Countdown to TiranaIn this section we count down to the Conference League final next Wednesday, in which Feyenoord will face AS Roma. With today: the Rotterdammers already visited Tirana before, in 1991.
“You mean the one with the thumbs up?” John de Pater does not have to dig long in his memory to dig up the anecdote about a photo. ,,Artur Lekbello, what a nice guy he was”, says the photographer. De Pater Feyenoord followed thirty seasons with his camera, in the service of the club. He was everywhere the Rotterdammers went. ,,So also in 1991 in Tirana”, says De Pater. ,,Partizan Tirana out. The poverty there, that was really unprecedented. We went to our hotel the day before the match, fellow photographer Robert Collette opened the door to the shower and stood in water up to his ankles. Everything leaked, everything was broken. There was hardly anything to eat. The Feyenoord players were really shocked. They literally had nothing there in Tirana at that time.”
De Pater gave a bag of clothes to the Albanians. Goalkeeper Artur Lekbello, who would keep the great Feyenoord at 0-0 in Tirana, really appreciated that. In the Kuip, the photographer was close to the keeper who slowly drove Feyenoord to despair with miraculous saves. The team was in danger of being eliminated by a very modest team from Albania.
Until Peter Bosz made sure that Feyenoord won (1-0) three minutes before the end and barely survived the first round of the European Cup II. ,,And then it happened”, says De Pater. ,,Bosz had just scored, De Kuip was celebrating, Lekbello was defeated and was on his knees. He suddenly shouted ‘Hey John’ and raised his thumb. Looked very crazy. I must have that photo somewhere. Yes, it’s not often that a club is eliminated from the European Cup just before time and the keeper poses for a photographer with a grin with his thumb up. And also calling his name, hahaha.”
Shirt sponsor
On the shirt of the Albanian goalkeeper was written in large letters ‘Bakery Klootwijk’. The baker, a good acquaintance of De Pater, decided to act as a shirt sponsor for the Albanians for the home game. “That was just possible then. Tirana, I had never seen it so poor. Nobody could have imagined that a European final is now taking place there. But it has been completely renovated.”
Is De Pater happy to hear that Lekbello is doing well? ,,That’s good to hear. He will like that Feyenoord comes to visit in his Tirana. Thumbs up, I’d say.”
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