While some people like to believe that football and politics should never mix, that is not a realistic stance in the current global landscape.
And while international football can throw up some highly-charged contests between neighbours and rivals, few matches in recent history descended into chaos in the manner of Serbia’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania in October 2014.
The match was abandoned before half-time when a drone carrying a pro-Albania banner was flown on a drone above the stadium, causing crowd trouble in the stands.
Matic on Serbia’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania
Former Manchester United and Chelsea star Nemanja Matic was playing in the heart of the Serbian midfield that day and admits that the events of that evening remain vivid in his memory, even a decade later.
“They didn’t come to play football, but to provoke us,” he tells FourFourTwo. “On the pitch they knew they didn’t have much chance.
“They were smarter and our fans were stupid. They fell for the provocation and jumped on the pitch, then the Albanian team went inside and their federation said they didn’t want to continue, which they could do.
“UEFA then awarded them the three points and punished us, so any hope we had of qualifying was done. We played in Albania after that and beat them 2-0.”
Does Matic feel that the decision to award Albania a 3-0 win and deduct Serbia three points was an unfair one?
“I was disappointed,” he admits. “We wanted to play, we didn’t want any problems.
“Someone made that provocation with the drone and knew that Serbian people would explode when they saw it.”
