Those who remained inside the Elbasan Arena for a few minutes after time had been called on a dramatic evening could have been excused a double take. The stands had emptied at predictable speed after late goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Adem Ljajic had shattered Albania dream of securing qualification for Euro 2016 with a victory over arch-rivals Serbia, few home supporters concerning themselves with hurling choice words – or objects – at their vanquishers.
Led by Branislav Ivanovic and Kolarov, Serbia’s players moved towards the southern corner of the ground and milked rapturous applause from their few compatriots who had watched the game, virtually undetected and certainly untroubled, from between two heavily marshaled partitions. This was a group of 100 Serbian students invited by the Albania president, Edi Rama, to attend the game as a gesture of friendship; they were the only Serbia supporters inside the stadium and it was their noise, their high-pitched cheering and whooping, that echoed in the ears as Ivanovic and company finally filed inside.
Serbia’s voice was heard loud and clear at the end of a day in which Albania were supposed to be the story. Victory in this rematch between teams whose ill-starred meeting 12 months ago made global headlines would have won them a prize without precedent for a small football country – Euro 2016 qualification. There was plenty of scrutiny, too, on the security arrangements designed to avoid a repeat of last year’s events. The danger was that a slip-up off the pitch would offset any good work carried out on it.
The end result was that Albania’s security forces did their job while its football team seemed to freeze with nerves after making a bright start. Perhaps Gianni De Biasi’s players had been expecting a little more edge from the expectant 12,800 who had arrived in this provincial city from places as diverse as Tirana and Toronto, but the atmosphere never hit fever pitch – a situation perhaps unaided by the succession of downpours that lent the pre-match choreography a somewhat staccato feel.
The intention to promote unity was clear before kick-off, the teams posing for a photograph together and the crowd responding – perhaps surprisingly – with light applause. “The people from Uefa asked us to do that,” said the Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic afterwards. “We said OK because we are friends. We want to win but outside the pitch we are sportsmen, so this kind of thing is normal.”
Less normal was the fact that, as the game started, some of the snipers enlisted to perch atop nearby buildings in the event of any unwanted incursions were clearly discernible on a roof overlooking the main stand. They looked down on a stadium in which not a single flare was lit during the match – noteworthy in these parts – and whose only flirtation with controversy came in the form of chants supporting Ismail Morina, the operator of last year’s drone who was incarcerated two days before the game for illegal gun possession.
On the pitch, Albania began like a team keen to cut through any simmering tension but their enthusiasm was soon dulled by a practiced, technically superior Serbia team whose infuriating inconsistency remains one of European football’s enigmas. Andi Lila headed a decent early chance at Vladimir Stojkovic and for a while crosses were regularly aimed at the under-supported striker, Bekim Balaj. But Albania had scored only four goals in their five completed fixtures and their lack of threat soon became apparent here, Serbia taking control and Ivanovic hitting a good chance over after a clever corner routine. Adem Ljajic’s shot, deflected past Etrit Berisha, was correctly ruled out by the Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli before half-time for a foul by Dusan Tadic but the warning signs were clear.
In truth this was a tame affair, any challenges niggly rather than laced with the menace that had been obvious in Belgrade even before that game’s abandonment. Matic said that “in some situations [the Albanians] were speaking to us but I said to [Lorik] Cana that we have to play football and focus on that”.
By the midway point in the second half the affair was sufficiently subdued for the crowd to attempt a Mexican wave; they briefly perked up when news filtered through that Portugal were defeating Denmark, confirming that an Albania win would send them through, but too often they were left frustrated by moves that broke down on a slippery surface or foundered due to a lack of numbers committed forwards.
Perhaps De Biasi would have taken a draw as the clock kicked down; requiring a point against Armenia on Sunday might have compromised the mood but in pragmatic terms would have been no disaster. The substitute Sokol Cikalleshi finally drew a good save from Stojkovic and Cana headed a good chance over; if you cannot win a game then the first rule is not to lose it, but as the clock ticked into injury time Kolarov sidefooted firmly through Berisha’s legs from a tight angle.
The game was up and, with Albania in disarray, Ljajic broke upfield to chip the goalkeeper and strike the stadium dumb. All dumb, that is, except for that pocket of students in the corner – and perhaps except for those whose primary concern lay in this fixture slipping into the night, and out of the consciousness at long last, without any hint of controversy.
