“‘This is only a football game, it is not a war. We cannot carry the weight of history on our shoulders.’ Fatih Terim was right and wrong about Turkey’s World Cup qualifier against Armenia back in 2008. Yes, it was only a football game. But it also wasn’t only a football game. It was the first time these neighbouring nations had come face to face since Armenia gained independence in 1991, a rivalry with a huge disparity between its ferocity and the number of games they had actually played against each other. …”
The Athletic