Last night all football fans from around the globe witnessed a beautiful moment when Netherlands paid tribute to Goran Pandev, the 37-year-old North Macedonian who played 122 games with his national team, writes Hadi Galal.
That was Pandev's last international game, a great farewell to the ex Inter Milan star who also played for Napoli, Lazio, Galatasaray and currently playing for Genoa.
For Italian football fans it was a beautiful moment to see one of Serie A stars end his career in a major tournament, despite losing all three games and finishing last in a group that has one of the strongest teams in football history the Netherlands and with experienced teams like Austria and Ukraine.
The 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League winner left his footprints in the Romanian stadium Arena Națională when he scored in 28th minute the equalising goal against Austria, the game that ended 3-1 for the Austrians.
The celebrations we witnessed last night for Pandev's farewell was the main highlight for the game, a game that was already a trip for the Dutch team that secured winning the group before playing their third game and an honourable exist for North Macedonia that played their first major tournament ever.
20 years playing for your national team is great honour since Pandev's debut against Turkey in 2001 for the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. We need to watch such beautiful moments again, because that’s the beauty of it.
