With the new coach, Sylvinho, it was decided to abandon the “Italian” path for a very modern 4-3-3. Now Albania wants to win against us to look to the future.
There Albania national team and, extending the concept, the Albanian football movement as a whole have become great. And now they want to play a trick on the football nation that they had taken as a model when they decided to invest according to a well-organized football program. This is what we will end up with as the sub-text of the opening match in these German European Championships and it can’t scare our players at least a little, many of whom are in their first major international experience against and in the group with the Azzurri.
Albania participates in a major international tournament for the first time when it manages to pass Group I and qualify for France 2016. At the helm is Gianni De Biasithe technical group is completely Italian and the best players, from Berisha to Hysajfrom Memushaj to Ajeti they all play in Italy. The formation is the now very Italian 3-5-2 and the European Championships are a beautiful adventure, because the group is not passed but with two very honorable defeats against Switzerland and France and a victory over Romania, Albania receives many compliments.
When De Biasi leaves in 2017, the team is first entrusted to Christian Panucci and then to Edoardo Reja, who follow in the footsteps of their predecessor almost slavishly, without however producing prestigious results. At the beginning of 2023 (really at the beginning, on January 2nd) the Albanian Football Federation decides on a sharp change of course: enough Italian coaches and ideas and room for Sylvinhowho was assistant to two great coaches who held him in high regard, Mancini and Tite, even though it didn’t go well with Lyon and Corinthians as head coach.
Because Italy, by winning against Albania, would almost qualify for the round of 16 of the European Championships
We change in the name of a football that is advertised as much more contemporary but also on the pitch which has proven functional for the current Albania squad. Many of the players who grew up in our area will play against us. Together with Hysaj and Berisha already mentioned, employment from the beginning of is almost certain Asslani, Bajrami and especially Djimsitithe man who in Gasperini’s Atalanta became one of the best defenders in Europe in a 3-man defence.
But we were saying how everything had changed and even the “Italian” module was set aside. No more 3-man defense (but Djimsiti also plays well at 4-man) for a very left-handed 4-3-3 with the idea of giving great creative importance to the two midfielders (Bajrami first and foremost, author of an anonymous season to say the least with Sassuolo) and make the wingers decisive in trying to score the decisive goals (much less the centre-forward with a change of scene in the last few days: no call-up for Sokol Çikalleshi and the entire weight of the attack on Armando Brojawhich Milan is watching with interest).
An outsider like Jasir Asaniborn in Skopje and chosen by the algorithm wanted by Sylvinho to scan the entire globe in search of Albanian players who can be called up from who knows where (in fact Asani has been in South Korea since 2023, at Gwangju), was the man capable of deciding the qualification of Shqiponjat (The Eagles), with goals against Poland and the Czech Republic.
The fact that Albania won its qualifying group, beating the Poles and the Czechs (as well as Moldova and the Faroes), may cause us some concern, also because if in attack they were not a steamrolling team with 12 goals scored, in defense they were were masterful, conceding only 4 goals, behind only Portugal and France in all the groups.
Even for us, with the asphyxiated and uncreative attack we have, it will be difficult to overcome them and we must be able to manage the anxiety of the debut against the weakest team on paper.
We are aware that these three points are vital for us, why then look for them against them Spain And Croatia it will be tough, while for Albania making a good impression against their former footballing father may be enough. We will take to the field with different points of view but this must not swamp us with a game that is difficult from the start. We must respect Albania to the point of considering them as our equal, only in this way can we overcome them and think about the next opponent.
