Albanians are surprised that their national team lost to Ukraine, which directly sent them to League C. Many of them were confident that Silvinho’s team would minimally defeat the Ukrainians. The worst scenario for them seemed to be a draw. No one expected that Ukraine could score two goals away. The main culprit for the defeat, Albanians believe, is the coaching staff, who poorly set up the players for the first half, in which they conceded two goals. Albanians are confident that if their national team played from the first minutes like they did in the second half, Albania would have easily won this match.
Interestingly, the criticism directed at the team and coaching staff was so strong that the local football federation had to delete some of the comments (there were more at first) and also restricted access to comments on social media (which I personally encounter for the first time at this level).
There was also no shortage of dubious theories (which often happens after such defeats). The thing is, the president of the Albanian football federation, Armand Duka, made a comment to the local TV right before the match started, in which he directly stated that “Ukraine is not the national team that deserves last place, they should have performed in League A.”
“Ukraine is one of the best teams in Europe. They have exceptional qualities in midfield and attack. I believe that external circumstances, not sports ones, affect Ukraine. They are last in the group but do not deserve to be there. They have strong qualities and deserve a place in League A. Ukraine is the best team. This is a top-level team,” said Duka.
Although later he tried to justify his words by saying that playing against Ukraine would be very difficult, some fans saw something more in this. Considering that, in their opinion, Silvinho released a non-optimal lineup from the very first minutes and that in the first half Albania “did not want” to play football, they are convinced that Duka sold this game to the Ukrainians. Or made a bet on Albania's defeat.
Mursel: The first part of the match was a failure. You cannot play so weakly in a decisive match. I don’t know what the coaching staff talked about with the team before the game, but they took to the field looking dull and unmotivated. If we had played from the first minutes like we did in the second half, Ukraine would not have scored two goals against us, and we wouldn’t have lost.
Ferataj: Who could have imagined after the first round that Albania would be relegated to League C? By the level of play, we were not the worst team in this group, but at some point, we lacked football luck. Even today we could have scored 2-3 goals and at least drawn.
Deda: Returning to reality. After the first round, it seemed that Albania could reach the elite division and play against the best teams in Europe, but everything turned out to be not as good as we would have liked.
Ramadani: The group was even, so everything was decided in the last round. The first two places were taken by those teams that were a bit luckier. Czechia and Ukraine are not stronger than Georgia and Albania, but thanks to luck, they advance, and now we have to play in League C again. I hope we return quickly.
Fiko: Two months ago, everyone dreamed of matches against Spain, Germany, and France. Now everyone dreams of matches against the Faroe Islands, San Marino, and Luxembourg. How quickly everything changes.
Armando: With results like those of Albania in recent matches, Silvinho will soon return to where we dug him out from. He will live in Brazilian favelas and write a book about how Albania was able to save his not very successful coaching career for a while.
Duci: It’s not that the Ukrainians played so strongly, but rather that Albania failed the first half. Silvinho is to blame for this. The substitutions improved the game. A conversation with the players at halftime also enhanced the game. It turns out that the coach chose the wrong starting lineup and the wrong tactics for the first half. I won’t be surprised if we say goodbye to Silvinho after such results.
Altin: Unfortunately, League C is the level of current Albania. More precisely, not the team itself, but our coach. Matches against Moldova and San Marino are the real level of Silvinho. Against such teams, he can win and make a significant appearance. When we play against stronger opponents, we turn into San Marino.
Stacen: Ukraine played poorly, but the individual level of their players turned out to be higher than that of Albania. Where the Ukrainians scored goals, we couldn't even hit the target. I lead to the fact that it wasn’t Ukraine that was strong, but Albania played at their level.
Gashi: We have good players; there are many young talents, but with such a coach, Albania cannot use their potential. With a good coach, our national team would already be performing in League A. Instead, we are returning to League C to play against San Marino or the Faroe Islands.
Klodi: It seems that Silvinho's plan for the game was extremely simple. To scrape a draw and hope that Czechia wins against Georgia. This would allow us to take second place and play in the playoff to get into League A. The second part of the plan worked, but in the end, we lost ourselves.
Latifaj: Everyone knows that Duka likes to gamble, but I didn't think he would bet on Albania's defeat. I can't find another explanation for his words. Why praise the opponent before the game begins?
Bledar: Duka decided to prove that he is a man of his word. He told us all before the match that Ukraine deserves to play in League A, and he kept his word. Now the Ukrainians have a chance to advance to the elite division through the playoffs.
Ajon: A normal president of a football federation supports his team before the match and speaks good words about them. Duka decided to praise the Ukrainian national team. Either he has problems with his head, or he didn't do it for no reason.
Xhevat: The team in the first half seemed to have forgotten to take the field. For the first 30 minutes, no one even interfered with the Ukrainians creating moments near our goal. Albania played a very strange match. I don’t want to blame anyone for giving up the match, but it looked extremely strange.
Fabjol: “Today we are all with Ukraine, we support them in this struggle, we are with them until the end and believe in their victory,” said Duka after the match, counting money in his jacket pocket.
Halili: I hope that Duka at least didn't sell this victory to the Ukrainians too cheaply. Soon we will find out. We are waiting for good news from him, as he bought himself a new villa on the Italian coast.
Ilirian: Two home matches played and gained 1 point. We take to the field against the rival as if we played against Spain, not Czechia, as if we played against Brazil, not Ukraine. Then at halftime, when the team realizes that it’s not Spain or Brazil, they start to play. But if we managed to at least draw with Czechia, we conceded two goals from Ukraine! We deserve League C, given the qualification of our coaching staff and players.
Murjan: The Ukrainians can only be congratulated on second place. Regardless of how Albania lost today, we deserved to be relegated to League C. If the team agreed to sell the match to Ukraine, then they have no place in football at all. If this is just our real level, then it’s all fair. I wish Ukraine a successful qualification for League A, as Duka dreams of.
Leki: A normal president of the football federation: “Our national team deserves to play in League A, we will definitely defeat Ukraine and get there.” Duka: “Ukraine is the best team in the universe, they are obliged to play in League A.” When will this idiot stop embarrassing our country?
Sejfuli: In the second half, everyone saw how Albania can play. I’m sure that if our team played at 100% for all 90 minutes, we would even win against the Ukrainians. What happened in the first half, especially in the first 10-15 minutes, is beyond logical explanation. As is the starting lineup that Silvinho put on the field against Ukraine. So I believe even more that Duka’s words were not said for no reason. He is cunning, impudent, and slippery, but clearly not a fool. So I have only one question: for what sum did Albania sell this victory to Ukraine? Or how much did Duka receive from Ukraine for this defeat.
Dmytro Malyanov
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