It has been a long year for Libya since the situation of the ousting of former president Muammar Gaddafi. But it is finally time that the conflict has somewhat settled and they can begin hosting international soccer events. That is exactly what happened yesterday when the country welcomed 31 time Bulgarian champion CSKA Sofia to play Al Ahli Tripoli, a Libyan national team. This was a great sign of things changing over there as they felt comfortable enough to welcome another country's soccer team in town and felt that they would be competing in a safe enough environment. They were successful in doing this as firstpost.com explains, they welcomed in roughly 1,000 fans to watch the match and instead of fighting there were only cheers of national pride and independence from the dictatorial reign of Gaddafi. Another positive to take from this was that Al Ahli Tripoli was able to beat the Bulgarian champions by a score of 1-0 which shows that they have not lost anything in their first home game in over a year. Bulgaria also played Al Nasar Benghazi and defeated them; then after that the two Libyan teams took on each other with Benghazi getting the win 1-0. Everyone felt more comfortable at yesterday's games including spectators like Saad Mohammed al-Breghathy who said "we feel more comfortable now. We watched football matches without interest during the revolution but it is different now and it feels great." I feel that this was a great sign for any country in the midst of a revolution that things can get better. This is not just about sports, it's about a country with the strength to overcome probably its darkest period ever and be able to carry on.

                                           

Libyan fans gathering outside Benina Martyrs stadium for the return of international soccer.
Compliments of Al Arabiya news.