What with the newfound respect many seem to be finding for Kolarov, I thought now would be a good time to bring this back up- it's from 2014 but I hadn't known about it until now and I'm sure others may be in the same position. If the mods don't think this warrants its own thread then please feel free to merge.
Came across this old video from two years ago. Most of you may have seen it but some might not. It shows a match between Albania and Serbia that descended into complete chaos with fans and players getting involved in pretty dangerous brawls and riot police in armour charging around. You can see in this video that Kolarov is basically the only player who is actively trying to make peace and stop the fighting. On two occasions he physically places himself in between attackers and the men they're attacking and another time started to run between a Serbian player and someone charging at him. He is trying to be respectful to the Albanians and refuses to leave the field until all of the other players are safely in the dressing room when Martin Atkinson abandons the match. When he does go down the tunnel it is alongside an Albanian player who he calms down, puts his arm around and protects from the Serbian fans who threw projectiles at the other Albanians as they left the field. Throughout the whole video he looks visibly appalled by the violence and not once does he lay a hand on anyone else except in defence of others.
This video changed my opinion of Kolarov as a person. He may have a hard man persona but when it actually mattered and people were in danger he was one of the only players willing to be mature.
Came across this old video from two years ago. Most of you may have seen it but some might not. It shows a match between Albania and Serbia that descended into complete chaos with fans and players getting involved in pretty dangerous brawls and riot police in armour charging around. You can see in this video that Kolarov is basically the only player who is actively trying to make peace and stop the fighting. On two occasions he physically places himself in between attackers and the men they're attacking and another time started to run between a Serbian player and someone charging at him. He is trying to be respectful to the Albanians and refuses to leave the field until all of the other players are safely in the dressing room when Martin Atkinson abandons the match. When he does go down the tunnel it is alongside an Albanian player who he calms down, puts his arm around and protects from the Serbian fans who threw projectiles at the other Albanians as they left the field. Throughout the whole video he looks visibly appalled by the violence and not once does he lay a hand on anyone else except in defence of others.
This video changed my opinion of Kolarov as a person. He may have a hard man persona but when it actually mattered and people were in danger he was one of the only players willing to be mature.