TIRANA, March 30 – The two friendlies with Austria and Luxembourg proved Albania still has a lot to improve ahead of its historic European championship debut next June especially when it comes to defense which was one of its strengths in the Euro qualifying campaign.
Albania’s national team suffered a 2-1 defeat in their Euro 2016 warm-up friendly against Austria last weekend following two first-half defensive blunders but considerably improved in the second half when Nantes midfielder Lenjani narrowed the hosts lead to 2-1.
Captain Lorik Cana who plays French club Nantes and Cologne defender Mergim Mavraj failed to clear two key balls which turned into assists for Austrian strikers giving the hosts a comfortable 2-0 lead in only 13 minutes. Thirty-two year-old Cana who has captained the national team for the past five years and had a key role in Albania’s first ever qualification in a major football competition has implied he could withdraw from the national team after the Euro 2016.
Albania considerably improved in the second half but was left in ten men in the 78th minute after midfielder Ergys Kaà§e was sent off with a second yellow card.
The March 26 Austria friendly was seen as key test for the national side in a comeback encounter 28 years after the two teams, both qualified for Euro 2016, last faced each other.
Albania has yet to beat Austria who they played six times in the 1980s both in the World Cup and Euro qualifiers, losing all fixtures, including the recent friendly.
“I saw the team I want in the second half. We reacted well and the substitutes played well,” said Albania’s Italian-born coach Gianni De Biasi.
The second friendly with Luxembourg proved a completely different picture although the key players were left out and new ones tested. Kosovo-born attacking midfielder Milot Rashica also made his debut with the national side as a second-half substitute after his great recent performances with the Dutch side Vitesse.
In a small stadium where some 3,000 Albanian fans were a majority, Albania scored twice in the second half with strikers Armando Sadiku and Sokol Cikalleshi after Luxembourg goalkeeper was sent off at the end of the first half.
“We played two different games regarding the quality of our opponents. We played well for one hour with Austria. We also did well with Luxembourg despite the difficult terrain and slippery pitch,” De Biasi told reporters after the Luxembourg game.
The football association says it also negotiating for another friendly ahead of the Euro 2016 kick-off after the Qatar fixture on May 29.
Albania will face hosts France, Switzerland and Romania in Group A of the Euro 2016 in a bid to make another surprise campaign after a historic qualification as an outsider.
Albania will make its first-ever appearance in a major football competition on June 11, 2016 against Switzerland in what is considered a derby as the Albanian side features as many as seven Swiss-born players while five of the Swiss internationals have Albanian roots.
