Targeted by racist chants from the stands, Edon Zhegrova and the Kosovo players left the pitch in added time in Romania this Friday. The match (0-0) was permanently suspended.
Kosovo and Romania faced off this Friday at the National Arena in Bucharest for the 5th day of the Nations League. This game had everything of a small final while the two nations are fighting for first place in their group, a position synonymous with promotion to the higher level: in League B. In hostile lands, the Kosovars (17 shots and 7 on target to 0) had an intoxicating game, not hesitating to throw themselves into the opposing camp in numbers despite the fear of conceding an achievement which could have proved fatal for their ambitions.
This desire was reflected, to highlight only one, in a huge situation at the half-hour mark. Following a duel won with a header in the center of the field, Edon Zhegrova was alerted in the depth. He quickly found himself facing a defender then the goalkeeper, whom he mystified. However, he lost control of the leather for a brief moment and his attempt was finally pushed back on the line by a final defender. The ball then landed at the feet of Muriqi who struck instantly. Still on the ground, the Romanian goalkeeper suddenly sprang up to deflect him with his fingertips outside the cages. It was quite a heat (30′) to which Romania responded ten minutes later with an attempt on the bar (41′) before the break.
A match permanently suspended
The match, which continued with a goalless draw (0-0), however, never came to an end. In added time (90+4′), following an altercation between Romanian striker Denis Alibec and Kosovar defender Amir Rrahmani, the local public began singing anti-Kosovar songs even though their country does not recognize Kosovo . The reaction was immediate on the meadow and the visitors left the pitch without ever finding it again. The game was interrupted, then definitively stopped after an hour of waiting. Edon Zhegrova and his team never agreed to return to the pitch. This was also the case with the chants in the stands, despite the efforts of the Romanian goalkeeper who tried to reason with his compatriots, in vain.
Such an event had already occurred in September 2023 and for the same reasons. The match was, at the time, suspended for almost an hour after only twenty minutes of play. UEFA will make a decision soon as to the final fate of the match. Namely, there were only a handful of seconds left to play when the Kosovars left the pitch this Friday. Edon Zhegrova played the entire match.
