Albania will be up against it in Euro 2024 Group B, where they will face Italy, Spain and Croatia, but they can call on a solid defence and a few former Premier League stars…
How to follow Euro 2024 on The Athletic…
The manager
Sylvinho! You know, the old Arsenal and Barcelona left-back? Yeah, he’s Albania’s manager. Interesting, right?
The Brazilian’s playing days ended in 2010 after a brief stint at Manchester City, then he spent the best part of a decade earning his corn as a coach at Cruzeiro, Sport Recife and Nautico in Brazil, then as Roberto Mancini’s assistant at Inter Milan, then Tite’s assistant with the Brazil national team.
His first foray into management came with Lyon in 2019. It didn’t go too well; he was sacked after 141 days with Lyon in 14th Ligue 1 after his nine league matches.
Next up, nine months in Brazil with Corinthians, who he guided to fifth (their best finish in four years), but he was then sacked three games into the next season. So that didn’t go too well either.
The logical next career move is, of course, the Albanian national team and it is here that Sylvinho has found his managerial feet. He took over at the start of the Euro qualifying campaign and guided the team to first place in Group E ahead of the Czech Republic, Poland, Moldova and the Faroe Islands.
Sylvinho in the Albania dugout (Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images)
It was the first time Albania had topped a qualification group and the second time they had qualified for a tournament (they also made it to Euro 2016, where they beat Romania and held France to the 90th minute before succumbing to two late goals from the tournament’s eventual finalists).
Sylvinho’s record of five wins from 11 matches gives him the highest win percentage (45.5 per cent) of anyone who has taken charge of Albania for more than four games. For leading Albania to Germany, Sylvinho was presented with one of the country’s highest honours, the Golden Decoration of the Eagle, which is handed out for bravery in armed war (nope) or for acts of civic courage in peacetime (presumably?). He is the first foreigner to receive the award and has since been awarded honorary Albanian citizenship. So this is going well.
The household name in waiting
A forward who failed to score in 15 appearances for Kisvarda in the Nemzeti Bajnoksag (the Hungarian top flight) in 2022 might not be a ‘household name in waiting’, but bear with us.
Jasir Asani has enjoyed a pretty cool 18 months. At the start of 2023, he swapped Hungary for South Korea, joining Gwangju, where he had a decent enough season, scoring seven goals in 30 games. At around the same time, Sylvinho was scouring the globe for an Albanian left-footed right-sided forward who could be an attacking threat in his 4-3-3 formation.
Enter Macedonian-born former Albania Under-21 international Asani, then aged 27, who Sylvinho brought straight into his XI and handed his first cap. Asani started all eight qualifiers, laid on three assists and scored three goals, including this.
As his career history suggests, Asani is inconsistent, but there is no doubt he is also a mercurial talent capable of moments of brilliance. There is a YouTube compilation about him entitled When Football Becomes Art. Allow him inside on that potent left peg and carnage could be afoot.
Strengths
Chiefly, a dogged defence that only conceded four goals in qualifying, headed up by Atalanta’s Europa League-winning captain Berat Djimsiti.
There are several Italian-based players in the squad including Lazio right-back Elseid Hysaj, Inter Milan central midfielder Kristjan Asllani and Sassuolo’s Nedim Bajrami, who is tasked with being the link between midfield and attack.
They have a couple of good goalkeepers too and Sylvinho has a decision to make between Brentford backup Thomas Strakosha and Empoli’s 35-year-old Etrit Berisha (the Brazilian has split their appearances almost evenly; six for Strakosha and five for Berisha).
What Albania also have going for them is a lack of expectation, especially after being drawn into a horrendous group along with Italy, Spain and Croatia. Nobody expects anything and, let’s be honest, Albania are the undoubted ‘must-win match’ for the other three nations.
With that comes an underdog mentality and, via some of their undoubtedly talented players, they could spring a surprise or two. They took four points off the Czechs in qualifying (including a thumping 3-0 home win) and beat Poland 2-0 in Tirana too. Underestimate them at your peril.
Weaknesses
Goals are an issue. Albania only scored 12 in qualifying, two fewer than the next-lowest tally from a group winner (Turkey), and Syvinho has been utterly ruthless in his response by ditching the two primary forwards who helped Albania reach Germany.
Not included in the 26 is Konyaspor striker Sokol Cikalleshi, Albania’s joint-third-highest scorer of all time with 13 goals. He started seven of the eight qualifiers in a target-man role (only scoring once) and retired in a fit of rage a day after the squad announcement.
Also left out was Myrto Uzuni, who scored 11 for relegated Granada in La Liga last season.
Instead, the scoring burden may fall on Chelsea striker Armando Broja, who failed to score on loan at Fulham in eight league appearances last season.
Rey Manaj didn’t play in qualifying, either, but the striker, who was on the books of Inter Milan, Barcelona and, well, Watford, was the joint-third-top scorer in the Turkish Super Lig last season, with 18 for Sivasspor.
Can Rey Manaj give Albania some much-needed firepower? (Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
Thing you didn’t know
Right, get this — not only is Sylvinho Albania’s manager, but Manchester City Premier League winner Pablo Zabaleta is his assistant and ex-Middlesbrough midfielder Doriva is also on the coaching staff.
And Sylvinho isn’t the first high-profile player to take charge of Albania. In recent years, they also entrusted ex-AC Milan, Real Madrid and Roma full-back Christian Panucci and former Ajax and Netherlands midfielder Arie Haan.
Expectations back home
Albania are ranked 66th in the world, the second lowest in the tournament only ahead of Georgia, so fans back home know to expect little, but they will hope for something special. Any victory would be the greatest day in Albanian football history.
Sylvinho is understandably playing it down, given the cowpat of a group they have been handed for their knockout-stage prospects.
“Under pressure? No, we are not,” he said. “Our opponents do not play to pass through the group but to win the European Championship.
“We go there to show our trust in each other and the team’s heart and spirit. That is what we should show.”
Albania’s Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Etrit Berisha (Empoli), Thomas Strakosha (Brentford), Elhan Kastrati (A.S. Cittadella)
Defenders: Berat Gjimshiti (Atalanta), Elseid Hysaj (Lazio), Ivan Balliu (Rayo Vallecano), Ardian Ismajli (Empoli), Arlind Ajeti (CFR Cluj), Naser Aliji (Voluntari), Mario Mitaj (Lokomotiv Moscow), Enea Mihaj (Famalicao), Marash Kumbulla (Sassuolo)
Midfielders: Amir Abrashi (Grasshoppers), Kristjan Asllani (Inter), Nedim Bajrami (Sassuolo), Medon Berisha (Lecce), Klaus Gjasula (Darmstadt 98), Qazim Laci (Sparta Prague), Ernest Muci (Besiktas), Ylber Ramadani (Lecce)
Forwards: Jasir Asani (Gwangju FC), Armando Broja (Chelsea), Mirlind Daku (Rubin Kazan), Arber Hoxha (Dinamo Zagreb), Rey Manaj (Sivasspor), Taulant Seferi (Vorskla Poltava)
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Read the full article here