Albania
After years of being looked at as a
relatively easy opponent in qualifications, they were able to beat the odds
and, for the first time in their history to a big competition. The fact that
they qualified is their win, and therefore anything they might achieve in
France will be cream on top.
How they qualified
A dream start catapulted the dream for
Albania. They began the campaign with a visit to Portugal and hosting Denmark
and they were clear underdogs, but were able to stun Europe with a win in
Aveiro – that resulted in the sack of Paulo Bento – and a late draw conceded
against the Danish.
Another Albanian match shocked Europe, against
Serbia, but this time football wasn’t the reason. Other wars ended up with a
win determined by Uefa, and from them on, added with a very irregular Denmark,
the qualification was a possibility, confirmed with a good, in the past
unthinkable, win away at Armenia.
Squad
Goalkeepers:
Etrit Berisha (Lazio), Alban Hoxha (Partizani), Orges Shehi (Skenderbeu).
Defenders:
Lorik Cana (Nantes), Arlind Ajeti (Frosinone), Mergim Mavraj (FC Cologne), Elseid
Hysaj (Napoli), Ansi Agolli (Qarabag), Frederic Veseli (Lugano), Naser Aliji
(Basel).
Midfielders:
Ledjan Memushaj (Pescara), Ergys Kaçe (PAOK), Andi Lila (Giannina), Migjen
Basha (Como), Odise Roshi (Rijeka), Burim Kukeli (FC Zurich), Ermir Lenjani
(Nantes), Taulant Xhaka (Basel), Armir Abrashi (Freiburg).
Forwards:
Bekim Balaj (Rijeka), Sokol Cikalleshi (Medipol Baksasehir), Armando Sadiku
(Vaduz), Shkelzen Gashi (Colorado Rapids).
Lorik Cana
Club : Nantes (FRA)
Age : 32 years
Clearly the most
experienced and honoured Albanian player. In his youth he travelled to
Switzerland to complete his youth training and ended up at the service of PSG.
There he started professionally and after a transfer to OM he captained the
French side for two years.
After a good spell at Lazio he returned to
France, and his versatility and been a mark to his career, as he can play from
a centre back to a box-to-box midfielder, and he will be the leader in the
pitch for Albania to try and achieve more golden pages.
Elseid
Hysaj
Clube : Nápoles (ITA)
Idade : 22 anos
Potentially the best albanian player for the
future. He’s certainly already one of the best ones now, as shown by his great
season at Napoli in Serie A.
Elseid Hysaj is the best example of a father
determined to make his son’s full potential possible to achieve. After flooding
the Italian academies with videos and reports, and finding a job in Empoli, the
Hysaj family moved to Italy to allow Elseid to better learn what he was meant
to do.
A quality right-back, started playing in the
first team with 18 years old, and helped the team achieve promotion and then
avoiding relegation from Serie A.
He transferred to Napoli, with his former
manager Sarri, and there he showed that his time at Empoli was no fluke, and
that his father perseverance paid off. He was nominated in the U-23 best XI of
Serie A, side by side with names with Paul Pogba or Mauro Icardi
Gianni Di Biasi
Had his
first great success as a manager at Modena, a team that was in the 3rd tier and he was able to guide all
the way to Serie A, in 2002, just after two years in charge.
Had three different spells at Torino, reaching
a promotion and two successful relegation battles, goals he was hired to get specifically.
Was appointed to the Albania national team in 2011 and in the qualification to
Brazil started showing glimpses of a brighter future with a win versus Norway.
And he confirmed it with wins against Portugal and France, and this
qualification. A brilliant path with pages that still need to be written.
What to expect from them?
With nothing to lose, Albania will be relieved
to look at the groups they avoided. Looking at their opponents, they can
believe it’s possible to escape as one of the 3rd best. They will
not change their formula of success, with a 4-5-1 very defensive where the wide
midfielders are essentially another defender that helps Di Biasi’s team keeping
their goal safe.
Without a particular strong offensive outlet,
the Albanians will look to defend, defend, defend, and try to nick a goal that
will give them another page of history to write. And, if they manage a win, a
qualification to the knockout stages is an achievable dream
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| FIL'S starting XI prediction |
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