Fans of Dutch Utrecht are ready to come to Moldova for the match with Sheriff // Photo: utrechtfans.nl
Dutch fans were notified by the country’s Foreign Ministry about the risks of visiting Transnistria and were strongly advised to refrain from traveling to a region not under the control of the official authorities of the Republic of Moldova. In this regard, the Utrecht club sent a request to UEFA to postpone the meeting, which granted the request. UEFA, together with Sheriff and the Moldovan Football Federation, confirmed the postponement of the meeting in Nisporeni.
Despite the postponement of the match from Tiraspol, the Dutch Foreign Ministry published a list of recommendations for travel to Moldova. Utrecht fans, like all Dutch citizens, are allowed to visit Moldova, but it is emphasized that there are “special security risks”.
The date of the first match has not changed – July 24. The match will take place at the Central Stadium (5,200 spectators) in Nisporeni. The return leg will take place on July 31 in Utrecht at the 23,750-capacity Galgenwaard Stadium.
“Sheriff” qualified for the second qualifying round of the Europa League (LE) after a two-match confrontation with the club “Priština” (Kosovo). In the first match, held in Tiraspol, Sheriff won 4-0. Burkina Faso striker Cyril Bayala completed a hat-trick, hitting the opponents’ goal on the 11th, 19th and 74th minutes. Nigerian international Elijah Odede completed the rout with a goal in the 79th minute. The match was officiated by a team of referees from Croatia headed by Dario Belom, assisted by Goran Pataki and Ivan Janic. According to UEFA, the match was attended by just over 6,200 spectators.
For the return leg, the Tiraspol club traveled to Pristina. Sheriff’s Armenian striker Artur Serobyan opened the scoring in the 51st minute, but in the next 15 minutes the hosts restored parity in the score and took the lead. In the 56th minute, Priština midfielder Hamdi Namani struck Ivan Dulgerov’s goal, and in the 65th minute Rin Ahmeti, who had entered the field 8 minutes before, scored. Henrik Nalbandyan was the main referee of the match, assistants in the field were Artur Gdlyan and Gevorg Shahkaldyan (all – Armenia). About 400 fans were present in the stands.
Despite the defeat in Kosovo, Victor Mikhailov’s four goals in the first match allowed Sheriff to continue their campaign in the Europa League, the second most important European cup.
