The favorites Poland and the Czech Republic were surprised – Albania could complete the coup on the last two qualifying match days. The team is about to make the jump to EURO 2024.
Klaus Gjasula still holds a somewhat dubious record in the Bundesliga: wearing the SC Paderborn jersey, he collected a whopping 17 yellow cards in the 2019/20 season. Unmatched. It didn’t do much good – coach Steffen Baumgart’s team was still relegated without a hitch.
Today – four years later – the now 33-year-old is back in the elite class with SV Darmstadt 98. And just like back then, the Freiburg-born midfielder is trying to stay in the class with an absolute outsider.
“side job” National team Albania
However, Gjasula’s “part-time job” is also exciting: the “man for the rough” is currently preparing to make it to EURO 2024 in Germany with the Albanian national team. The Albanians already have one foot in the tournament in Germany after their 3-0 win over the Czech Republic. Gjasula and Co. still need a win from the last two games. They could get it in Moldova on November 17th. But it is even more likely that he will appear in the final match four days later: Then it will be in Tirana against the Faroe Islands.
So it would have to be the devil if Albania wasted this great opportunity. Before the qualifying games began, they were considered to have no chance. Poland and the Czech Republic seemed too strong, and Moldova was actually rated higher. But the team, which is coached by former Brazilian international Sylvinho, surprised the favorites in a series.
Successful series after initial defeat
After a 1-0 opening defeat in Poland, the team really got going: Moldova (2-0) and the Faroe Islands (3-1) were defeated, and a 1-1 draw was achieved in the Czech Republic. The really big thing came in the next two home games: Poland (2-0) and the Czech Republic (3-0) were clearly beaten with passionate football and warm support from the stands. And suddenly Albania leads the Group E table with a four-point lead over second-placed Poland. Qualification for the European Championship would be the second, after being able to take part in France in 2016.
| team | games | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
Albania | 6 | 11:3 | 13 |
Poland | 5 | 8:8 | 9 |
Czech Republic | 5 | 5:2 | 8th |
Moldova | 5 | 5:5 | 8th |
Faroe Islands | 6 | 2:12 | 1 |
The fact that this was achieved under coach Sylvinho, who is not particularly well-known internationally, is also a story. The 49-year-old made it to Europe and the Brazilian national team as a left-back – but he always remained in the shadow of Roberto Carlos, who occupied his exact position in the “Selecao” for years.
Albania – Team of the Nameless
Sylvinho definitely plays attacking football – even if he has a nameless team at his disposal in Albania. Besides Gjasula, there are only a handful of first division players from the European leagues. Nedim Bajrami is one of those people. The attacking midfielder plays in the Italian Serie A for US Sassuolo, in goal is Etrit Berisha, who also plays for Empoli in Italy.
Central defender Berat Djimsiti plays for Atalanta Bergamo and Lazio’s Elseid Hysaj is on the right side. However, the most goals in the qualifying games were scored by Jasir Asani, who is rather second-class at club level.
Star player is also added
He once became a professional at the traditional North Macedonian club Vardar Skopje, and in 2017 he moved to Albania to FK Partizani. In 2020 there was a short and not very successful interlude in Sweden at AIK Solna, and later in Hungary. Since the beginning of this year he has been playing for Gwangju FC in the first division in South Korea.
The Albanians even have the real star up their sleeve. Armando Broja, striker from Chelsea FC, was injured for a long time and is just now getting back on track. He hasn’t been able to take part in any of the qualifying games yet. But he will certainly be seeded at the EURO next summer – because, as I said, it would have to be the devil if Albania doesn’t make this leap now.