Shanghai Shenhua football team. This opinion was expressed by the striker of Togliatti “Akron” Artem Dzyuba.
Last season, Slutsky took second place in the Chinese league with Shanghai Shenhua and led the club to the Asian Champions League playoffs for the first time. The team also won the Chinese Super Cup.
“He’s doing well in China, the only thing he was missing was a championship, everything was leading to that,” Dziuba said. “But it’s tough for a team that’s been in fifth place all their life, they don’t have that winning mentality.”
Slutsky is 54 years old and has been at the helm of the Chinese club since December 2023. In his career he has coached Rubin Kazan, Uralan Elista, Mosca, Krylya Sovetov Samara, CSKAEnglish “Hull” and Dutch “Vitesse”. Together with CSKA the specialist became champion of Russia three times, won the Russian Cup and the Super Cup twice.
Source: Soccer Ru
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
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