YEREVAN. – The recent Armenia-Portugal football match—in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan—was also marked by the fact that the Armenian fans had planned to take “revenge,” once and for all, upon the Portugal-Armenia match that was played in Portugal, reported Hraparak daily.

“At that time, ours [i.e. the Armenian footballers] were very badly received in Lisbon, and they [i.e. the Portuguese] had extended a few minutes’ bus route so much that our footballers had come to the match tired, in no physical condition.

“[So,] in actual fact, the curses made in Portuguese at Zvartnots [International] Airport [in Yerevan] were a part of the ‘revenge’ plan.

“Some Armenian football lovers, who had not ‘swallowed’ the insult [in Portugal], had decided to also play the same trick [to the Portuguese national team] on the road from Armenia Marriott Hotel[, where the Portuguese were staying,] to Dynamo Stadium[, where the match was played], spinning the Portuguese footballers around the streets of Yerevan for several hours, and then bringing [them] to the stadium.

“But at the last moment, FFA [i.e. Football Federation of Armenia] President Ruben Hayrapetyan had been informed about this plan and had prevented [it],” wrote Hraparak.