Published 09:26 IST, September 9th 2019
French President Macron apologises to Albania for wrong anthem at game
French President Emmanuel Macron apologised to Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama after the wrong national anthem was played ahead during a qualifier match.
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Albania’s prime minister says French President Emmanuel Macron has apologized to him after the wrong national anthem was played ahead of a European Championship qualifier between the two countries on Saturday.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's confirmation
Edi Rama tweeted Sunday that Macron expressed “his sincere apology for the scandalous gaffe of the French Football Federation with our National Flag anthem!”
Read the tweet here:
Presidenti Macron më shprehu ndjesën e sinqertë për gafën skandaloze të Federatës Franceze të Futbollit, me himnin e Flamurit tonë Kombëtar! E cilësoi një “gabim të papranueshëm” dhe duke vlerësuar edhe reagimin e lojtarëve tanë më kërkoi publikimin e ndjesës së tij #Respekt 🇦🇱🇫🇷
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) September 8, 2019
France won the Group H game in Paris 4-1. Albanian players looked bemused — and fans angry — when Andorra’s anthem was played instead of Albania’s. Andorra is in the same qualifying group as France and Albania.
The start of the match at Stade de France was delayed for about 10 minutes, and the right anthem then played. Another incident occurred when the stadium announcer mixed up Armenia — which is not in the same group — with Albania. France’s next opponent is Andorra at home on Tuesday.
World Champions France pick up a win
World Champions France moved to the top of the Euro 2020 qualifying group after they notched up a convincing 4-1 win. Kingsley Coman scored a brace in the 8th as well as the 68th minute while Olivier Giroud and Nanitamo Ikome scored a goal each in the 27th and 85th minute respectively. Just when it looked like the current world champions would finish in style, they ended up conceding a goal as Sokol Cikalleshi scored the only goal for Albania in the 90th minute off a penalty. Antoine Griezmann, who is arguably France's best footballer of this era, failed to score for his team. In fact, Griezmann missed a penalty when he kicked the ball so hard that he thundered it off the crossbar and out. In the second half, the FC Barcelona star could not get past Albanian goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha and he failed to find the back of the net once again.
08:21 IST, September 9th 2019