President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, received today at a meeting the leaders of the Football Federation of Kosovo and the players of the Kosovo National team, prior to the first international match played by the national team, tomorrow in Mitrovica, at a friendly match against the national team of Haiti.
At a very cordial meeting, President Jahjaga congratulated the leaders of the Football Federation of Kosovo for the engagements they undertook in order to achieve this game, while to the footballers she wished a dignified representation of our state.
President of the Football Federation of Kosovo, Mr. Fadil Vokrri, presented President Jahjaga with a personalised dress of the Kosovo National Team.
At a statement made after the meeting, President Jahjaga said:
Today I had the pleasure to host the Kosovo National Football team. We are only few days away from the first friendly game of our National Team. I believe that we all feel privileged for the opportunity to share such moments together.
Not very often in life do we have the opportunity to make history, but you must all feel honoured and proud for the chance to represent our state, Republic of Kosovo, an enthusiastic country, full of optimism, a country led by hope and vision, a country led by these values, towards a stable and prosperous future.
The path to this moment was not easy. It was a journey full of difficulties. Many of you have sacrificed your own carriers in football, waiting for the day when Kosovo will finally have its own national team. Some of you were forced to abandon Kosovo as children, because your parents were faced by the challenge of economic survival, while some of you did not have even the basic preconditions for advancement in this sport.
But our common denominator is all of us, those 16000 viewers at the stadium, the two million citizens of Kosovo, who will follow this game, and who, despite the difficulties, will continue to carry on; the difficulties will not stop us, but they will serve as an additional courage for you and for all of us.
This journey of yours is also the same as the journey of our young state, which marked its sixth anniversary two weeks ago. But this is only the beginning for us, because we shall continue to take our deserved place among the best.
Please bear in mind that tomorrow at the “Adem Jashari” stadium you will be making history. A history, irreversible for our state, for all the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, and of which you shall make us proud. Through yourselves, we shall internationalize the issue of Kosovo, and we shall internationalize the sports of the Republic of Kosovo.