Football
Associated Press 5y

Albania get Andorra's anthem, 'Armenia' apology

In an embarrassing mix-up, the wrong national anthem was played for Albania before they faced France in a European Championship qualifier on Saturday.

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Players looked bemused as they realised it was the wrong anthem -- Andorra's, according to UEFA's website -- with camera images showing angry Albanian fans making offensive gestures in protest at the error.

France coach Didier Deschamps spoke with Albania manager Edoardo Reja as referee Jesus Gil Manzano waited several minutes for the right anthem to be played at Stade de France before starting the game -- which was delayed by nearly 10 minutes.

Then, when the correct anthem was about to be played, there was another embarrassing incident as the stadium announcer apologised to "Armenia's fans" and called on the crowd to respect the "Armenia national anthem" before he realised his glaring mistake and corrected it.

The visitors and their fans didn't have a much better experience following the anthem error, as France cruised to a 4-1 victory. 

France's next opponents are Andorra in Paris on Tuesday.

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