TIRANA, Sept. 8 – A stoppage-time winner stunned Albania on Monday night as Portugal’s Miguel Veloso scored a header to avenge their shock defeat in the opening Euro 2016 qualifiers last year.
Portugal beat Albania 1-0 extending their lead in Group I to 15 points, three points ahead of Denmark and four against third-placed Albania.
With two games to go, Albania can still hope to qualify directly after Denmark’s goalless draw away to Armenia.
Denmark have only one game left next October when they play away to leaders Portugal while Albania has two qualifiers left against Serbia and Armenia.
After a difficult first half, Albania considerably improved their performance in the second half when striker Cikalleshi hit the post after deflection to a long-range strike.
The Albanian defence also covered Real Madrid star and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo pretty well, leaving him few opportunities to strike.
“We must draw lessons from this loss. We must give our best for the point we lost. Portugal will do us a favour if it wins against Denmark,” said De Biasi.
“Our bid is a bit complicated now that Portugal has mathematically secured its qualification,” he added.
Having already mathematically secured a place in the play-offs, Albania’s qualifying campaign will close with a delicate home match against bottom Serbia on October 8 before travelling to Armenia three days later.
The top two group teams and the best third-placed side in the nine groups qualify directly for the final tournament of the Euro 2016. The eight remaining third-placed teams will contest play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers.
