South Ossetia 2

 

Mukharbek Buraev (Spartak Vladikavkaz, Russia)
vs. Western Armenia (1:0) | CONIFA EFC | 2019 in Artsakh

This is one of the two shirts that hang framed on my wall, as it is not just dear to me, but incredibly emotional. It was worn by Mukharbek Buraev, the South Ossetian keeper, during the European Football Cup 2019 in Artsakh. It is a stunning design in a very unusual football shirt colour, made by the North Ossetian company Arion Sport from Vladikavkaz.

The shirt is special to me, as it is arguably the most historic piece of South Ossetian football history. There is a reason the players are throwing up Buraev in the picture above - and not their coach. It was Buraev who held a penalty in the 90+5' minute in the final of the tournament, securing the South Ossetian victory, which was probably the biggest upset in non-FIFA football history. 

South Ossetia is a tiny little self-declared and largely unrecognised republic in the Caucasus. I have been there - three times - as one of the few non-Russian visitors ever. When you enter the country, which is only possible via Russia, you have to enter your name in a kind of guestbook at the border, unless you are South Ossetian or Russian. There were only about 50 entries apart from mine - since the declaration of the republic in 1992! I partly went there three times, because I absolutely fell in love with the place. It is politically certainly a hot potato and has seen multiple wars in the past. The scars of which are clearly visible to this day. It is only rather poor. If you are standing in a random street in Tskhinval, you probably would not call it "beautiful". But once you get out there and venture into the endless mountains of the Higher Caucasus, you will soon forget all this. It is the most stunning landscape I have ever seen. I have seen wild horses and bears roaming the vast mountain vistas. I have visited small churches, chapels or pagan religious monuments hours offroad from the next road. And I made friends there, more than anywhere else. It started to feel like home, really. It has become my very weird happy place. I cannot explain that strange love, but I can feel it and I cannot wait to return one day.

Another reason I was asked to return again and again was the dubious support of the national team. After the abysmal results during the 2017 Euros in Northern Cyprus and the failed qualification for the 2016 and 2018 World Football Cups in Abkhazia and London, respectively, the government was not really fond of funding the team. Especially, as other sportspersons from South Ossetia, like Wrestlers, won Olympic medals (for other, more recognised states like Kazakhstan, Russia or Ukraine). So when I was there, I gave interviews to the local media, spoke to the Foreign Minister and to the President, to emphasize how important CONIFA and international football could be for them. I was trying to help the Football Association to get that public suppor they need. Successfully, it seemed, as they did in the end get the funding to get to Artsakh. They had no time to train before the tournament and many of the players did barely know each other, but they were there, at least. And even the Foreign Minister and the President of South Ossetia made it to Artsakh to see their team - both coming in the group stages, not expecting the team to get much further.

But things went different. In the opening match, South Ossetia beat the unknown quantity of Western Armenia, which did field a couple of Armenian national team players and got the backing of the Armenian locals in Artsakh. That was a surprise, but not a shock, yet. That shock came when they beat Padania, the European Champion of 2015 and 2017, in their second match. Finally, they drew with Szekely Land to top their group. In the semis, they beat the other surprise team of the tournament, Chameria, on penalties to enter the grand finale against Western Armenia, meeting them again. In front of a jam packed stadium in Stepanakert, they got a surprising lead that was very bizarre: A free-kick went in and the out of the goal, flying through a tiny hole in the net. 10 minutes of turmoil followed, until a British journalist showed video evidence of that to both teams, thus making the first inofficial VAR check in the history of non-FIFA football. The match then ended with a South Ossetian player causing a penalties way into overtime and Buraev saving it to send the team into a long night of celebrations. That the team had to book new flights, as not even they expected to be part of the final, summed up perfectly how much of a shock result that was.