Balkans beat Europeans 4:2, Crnadak gets a yellow card

The final part of the first day of the Western Balkans summit was marked by a friendly football match between the teams "Future EU", for which representatives of Serbia, BiH and Montenegro played, and "EU" composed of high officials of the European Union, reports the Patria news agency.

The honour of defending the goal of the team representing the Balkans went to the Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Aleksandar Antić, who was cheered from the stands by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.

"I am not playing because I don't know how to play football. If it were chess, I would certainly play," explained Prime Minister Vučić, who received a jersey with the number 11 as a gift before the match, regarding his absence from the "Future Members" team.

Before the match, he expressed a wish that the match would end in a draw in regular time and be decided on penalties. Antić, before the match, expressed confidence that Europe would win the match.

Although the Serbian minister explained that he played football when he was younger but had never been a goalkeeper, the Balkan goalkeeper had the opportunity to show his quality early in the match when he found himself face to face with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had broken through the midfield.

Coolness and composure were on Antić's side, who with an excellent intervention managed to force the Austrian head of diplomacy to shoot wide of the goal.

Lest it seem that Serbia carried everything on its shoulders, the team against the EU also included Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Kosovo's chief diplomat Hashim Thaçi in attack, BiH Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak (who also received a yellow card), his Montenegrin colleague Igor Lukšić, and the team was reinforced by representatives of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The number 10, worn by the greatest football connoisseurs like Maradona, Pelé and Piksi, had the opportunity to wear on the pitch of Vienna's "Austria" the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Goran Svilanović.

That he does not wear that number in vain, Svilanović showed this time in defence when he helped Antić with a sliding tackle and prevented a "sitter" for the "EU", which drew a big applause from the audience.

The "EU" team was led by Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar and Austrian head of diplomacy Sebastian Kurz.

Justice on the pitch, actually on the sideline, was dispensed by European Commissioner Johannes Hahn and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian chief diplomat Ivica Dačić.

The player with the most football experience, Prime Minister Gruevski, put the "Future Members" team in the lead after a pass from Thaçi, and the lead was taken into the well-deserved break.

After the break, the same tandem increased the score to 2:0 in favour of the "Future Members". Thaçi and Gruevski acted like a well-rehearsed duo. Bekim Çollaku, Kosovo's Minister of European Integration, with a solo run once again beat the "EU" and increased the Balkans' lead to 3:0.

Antić occasionally called for caution, warning his teammates to return to defence.

However, a wrist injury sustained during the match forced the Serbian minister to leave the pitch, after Johann Sattler, head of the Balkan department at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, scored the first goal for the EU and reduced the score to 3:1.

Antić, who was replaced in goal by Svilanović, left the pitch to applause from the audience, who praised his goalkeeping skills.

Svilanović twice saved the goal of the "Future Members" with excellent saves. The EU team failed to impose their game, so Çollaku scored another goal, with which the "Future Members" again increased their lead to 4:1.

Just before the end of the match, the Secretary General of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael Linhart, reduced the Balkans' lead to 4:2, which was the final result, BNTV reported.