Uniqueness of Faroe islands, stadium trench and resemblance to Icherisheher - REPORTAGE

Tórshavn. 11 October. REPORT.AZ/ These are the Faroe islands. Washed by the Atlantic Ocean, this half-independent country has a 50,000-population scatterred unequally on 17 out of 18 islands. Though located 450 km from Iceland and 675 km from Norway, it is part of the Danish kingdom located at a 1117 km distance. However, it is considered independent since 1 April 1948 except in the issues of defense, justice, police, general currency and foreign policy. This begs a question: what independence is it?

Yes, though being half-independent, the people of the Faroe Islands enjoy freedom. Every evening they head to bars, cafe and restaurants to have a rest. Nightclubs and other entertainment facilities function only on weekends. Prices are quite high, especially in services. Shops do not sell alcohol beverages, and you can only order them in bars and restaurants for quite a high price. For example, a bumper of beer sells for EUR 8-9 here.

Straymur which seats the capital Tórshavn is the biggest island. 20,000 people - 40% of the population live here. There are boats, large and small yachts and ships in the city port. However, the current weather conditions do not allow them to take a voyage to the Atlantic ocean. The land transport is also scarce. The narrow streets somewhat resemble Icherisheher. In some places you can see not people, but monuments...

Sheep and goats are considered the symbols of the Faroe islands. Even the emblem of the country features a goat. Sheep together with geese pasture in the yards of the houses located on uplands...

And this country has its independent federation and its own national team. Azerbaijani team is here to hold a match in the UEFA Nations League. There are no thoughts of supremacy or not taking the rival for serious. Head coach Gurban Gurbanov prohibited the players who started their training sessions to speak to media. He only limited himself with the brief statements that he and, as the UEFA requested at the press conference, one of the footballers Pavel Pashayev made. All their attention is on gaining their first win in today's match. Everyone is waiting for the positive outcome of the 90-minute encounter...

During the press conference before the match, two moments attracted attention at the Tórsvøllur stadium: the synthetic torf at the stadium and the destroyed opposite tribune. The reason for destruction is unknown. A deep trench formed in its place and currently drainage works are underway. Probably, they will set new pitches with artificial turf. Losing here would be worse that falling into a trench!

Local media and public are not so interested in the match. We would not be mistaken to say that at the pre-match press conference there were more Azerbaijani than local journalists. Unlike the Azerbaijani team, the local team had no problem communicating with media outlets.

Meanwhile, hours are left to the match...