Outside a cafe three blocks from Arena Kombetare, two men stood on chairs and fastened attachments to the awning. Thursday lunchtime had just passed and Tirana was gearing up for a match that could have filled the national stadium at least 10 times over. There was no trouble identifying Albania’s flag, the double-headed black eagle spreading from its centre. The second banner being hoisted has become common currency too. It bore the word “Autochtonous”, presenting a version of the “Greater Albania” map that transformed a football match into a major diplomatic incident in 2014.
By Friday morning that flag had been replaced with its less incendiary alternative. Perhaps the authorities had popped in for a quiet word. They want to eliminate potential triggers for the kind of chaos that erupted in Belgrade 11 years ago, when a drone lowered the controversial image into Partizan Stadium during a European Championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania. The ramifications of that night stretched far beyond sport and there were sighs of relief when, the following November, a rematch in the provincial Albanian city of Elbasan passed without major incident.
