FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The draw for the UEFA Cup in the 1987-88 season delighted everyone at Partizan Belgrade and its fans, as the first opponent was the Albanian club Flamurtari. “Formality,” said football connoisseurs and experts in the café, speaking ironically of football in “Enver Hoxha’s empire of bunkers and poverty.” Not even Partizan Belgrade’s 2-0 loss in Vlora dampened their optimism. But when Sokol Kushta scored a “Euro-goal” in Belgrade and took Flamurtari to the next round, the ‘JNA’ stadium fell into a silence that had never been heard before or after that match.
Partizan Belgrade players this summer, once again, remained out of European competitions, but the fans did not see this elimination as a shame, because the current team is very young and full of potential. Therefore, the loss to Hibernian from Scotland (0-2 in Belgrade, 2-3 away win after extra time) did not enter the list of the club's great shames. What continues to be the most shameful in Partizan's history remains the elimination by Flamurtari in the UEFA Cup in 1987.
A single goal by Flamurtari at the Belgrade stadium was enough to eliminate the favorites. Although Partizan has suffered even heavier losses, Flamurtari has become a symbol of all the failures that came from the underestimation of Albanian football and the tense relations between Serbs and Albanians.
Dangerous underestimation
The loss to Flamurtari was a boomerang for Partizan and its fans, who had ignored the fact that Flamurtari had made excellent performances in Europe. A year earlier, Flamurtari had drawn 1-1 with Barcelona in Vlora (the Spaniards eventually equalized), and 0-0 at the “Camp Nou”, but were eliminated due to an away goal.
All of this was overlooked by the Serbian public, even though Partizan had one of the best teams in history. It should be mentioned that Partizan, due to a disputed decision by the Football Federation of Yugoslavia, was not allowed to participate in the Champions Cup and ended up in the UEFA Cup.
The defeat in Vlora
Partizani went to Vlora almost as if on an excursion, with a delegation that included politicians, singers and public figures. Among them was the well-known comedian Milovan Ilić Minimaks, who after a rich dinner with the Albanian hosts said: “After this dinner, we will have to go without eating for a month.”
But the hospitality ended the next day at the match. In front of 12,000 enthusiastic fans, Flamurtari attacked from the start. The Partizan Belgrade defense was punished in the 12th minute with an own goal by Đorđević. In the 82nd minute, after another powerful attack, Flamurtari scored for 2-0, and Partizan was deeply shaken.
However, no one doubted that everything would be decided in the return match in Belgrade.
In the return match, Partizan had a strong lineup, with many representatives of the Yugoslav national team: Omerović, Đorđević, Katanec, Vokri, Đurovski and others. The match started with a lot of pressure on Flamurtari and at the end of the first half, Stevanović scored from the penalty spot. A little later, Fadil Vokrri scored for -:0. Now, everything was in Partizan's hands.
But in the 76th minute, the unbelievable happened. Flamurtari striker Sokol Kushta fired a powerful shot that ended in the corner of the goal. Goalkeeper Omerović could not react. The stadium fell silent, a silence that has never been seen there again.
According to UEFA rules, away goals were worth more and so Flamurtari advanced to the next round. Partizan fans and players were shocked.
After this defeat, Partizan Belgrade experienced even more disappointments. They were eliminated by a second-tier team in the Yugoslav Cup (Iskra e Bugojna), Milko Đurovski went into the army, coach Jusufi was fired, and the championship was won by eternal rivals, Crvena zvezda.
One of the reasons for the defeat was also considered the conflict between coach Jusufi and the team's star player, Đurovski, who did not go to Vlora due to the fight and was substituted early in the return match. After being substituted, he went straight home. Later he said: "Jusufi wanted to humiliate me and here is the result."
The flag, Albanian pride
Later, Flamurtari went to the third round where they faced Barcelona with names like Lineker, Zubizarreta and Schuster. At the 'Camp Nou', Flamurtari lost 4-1 after a scandalous refereeing, but in Vlora they won 1-0 with another wonderful goal from Sokol Kushta.
Today, the difference between Albanian and Serbian football is much smaller. Albanians have progressed faster. It is no longer the time when Serbian clubs can go to Albania like a picnic. And maybe even then, in 1987, this should not have happened./ Rts.rs
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