- Gevorg Ghazaryan
- Yerevan
Match Armenia-Turkey in Yerevan
It was impossible to overestimate the importance of the match with Turkey for the Armenian national football team. A fight with a strong opponent had been expected, and football fans and even those who were not particularly interested in football expected only victory from the team in this match. The Armenian team failed to win, though, losing to the opponent with a score of 2: 1. But the match turned out to be exciting. The players of the Armenian national team and its new head coach Alexander Petrakov showed their best side. After the game ended, the Armenian fans applauded the players of their national team for a long time.
The special significance of the Armenia-Turkey game for the Armenian society lies in the complex relations between the two countries. It was probably for this reason that, in accordance with the decision of UEFA, Turkish fans were not allowed to the stands of the Yerevan stadium.
Turkey officially recognized Armenia’s independence in 1991, but refuses to establish diplomatic relations. After 2020, the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations began – so far without much progress.
The meeting of football teams under these conditions was associated in Armenian society with a previous attempt at normalization, which was called “football diplomacy”. We are talking about the match Armenia-Turkey, held on September 6, 2008. Then Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Armenia at that time. Together with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, they watched a football match between the teams of the two countries. From this visit, the process called “football diplomacy” began.
A year later, the countries signed protocols to normalize relations, but they were never ratified. In December 2009, Ankara announced that it would not ratify the documents until the Karabakh conflict was resolved. In response, the Armenian side stated that the protocols assumed the establishment of relations without preconditions and in April 2010 suspended the process of their ratification.
Details from the match between the football teams of Armenia and Turkey, and photos.
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The game with the Turkish national team went beyond the logic of positions in the standings and points scored. The excitement around this game was colossal as if a game with one of the top European teams was expected.
The match of the first round of the EURO 2024 qualifying round was preceded by a procession of fans of the Armenian national team, and the stadium was full of fans long before the start of the game.
A crowded stadium is a rare occurrence in Armenia. But this time all the tickets were instantly sold out, and on the day of the game thousands of ticketless fans gathered around the stadium. Until the last moment, they hoped that they would be able to find tickets and go to the stands.
In the first minutes of the game, the players of the Turkish national team seemed to have been caught by surprise. Experienced Turkish sportsmen, accustomed to stadiums of many thousands, they seemed unable to establish their own game in the first 20 minutes.
The players of the Armenian national team took advantage of this by organizing several quick counterattacks. So the first goal of the game was scored. Ozan Kabak scored the ball into his own net after Kamo Hovhannisyan’s pass.
After the goal, the players of the offensive line of the Armenian team continued to put pressure on the Turkish team.
The Turkish team found its game only in the middle of the first half, after an episode when one of the important players of the Armenian national team, Taron Voskanyan, was injured and left the field.
Football players of the Turkish national team immediately took advantage of the restructuring of the enemy’s defense line. Orkun Kekcu equalized with a well-aimed shot.
One must say that in the first half both teams played quite hard. Five yellow cards were received by the players of the Armenian national team, four by their Turkish players.
The beginning of the second half was also difficult for the Turkish team, and head coach Stefan Kunz replaced two players at once. It was obvious that both teams wanted to use their best sides and increase the score. Turkish athletes succeeded.
In such games, even small episodes become decisive, mistakes are not forgiven. A quick free-kick in the central part of the field came as a surprise to the defenders of the Armenian national team. And Kerem Akturkoglu scored the winning goal. The remaining time was not enough for the wards of Alexander Petrakov to save the game.
Fans of the Armenian national team, despite the defeat, were not disappointed with the game of their team, and after the final whistle the stadium applauded loudly. And the players of the Armenian national team, as if exhausted, fell on the grass. Most likely it was an emotional reaction.
Turkey’s players also modestly celebrated their victory – both on and off the field. The absolute silence on the way to the Mixed Zone to meet with journalists and at the locker rooms was so unusual that it seemed that both teams had lost.
As part of the tournament, they will have to play one more match – already in Turkey.