**Tirana, Albania** – As the sun dey shine for Albania, tension dey build as dem prepare for big match wey go happen this Saturday night. Yes oh, we dey talk about the World Cup qualifier between Albania and Serbia. This one no be just any match o! Dem don deploy around 2,000 police personnel, including special forces and counter-terrorism operatives, just to make sure say no wahala go happen. Na dem sabi what happen 11 years ago when di same match end in chaos (we fit no wan remember that one jare).
As lunch dey finish, two men dey hoist Albania flag outside café wey dey some blocks from Arena Kombetare. Na the double-headed black eagle dem dey show, but this time dem don change di second flag wey dey send wrong message. Instead of that “Greater Albania” map wey turn match to diplomatic wahala for 2014, dem just carry ordinary flag wey no go cause trouble. (E be like say dem authorities don give people reason to calm down. No be small thing o!).
For early morning Friday, dem don remove di controversial flag after dem hear say police dey ready with anti-drone technology to stop any miscreant wey fit carry drone go scatter things. Remember Ismail Morina? Na him be di crane operator wey bravely take responsibility for di drone incident for Belgrade, sabi say plenty controversy follow am. But no worry, whether he go dare come near di stadium for this match, na question we go answer.
The Albanian Football Association no wan take any chances. Dem no sell tickets in bulk to fans; instead, dem arrange to draw from more than 200,000 applications! E be like say dem dey do a little sanitization for di match atmosphere. And fans wey be Tifozat Kuq e Zi dey vex say dem feel dem dey try to control di vibe wey dey around di matches. Some people dey sell tickets for black market at outrageous prices, even as high as £1,000! (E be like say wahala don land for ticket price matter too).
As this match dey come, dem no forget di bigger picture of football politics as Albania and Serbia go co-host di UEFA Under-21 Championship for 2027. So, if dis match no go well, plenty people go face trouble. Even di FA president, Armand Duka, no wan face wetin fit happen if dem no control dis match well. Everybody dey pressure Tigri (Tigress) Italy and England dey jostle for di top of di Group K. E fit be dem or nothing! Plus di coach Sylvinho don dey remind him players to maintain calm, make dem no dey panic.
For Friday afternoon, Serbia’s players land Tirana with police watch like say na matador wey dey follow bulls. All eyes dey on dem to see if all dis police presence go really make sense at di end of di day. We dey hope say match go follow normal way because nobody wan hear say na another disaster dey come. Fingers crossed say everybody go enjoy di football without any wahala!
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