Guardian's brilliant research reveals why Kosovars love the English so much

Great British media, “The Guardian”, as well as many other world media, are standing in Kosovo these days to convey the atmosphere before tomorrow's match between Kosovo and England at the “Fadil Vokri” stadium in Pristina, this match valid for Euro 2020.

Football Address Book Journal in “The Guardian” is in Pristina and it conveys to readers this atmosphere and the history between the two countries.

These days, from green dwellings in Pristina's “dania” neighbourhood, you can see a school, a library and a surrounding football field. This has been the most difficult country in Kosovo's capital, but that time has already passed.

Silence brings no threat and only a voice breaks in a flat somewhere where a child calls his mother. And down in the game space, there's a time-out sound of the ball as two boys exercise one with full equipment from the doorman and the other responsible for exercising it, broadcast Koha.net.

Two decades ago it was wild, open grass and soil. It's changed so much, but there's memories on top of the highest building of what's once happened. A grey structure once was the checkpoint of British soldiers who landed in Pristina in 1999, when NATO forces came to maintain peace and create a secure environment in a state that was very traumatised and destroyed by war.

As Father and Muharrem travel through space, he remembers the first days after his return and his family to Pristina that summer, after spending three months as refugees in Macedonia. They were the first to return to their area, to Taslige, the other side of town and, as he says, was a new “beginning... time to build a new life and society again”

The city at first seemed empty and desolate, but as more and more people returned, the chances of enjoying old relics grew. Muharrem would travel to Dardan to play soccer in that pit field. From time to time, they were joined, only for a few minutes, a stranger.

The “British KFOR guys were on patrol and sometimes got into the game, playing ball with them”, he says. They stopped, they talked to us, they joined us. It was kind of connected through the game, we didn't need the same language. We saw them as our heroes. They were very good, very kind to us. It was a sure, mutual love, and we felt energy. We could feel that love”

Waiting for England and its fans is extraordinary for Sunday's Euro 2020 qualifying match, which for Kosovo now is the lost battle but will celebrate a relationship that could hardly be deeper.

The British role, among an international coalition, to end the brutal battle with Serb forces has never been forgotten in Kosovo. That's why the roads are also assigned according to Tony Blair and Robin Cooku, who were instrumental with their policies leading to the expulsion of Belgrade troops from Kosovo through NATO, and for what reason many children were appointed. And that is why the centre of Pristina is packed with postaries offering thanks to 1,000 or more fans who have arrived in Kosovo's capital.

Muharrem's words do not come out easily; as a longtime figure with the countries' past asked “observer”, how often can it be sincerely said that one nation has such deep love for another country? Anyone who passes “below “Along with the English and Kosovo flags with a poppy poppy that appears every 100m or so and has seen other small signs. A plan to offer English fans free alcohol was not realised, but waitresses in Pristina will wear special fans.

Blodin Gagica is the owner of “Gagit”, a Mediterranean restaurant 500m from the national stadium. When his younger brother, who has a photo-studio, designed the baner “Welcome, brothers!” with pictures of Raheem Sterling, Danny Rose's Fabian Delphit, he asked for himself. Now she stays on the balcony of the building, broadcasts Koha.net.

We did not pay attention to “, he says. We just did it to thank you for everything. We never thought we'd be able to say it like that before we played football against England. It brings me great emotions. When we saw the British soldiers, we said God is splitting up and helping out.

Muharrem's son-in-law, Salvation, became famous when a picture of him playing soccer with a soldier in Dardan resurfaced online before the two teams played in Southampton two months ago. Hundreds of others have such stories, and the influence of forces was unbelievable.

But Kosovo would not be such an optimistic state without the determination of its own people; the football team, which played the first friendly official match five and a half years ago, could reach Euro 2020 through play-off, is the best advertisement of this; and Muharrem is proud to be able to be like England.

I never thought we'd play with them for 20 years, and I never thought we'd have such a strong team to confront them, he says. “We love our football players; they have made us feel more Kosovars”.

As he speaks, children in the concrete field who are about 11 years old, how old the Muharrem was when he returned in 1999, one of them playing good games with his left foot. He is dressed in Kosovo's lantern and explains he has exercised a time at an academy in Croatia.

His confidence speaks of modern Kosovo, reflects on the identity football is helping to carve. The upper towers testify to a game filled with hope again; but it is like a world away from when, in the company of those British military, it was only a release to play.

When I was young, I dreamed of playing on Kosovo's fanella like this”, Muharremi says.

And now, thanks partly to British aid, boys and girls in Kosovo no longer need to imagine.