FYTYRA ME SHQIPONJË (The eagled-face)

 

Real name:	Besmir Limani
Birth date:	1986
Location:	Zurich (Switzerland)
Supported Team:	Albania national soccer team

Besmir Limani is the ultimate Albania fan.

He just can't attend to a football match without his iconic flag facepainting and this fact has, of course, gained him a lot of popularity in his native country. Wherever and whenever you see Albania playing a football match, you will probably find Besmir giving all of his support.

He became world-wide popular during the Euro 2016 event, once these photos were published in different media:

And even though he has been painting his face since 2013, it is in that moment when everyone discovered (me too) he probably was Albania's #1 fan. Since then on, he has been present in the news of different TV programmes and newspapers from different countries including, of course, Spain.

But let's analize Besmir's supporter look. What does he usually wear when he attends a match? This is it:

- Albania scarf.

- His "Përjetësisht Shqipëri!" ("Always Albania!") black T-shirt.

- Black jeans of trousers.

- Black and/or red trainers.

And, of course, his wonderful flag facepainting. He doesn't even need an Albania flag because he is the flag!

To become the eagled-face, Besmir gets ready some hours before the match as it is an accurate process that takes him a lot of time but which is completely worth doing. First of all, he draws the shape of the bicephalous eagle on his face very carefully. After that he carefully fills the eagle with black paint and finally, he applies the red colour covering all of his face including the ears, nape and neck so all of his head is painted as if it was the albanian flag.

Here you can see some photos:

Without paint

Painting process

Side view

Press release. Besmir does the eagle symbol with his hands

Funny face

Fun fact: He's also been allowed to fly in a plane wearing his incredible facepaint on.

Besmir is so well-known in Albania that he has had the chance to meet some players of his national team.

He has also been featured Nimon's Mushkolaj 2020 videoclip "Jemi Shqipet Kuq e Zi" ("We are red and black albanian people") which is dedicated to all of the soccer fans of this balcanic country.

YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEOCLIP HERE 

After many years following him, I have had the privilege of meeting Besmir in person on Saturday, the 26th of March 2002 because a Spain-Albania friendly match took place here, in Barcelona, and, of course, he came to visit. The moment I realised he was here I quickly contacted him and we arranged a meeting outside the stadium which finally turned out to be impossible as he could not miss the Albanian fans concentration event he had to attend. Nevertheless, I was lucky enough to spot him in the street, marching with other albanian fans, as he was heading for the stadium and requested him to take some photos with me. He was super kind and even though we could not spend more than two minutes together, I have to say I was very happy to meet such a super fan like him.

As you can see, I also unleashed my Spain superfan powers: I was wearing my customized Spain official T-shirt, my red and yellow jester hat and most important of all, the best Spain flag facepainting I've ever made, featuring Spain's shield as detailed as I could.

Besmir. It was a real pleasure to meet you and I hope to meet you again in the futurefuture again and spend more time knowing you. Thanks for your kindness.

CONTACT

If you want to contact or follow The eagled.face, you can do it here:

 

Facebook: FYTYRAmeSHQIPONJE Instagram: fytyra_me_shqiponje