![]() It did come to a close, eventually, when the Albanian players made a run for the players’ tunnel in the south-east corner. This unholy mix of players, staff, police and fans piled in – and for a moment you had no idea where it would end. One supporter made for Balaj with a chair he was wrestled to the ground by Lorik Cana, the Albanian captain and ex-Sunderland player, who detained him there for a almost a minute while chaos unfolded around him.Īnother, entering the pitch from the other side, made for visiting players too. At the time, it was impossible to believe your eyes: in years of covering football at home and abroad, nothing had come close to this.Īs Balaj made to leave the field, substitutes and officials from both sides had entered the fray – joined, somehow, by fans who had found it surprisingly easy to burst the massed ranks of police. What followed was a blur, a rush and swirl of people and movements that I was only able to piece together correctly upon returning from the stadium. It had been a surreal, almost filmlike sequence and an act of stunning provocation – but there was time to salvage matters.īut Albania’s players wanted their flag and, after Andi Lila and Taulant Xhaka had wrestled Mitrovic for it, it ended up in the hands of striker Bekim Balaj – well known for scoring a superb winner against Portugal last month. Take it to the sidelines, get it off the pitch, get on with the game. ![]() The red and black flag, the familiar figure of an eagle in the centre, depicted ‘Greater Albania’ – an idea encompassing the area of the Balkans in which ethnic Albanians reside.Īll the same, when Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic leapt up to catch the flag, which had sunk from the sky as the seemingly remote-controlled drone dropped with it, it seemed a sensible enough thing to do. Strange enough, but what was gradually bringing the crowd to fever pitch as it came to their attention proved to be the spark inside the tinderbox. It was cleared from the pitch quickly enough the delay, though, took longer than usual and it was only upon a glance upwards that the reason became apparent.Ī small craft was hovering just above the pitch, visible against the floodlights on a dark, clear night and parallel to the top of the stand. Just as I began musing on the unremarkable nature of it all, thinking to tweet my impressions at the break play was stopped by Martin Atkinson – the English referee may never have another night like this – because a flare had been thrown in the direction of an Albanian throw-in taker. Unless somebody came up with something unexpected, surreal and quite remarkable. UEFA had stepped in to settle a dispute between the two FAs about away ticketing, advising that nobody should travel, and the scope for flashpoints seemed thin on the ground. Serbia and Albania have a fraught and uneasy recent history, centring around Kosovo – the largely ethnic Albanian-populated territory that declared independence from Serbia in 2008. This was a game that had set the alarm bells ringing from the off, though. Seven of Albania's squad were born in the Kosovo region. NATO waged a 78-day air war in 1999 to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Serbian forces fighting a two-year counter-insurgency war. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but this is not recognised by Serbia. These have mainly surrounded the over the former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province of Kosovo. ![]() At Tinder Box, we will continue to enhance our position as the number one retailer of pipes, tobaccos, cigars and gifts in America by utilizing these most basic retailing principles: Quality, Selection, Value and Friendly Service.Albanian fans were banned from attending the match between the two Balkan rival nations, due to the turbulent relations between the two. And so, sit back, light up your favorite pipe or cigar and let yourself drift through the multitude of treasures that await your eyes at every page. ![]() And you'll also find the world's largest array of pipes, cigars and accoutrements that include the rare, the unique and the unusual in tobaccos and gifts. Within these pages, you'll discover a wealth of information on our favorite pastime. Our products are carefully created and chosen by experts who travel all over the world seeking merchandise that illustrates our devotion to impeccable quality. Our commitment is to you, our customer and our pride is in our merchandise and our people. Within these pages, we are not only portraying our products and stores, but likewise our commitment and our pride. We are delighted that you, our most valued customer have come to visit our web site. ![]()
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