The 2024 UEFA European Football Championships, better known as the Euros, are back and taking place across 10 host cities in Germany this year, meaning Europeans once again have an excuse to engage in their favorite pastime: beefing with their neighbors.
Albanian fans took unsportsmanlike conduct to new heights over the weekend, as a group were seen snapping spaghetti in front of Italy supporters, one of whom pretended to fall to the ground and cry, before throwing all the pasta in the air. It was all in good fun, however — the Italians can be seen failing to hide their laughter, and both sides joined in with cheers at the end of the video. In addition, Italian fans were later spotted joining in on a traditional Albanian dance outside the stadium.
Unfortunately for the Albanians, Italy ended up winning the game 2-1 despite Albania’s Nedim Bajrami scoring the fastest goal in Euros history, putting Albania in the lead just 23 seconds into the match.
Albania, not typically a major Euros contender, is in the group of death, competing with Italy, Spain and Croatia for a spot in the next round. Albania has two more matches to go, facing off against Croatia and then Spain, and could nab third place in the group ahead of Croatia, who lost 3-0 against Spain over the weekend.
Commenters on ESPN’s video of the spaghetti snapping incident were baffled by how friendly both sides looked, with one person joking, “Meanwhile if you go to an American football game wearing a different jersey you get beat up.”
Maybe the magic is in the pasta: Food does bring people together, after all.
Comments