From a distance, it looks like a mix between a bet between friends in the evening and an Intervilles event.
Either way, the scene is quite improbable.
The players of North Macedonia engaged in a funny exercise on Wednesday in training, on the eve of facing Ukraine in Bucharest for their second match in the Euro.
The men of the Balkan selection, which is playing its first international competition, took part in a workshop where the goal is to dispense with the balloons using a plastic cone.
Yes yes, you read that right.
In a video posted by the competition's Twitter account, Goran Pandev's teammates run in pairs, each with a ball in a cone.
After a few meters of running, the players must throw their ball at the same time to make sure to recover that of his partner in his cone.
It is then a matter of turning around towards the starting point, lifting the ball - still with the help of the cone - and passing it with the head into the cone of a third player.
Who in turn sets off with his partner.
đ˛đ° North Macedonia training, cone race edition đ @ ffmmkd |
# EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/wuJjTk3EaP
- UEFA EURO 2020 (@ EURO2020) June 17, 2021
If the video aroused hilarity or even mocking comments from some Internet users, some defended the Macedonians, beaten by Austria for their entry into the running in the Euro on Sunday (3-1).
âIt's a great training exercise.
North Macedonia deserves to go far just for that, âtweeted former England striker for Chelsea and Celtic Glasgow, Chris Sutton.
âPeople can laugh, but fun warm-ups like this keep the excitement and motivation going into the early stages,â says former Welsh footballer Nia Jones.
And whatever the age of the athlete.
"