To those of you who thought international friendlies mean absolutely nothing: watch this and think again.
Sure, 99.9% of the time, they really don’t mean that much, but what happened on Monday in a stadium you’ve probably never heard of in the city of Mitrovica, Kosovo, reminded is that sometimes, they do…
Kosovo did, of course, become Fifa’s newest football nation when they joined in 2016. Their first ever qualifying campaign saw them lose nine of their ten matches, finishing bottom of the pile in Group I.
But with Latvia the visitors on Monday, Kosovo scored a stoppage-time goal which was enough for them to clinch the game 4-3. Below, you’ll see the goal and, more importantly, how much it meant to everyone involved.
https://twitter.com/kosovanfooty/status/930175370619490304
What a moment.
This was the first time in the match that Kosovo had been ahead. Latvia pegged back after taking the lead three times. Having equalised through Elba Rashani with four minutes to go, Besar Halimi’s winner came in the fourth minute of added-on time.
