Press release of Prime Minister Edi Rama:

Yesterday, Albania and Albanian citizens passed the extraordinary test of the traditional Albanian hospitality as well as that of the dignity of a European people.

Newspapers of the world, from neighboring Italy to the United States where football is far from being a firsthand sport, wrote about the match of the day, Albania – Serbia. Of course, no one except us, Albanians, was interested in the results of the match. Foreign media everywhere talked about this match, because no one knew for sure what was going to happen at the rematch of the derby of the Balkans, a year after the embarrassing show of last year in Belgrade.

It is quite natural that all of us, the Albanians, who woke up unhappy after an unexpected loss last night, think little or not at all that outside of the pitch we surprised everyone else with our high level of civic and sports dignity, including our opponents.

But, without any doubt, if we didn’t succeed in the extra time to keep the golden point that would have opened for us almost the three quarters of the big gate of France finalists, the fact that we kept up the level of sports culture under a big pressure, which was not only due to sport, gave Albania as a country and Albanians as a people three golden points.

And this is not a consolation for having lost the match, just imagine how we would have been feeling today and what we would have been talking about had the red-and-black ultras fallen into the shameful quagmire of the Serb hooligans in Belgrade. The red-and-black fans in general and the Association of red-and-black fans in particular proved to be fantastic in the enthusiastic support of the team for 90 minutes, but also in providing indisputable proof of a clear distinction between the overwhelming climate of the Belgrade stadium and the festive atmosphere in Elbasan arena. No racist chorus was heard for 94 minutes. No Serbian player was verbally attacked.

Not only the ugly scenes of strong object flying over the heads of our players during last year’s match were not repeated, not even in the most minimal way, but the captain of the Serbian team was applauded with an exemplary sports attitude when he had to leave the pitch due to injury.

I repeat it, had we come out from Elbasan Arena with the gold point in hand, it would have been much easier for many people to see with such clarity the great contribution given to Albania the nobility shown yesterday by the red-and-black fans in the stands of the stadium, and their composure within the framework of the sports celebration, whether in the streets of Tirana or in Elbasan, whether before or after the match.

Therefore, I would like to bow with great gratitude to all those thousands and tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of sport fans who helped Albania pass so successfully this very difficult test for our welcoming country.

In the first, gratitude goes to the Association of red-and-black fans, the wonderful ultras of our national team who, lined up in the lateral tribune of Elbasan Arena, gave during the 94 minutes of the match a spectacle worthy of European stadiums where the hottest derbies are played. Then, to all the others who under the guide of fans in the lateral tribune created around the field a human wall of encouraging calls and constant cheering waves. Undoubtedly, to the Italian referee, the famous Rizzoli of the World Cup final, about whom an Italian sports newspaper wrote yesterday: “Rizzoli is going to Albania for the match with Serbia. We will remember him as a fair man.” You can imagine with how much anxiety others’ imagination was impregnated about this match, as if Rizzoli was coming to a battlefield from which he was not going to be back alive.

Our gratitude goes obviously also to all of the officers of the State Police, who with their professionalism faced successfully with a situation which was not at all easy from the emotional point of view, on the eve of the Balkan derby, considering that there are still a lot of people who find it difficult to separate sports from politics, football from history, war from game. Too bad for them, and mercy on any of them who, unfortunately, especially after the last whistle, forgot everything that this National team, unprecedented in the history of Albania, as well as the most successful coach that Albania has ever seen, have made so far for the Albanian football and for all of us.

But fortunately for Albania, this minority that limits loyalty to our national team to how many points we get, and not to the souls that we put on the field, just as they limit loyalty to the homeland to how much we are able to hate others, totally missed yesterday the chance to tarnish Albania, and was left with nothing but the rage on social networks.

Albania passed with honor and its head high the hard test of the maturity of citizens. While the red-and-black players gave their best on the pitch, under terrible psychological burden of responsibility that, those who have never played under the national team shirt, can neither imagine nor understand.

This is why I want to close expressing the deepest gratitude to the players and to the coach of Red-and-Black National Team, because, if we are still in to qualify directly to the finals in France, it is only their merit and no one else’s.

We have never been in these conditions. We have never thought that the day would come for us to experience the fever for the qualification to the finals of a European championship. Not after two losses with Portugal and Serbia, two teams of stars who, as players on paper and in money value cannot even compare to our team, but even if we lost another forty times, this team and the coach we have today deserve a monument in the heart of every red-and-black fan and in our collective sports memory for what they have done so far.

It is well known that football attracts not only wise and reasonable people, but it attracts everybody. As it is globally known that the relentlessly enemies of football are fools who see the pitch as a space to vent their racial, ethnic, religious hatred, and all sort of provincial uncertainties and rage. And they often turn the even the lowest category matches into arenas of violence in our country. Not to mention the fact, as the legendary Loro Boriçi has said, Albanians are a people of coaches, and this makes us look very ridiculous when, with alleged arguments, we look as chickens for having lost the match in Elbasan those who we looked as dragons for the victory in Belgrade.

Meanwhile, our national team is still there, at the border to enter France. So let us continue to celebrate the game. Let us continue to strongly support the players and the coach. Let us continue to live this beautiful dream, which is a gift of the red-and-black tam entering the pitch and the gist of the one leading them from the dugout. Of no one else’s.

And let’s be proud of the excellent example of European civic attitude shown yester night by the red-and-black fans in the stands and the red-and-black Albania, who made the difference. For ourselves, for the world that last night had their eyes turned on us, fearing the worst, and above all for the next generation who will tomorrow feel proud because of the good work of today, such as the good work of the National Red-and-Black team.