Armenia crushed Macedonia 4:1 in a perfect display of team spirit at Euro 2012 qualifier

*pictures - by PanARMENIAN Photo

After a decade of post-Soviet malaise, Armenia national team started showing up a type of professional and exciting football that I love.

Below are pictures of 5 players of the day. But the real heroes of the day - Armenia national team as a whole. See their faces here.

And if there was a contest for 'comment of the day', the prize would go to a friend of mine Sylvie K. who commented under my Facebook status:

“this makes me believe in miracles - that we CAN succeed in a TEAM sport...not just in CHESS”.

And perhaps the most hilarious tweet of the day (AM) ;))

Աղջիկ լինեի, կամ գեյ, էսօր մեր սաղ թիմին կտայի
@8731

*pictures - by PanARMENIAN Photo / Vahan Stepanyan

Armenia vs Russia EURO 2012 qualifying. No party for tonight...

First, something positive. Look at this picture tweeted live from the Yerevan stadium by @adagamov. Beautiful.

"Стадион забит до отказа, спели гимны. У армян на бумажках цвета флага на др стороне текст гимна"

Now look at his second picture + commentary about poor organisaton of people entry to the stadium by the Armenian side. I can confirm that I’ve heard similar complaints from others who were at the stadium too.

"На входе дикая давка, организация просто из рук вон"

For the first half (apart from 10 mins at the beginning), it was Berezovsky vs Russia. To other players in our team - thumbs down. Second half was more active and interesting. But it was nil vs nil at the end. No party for tonight.

And about Armenian Public TV online broadcast of the match. It sucked spectacularly. It was like a torture to watch, interrupting (“buffering”) every couple of seconds (!!). And no, my Internet connection was OK, many of my friends experienced the same. Wouldn’t it be more honest to simply not have online broadcast?! Luckily, I got a link to different channel, and managed to watch more or less OKish the second half of the match.

Historical record: Armenia tops group rank in EURO 2012 qualifying

I am putting this screenshot from the UEFA website for historical record. For me, to remember that even if for a short while, Armenia topped the group rank in EURO 2012 qualifying, after stunning victory over Andorra 4:0. Also, to hope that may be one day this will become a steady reality.

Are we witnessing the revival of Armenian football? I may only hope so.

*see also: Pics of the Day: Germany's Merkel vs Turkey's Erdogan, Armenia vs Slovakia - EURO 2012

Pics of the Day: Germany's Merkel vs Turkey's Erdogan, Armenia vs Slovakia - EURO 2012

Hilarious pics of Germany's Angela Merkel vs Turkey's Erdogan after defeat of Turkish football team in EURO 2012 qualifier. Could not stop laughing :)))

*via Tert.am (via Milliyet)
***

And at last, something to celebrate for Armenian football fans. Armenia beats pretty strong by international rankings Slovakia 3:1 in EURO 2012 qualifier.

My favourite reaction came on Twitter via @ArmComedy:

From now on Armenian #football team is all about smashing stereotypes and prejudice! Armenia-Slovakia. 3:1

Here is hoping...

*Yahoo Sport / Getty Images: Gevorg Kasparov (R) of Armenia vies with Miroslav Stocvh (L) of Slovakia during their Euro 2012 qualifying match in Yerevan on October 8, 2010. AFP PHOTO / KAREN MINOSYAN

*Yahoo Sport / Getty Images: Marcos Pizzelli (R) of Armenia vies with Radoslav Zabavnik (L) of Slovakia during their Euro 2012 qualifying match in Yerevan on October 8, 2010. AFP PHOTO / KAREN MINOSYAN

*Yahoo Sport / Getty Images: Robert Arzumanyan (R) of Armenia vies with Kamil Kopunek (L) of Slovakia during their Euro 2012 qualifying football match in Yerevan on October 8, 2010. AFP PHOTO / KAREN MINASYAN