Albania national football team

Albania
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Kuq e Zinjtë
(Red and Blacks)
Association Football Association of Albania
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Croatia Josip Kuže
Captain Altin Lala
Most caps Foto Strakosha (73)
Top scorer Alban Bushi (14)
Home stadium Qemal Stafa
FIFA code ALB
FIFA ranking 70[1]
Highest FIFA ranking 62 (August 2006[2])
Lowest FIFA ranking 124 (August 1997[2])
Elo ranking 87[3]
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Albania Albania 2–3 Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Tirana, Albania; October 7, 1946)[4]
Biggest win
Albania Albania 6-1 Cyprus Cyprus
(Tirana, Albania August 12, 2009)[4]
Biggest defeat
Hungary Hungary 12–0 Albania Albania
(Budapest, Hungary; September 24, 1950)[4]

The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania. Although not considered as one of the strongest footballing sides in Europe, Albanians are passionate about their football and the national team has occasionally managed to perform well against more illustrious opponents.

Founded on June 6, 1930, Albania had to wait 16 years to play the first international match, debuting against Yugoslavia in 1946. In 1932, Albania had already joined FIFA (during the congress June 12 — June 16) and in 1954, it was one of the founding members of UEFA. Albania had been invited to play in 1934 World Cup, but owing to organizing difficulties, it didn't take part.

In addition to the senior football team, Albania also has teams of U21, U19, U17 and U15 level. One of the most successful is the feeder of the senior team, the U21 level. In the finals of the Euro 1984 U21 championship, they went all the way to the quarter-finals, only to be knocked out by Italy 2–0 on aggregate. They became the only Albanian team in any level to qualify for a competitive tournament. Currently Albania does not have a women's national team, but only a national league.

Contents

History of Balkan Cup, Euro Cup and World Cup Participations

Results in History

Recent developments

In December 2007, Football Association of Albania's president, Armand Duka, announced Arie Haan would replace Croatia's Otto Barić as Albania head coach. Haan signed a two-year contract on January 4, 2008.[5]

Albania started their 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign against Sweden on September 6, 2008. They have been drawn in Group 1 with Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary and Malta.

On March 14, 2008, Albania was suspended from international football (FIFA and UEFA), due to heavy political interference in the Football Association. The suspension lasted 46 days.[6][7][8]

FIFA World Cup 2010

Albania kicked the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification off to a good start with a 0-0 tie against Sweden. Four days later, the Albanians defeated Malta by a score of 3-0 with 2 of the goals coming from Armend Dallku and another from Klodian Duro. On October 11 however, the Albanians lost to Hungary 2-0 in Budapest. But surprised the world by drawing 0-0 with Portugal in Braga. On February 11, Albania were only able to draw with Malta who fought hard at Ta'Qali. Albania then lost to Hungary at home 1-0 on March 28. And on April 1, Albania suffered a heavy blow to Denmark 3-0. In the home leg against Portugal, Hugo Almeida scored early for Portugal, but Albania quickly equalised with a goal from Erjon Bogdani. However, with just a few seconds left in the game, Bruno Alves scored the winner for Portugal, eliminating Albania. The last memorable result was a 1-1 tie with Denmark, drawing the game after being behind. Albania ended the campaign with a disappointing 4-1 loss against Sweden.

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 +11 21
 Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 +12 19
 Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 +8 18
 Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 +2 16
 Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 −7 7
 Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 −26 1
  Albania Denmark Hungary Malta Portugal Sweden
Albania  – 1 – 1 0 – 1 3 – 0 1 – 2 0 – 0
Denmark  3 – 0 – 0 – 1 3 – 0 1 – 1 1 – 0
Hungary  2 – 0 0 – 0 – 3 – 0 0 – 1 1 – 2
Malta  0 – 0 0 – 3 0 – 1 – 0 – 4 0 – 1
Portugal  0 – 0 2 – 3 3 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 – 0
Sweden  4 – 1 0 – 1 2 – 1 4 – 0 0 – 0 –

UEFA Euro Cup 2012

The draw for the qualifying rounds of UEFA Euro 2012 was held on 7 February 2010 in Congress Hall of Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, with matches set to begin on 3–4 September 2010.[9] Seedings were based on the UEFA national team coefficient ranking.[10][11] Albania was drawn in Group D along with France, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, and Luxembourg.

Group D

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 France 4 3 0 1 6 1 +5 9
 Belarus 4 2 2 0 3 0 +3 8
 Albania 4 1 2 1 3 4 −1 5
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4
 Romania 3 0 2 1 1 3 −2 2
 Luxembourg 4 0 1 3 0 6 −6 1
  Albania Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina France Luxembourg Romania
Albania  — 26 Mar '11 1–1 2 Sep '11 1–0 11 Oct '11
Belarus  2–0 — 2 Sep '11 3 Jun '11 7 Jun '11 0–0
Bosnia and Herzegovina  7 Jun '11 6 Sep '11 — 0–2 7 Oct '11 26 Mar '11
France  7 Oct '11 0–1 11 Oct '11 — 2–0 2–0
Luxembourg  6 Sep '11 0–0 0–3 25 Mar '11 — 2 Sep '11
Romania  1–1 7 Oct' 11 3 Jun '11 6 Sep '11 29 Mar '11 —

Results and fixtures

Group D fixtures were negotiated between the participants at a meeting in Luxembourg on 19 February 2010.[12]

3 September 2010
21:00 UTC+3
 Romania  1 – 1  Albania Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamţ
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)
Stancu Goal 80' Report Muzaka Goal 87'
3 September 2010
20:15 UTC+2
 Luxembourg  0 – 3  Bosnia and Herzegovina Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg
Attendance: 7,327
Referee: Veaceslav Banari (Moldova)
Report Ibričić Goal 6'
Pjanić Goal 12'
Džeko Goal 16'
3 September 2010
21:00 UTC+2
 France  0 – 1  Belarus Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 76,395
Referee: William Collum (Scotland)
Report Kislyak Goal 86'
7 September 2010
20:30 UTC+3
 Belarus  v  Romania Dinamo Stadium, Minsk
Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic)
7 September 2010
20:15 UTC+2
 Albania  v  Luxembourg Qemal Stafa, Tirana
Referee: Richard Trutz (Slovakia)
7 September 2010
21:00 UTC+2
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  France Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
8 October 2010
20:15 UTC+2
 Luxembourg  v  Belarus Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg
8 October 2010
20:30 UTC+2
 Albania  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër
9 October 2010
21:00 UTC+2
 France  v  Romania Stade de France, Saint-Denis
12 October 2010
19:00 UTC+3
 Belarus  v  Albania Spartak Stadium, Mogilev
12 October 2010
21:00 UTC+2
 France  v  Luxembourg Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz
25 March 2011
 Luxembourg  v  France
26 March 2011
 Albania  v  Belarus
26 March 2011
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Romania
29 March 2011
 Romania  v  Luxembourg
3 June 2011
 Romania  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina
3 June 2011
 Belarus  v  France
7 June 2011
 Belarus  v  Luxembourg
7 June 2011
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Albania
2 September 2011
 Luxembourg  v  Romania
2 September 2011
 Belarus  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina
2 September 2011
 Albania  v  France
6 September 2011
 Romania  v  France
6 September 2011
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Belarus
6 September 2011
 Luxembourg  v  Albania
7 October 2011
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Luxembourg
7 October 2011
 Romania  v  Belarus
7 October 2011
 France  v  Albania
11 October 2011
 Albania  v  Romania
11 October 2011
 France  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina

Current squad

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Arjan Beqaj August 25, 1976 (1976-08-25) (age 34) 36 0 Cyprus Olympiakos Nicosia
12 GK Isli Hidi October 15, 1980 (1980-10-15) (age 30) 12 0 Albania Dinamo Tirana
22 GK Samir Ujkani July 5, 1988 (1988-07-05) (age 22) 4 0 Italy Novara
3 DF Kristi Vangjeli September 5, 1985 (1985-09-05) (age 25) 19 0 Greece Aris Thessaloniki
6 DF Debatik Curri December 28, 1983 (1983-12-28) (age 27) 29 1 Turkey Gençlerbirliği
4 DF Armend Dallku October 16, 1984 (1984-10-16) (age 26) 36 2 Ukraine Vorskla Poltava
7 DF Ansi Agolli October 11, 1982 (1982-10-11) (age 28) 9 2 Azerbaijan Qarabağ
15 DF Endrit Vrapi May 23, 1982 (1982-05-23) (age 28) 9 0 Albania Skenderbeu
DF Andi Lila February 26, 1986 (1986-02-26) (age 24) 0 0 Albania KF Tirana
DF Admir Teli March 8, 1989 (1989-03-08) (age 21) 4 0 Azerbaijan Qarabağ
5 MF Lorik Cana (captain) July 27, 1983 (1983-07-27) (age 27) 43 1 Turkey Galatasaray
8 MF Ervin Bulku March 3, 1981 (1981-03-03) (age 29) 18 0 Croatia Hajduk Split
10 MF Klodian Duro December 21, 1977 (1977-12-21) (age 33) 59 4 Austria LASK Linz
11 MF Jahmir Hyka March 8, 1988 (1988-03-08) (age 22) 7 1 Greece Panionios
13 MF Ervin Skela (vice-captain) November 17, 1976 (1976-11-17) (age 34) 59 12 Germany Koblenz
17 MF Gilman Lika January 13, 1987 (1987-01-13) (age 24) 4 0 Turkey Diyarbakırspor
28 MF Emiljano Vila March 12, 1988 (1988-03-12) (age 22) 6 1 Albania Dinamo Tirana
MF Gjergji Muzaka September 26, 1984 (1984-09-26) (age 26) 5 1 Albania Dinamo Tirana
FW Elis Bakaj June 25, 1987 (1987-06-25) (age 23) 8 0 Albania Dinamo Tirana
9 FW Edmond Kapllani July 31, 1982 (1982-07-31) (age 28) 26 7 Germany Augsburg
22 FW Erjon Bogdani April 14, 1977 (1977-04-14) (age 33) 52 12 Italy Cesena
18 FW Hamdi Salihi January 19, 1984 (1984-01-19) (age 27) 16 7 Austria Rapid Vienna
FW Ahmed Januzi July 8, 1988 (1988-07-08) (age 22) 0 0 Ukraine Vorskla Poltava

Recent call-ups

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Ervin Llani April 24, 1983 (1983-04-24) (age 27) 14 0 Albania Elbasani
DF Elvin Beqiri September 27, 1980 (1980-09-27) (age 30) 47 0 Azerbaijan Khazar Lankaran
DF Maringlen Shoshi January 29, 1987 (1987-01-29) (age 24) 1 0 Albania Apolonia Fier
DF Franc Veliu November 11, 1987 (1987-11-11) (age 23) 1 0 Albania Flamurtari
MF Dorian Bylykbashi August 8, 1980 (1980-08-08) (age 30) 3 0 Albania Elbasani
14 MF Altin Lala (vice-captain) November 18, 1975 (1975-11-18) (age 35) 71 3 Germany Hannover
FW Xhevahir Sukaj October 5, 1987 (1987-10-05) (age 23) 1 0 Croatia NK Zagreb
FW Migen Memelli April 25, 1980 (1980-04-25) (age 30) 1 1 Saudi Arabia Al-Faisaly
FW Bekim Bala January 11, 1991 (1991-01-11) (age 20) 0 0 Turkey Gençlerbirliği
FW Parid Xhihani July 18, 1983 (1983-07-18) (age 27) 0 0 Ukraine Zorya Luhansk
11 FW Besart Berisha July 29, 1985 (1985-07-29) (age 25) 17 1 Germany Arminia Bielefeld

Coaching staff

According to the FSHF website, the following is the current coaching staff:[13]

Head Coach Croatia Josip Kuže
Assistant Coach Bosnia and Herzegovina Džemal Mustedanagić
Goalkeeping Coach Albania Ilir Bozhiqi
Team Doctor Albania
Physios Belgium Stijn Vandenbroucke
Albania Gentian Prokopi

Stadia

Qemal Stafa Stadium as seen from the Sheraton hotel.

Most of the matches of Albanian national team have been played in Qemal Stafa. The stadium was built in 1946 as a multi-use stadium.[14] Today, it is mostly used for football matches. The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of 19,600 spectators.[15]

Albania has also used the Loro-Boriçi stadium in Shkodra, where Albania have had some successful matches, such as the success against Russia 3–1 in a home Euro 2004 qualifying match, and the Niko Dovana Stadium in Durrës in a friendly against Uzbekistan in August 11, 2010.[16]

The Football Association of Albania has disclosed that there are no current plans to build a new stadium, unless the Albanian government provides funding for the ground.[17]

Supporters

Albania has a supporters' association, the Tifozat Kuq e Zi. The association self-finances their activities.[18]

Statistics

Managerial History

This is a chronological list of the 22 managers who have guided Albania since 1946 (note that Bejkush Birçe and Agron Sulaj have had the job twice):[19]

  1. Ljubiša Broćić  Yugoslavia
  2. Adem Karapici  Albania
  3. Sllave Llambi  Albania
  4. Ludovik Jakova  Albania
  5. Myslim Alla  Albania
  6. Miklos Vadas  Hungary
  7. Loro Boriçi  Albania
  8. Nikolai Mihailovic Ljuksinov  Soviet Union
  9. Zyber Konçi  Albania
  10. Ilia Shuke  Albania
  11. Shyqyri Rreli  Albania
  12. Agron Sulaj  Albania
  13. Bejkush Birçe  Albania
  14. Agron Sulaj  Albania
  15. Bejkush Birçe  Albania
  16. Neptun Bajko  Albania
  17. Astrit Hafizi  Albania
  18. Medin Zhega  Albania
  19. Sulejman Demollari  Albania
  20. Giuseppe Dossena  Italy
  21. Hans-Peter Briegel  Germany
  22. Otto Baric  Croatia
  23. Arie Haan  Netherlands
  24. Josip Kuže  Croatia

Players

Most appearances

Below is a list of the 10 players with the most appearances for Albania, as of November 14, 2009 (* denotes players still available for selection):[20]

No Name Matches Goals First game (age) Last game (age)
1 Foto Strakosha 73 0 5-30-1990 08-13-2004 (39)
2 Altin Lala* 69 3 1998 3-28-2009 (33)
3 Igli Tare 68 10 1997 7-2-2007 (33)
4 Alban Bushi* 67 14 1995 17-11-2007 (34)
5 Altin Haxhi* 66 3 1995 11-14-2009 (32)
6 Ervin Skela* 64 12 2000 (23) 11-14-2009 (32)
7 Altin Rraklli 63 11 1992 30-3-2005 (34)
8 Klodian Duro* 61 3 2000 (22) 11-14-2009 (31)
9 Rudi Vata 59 5 30-5-1990 (21) 1-9-2001 (32)
10 Erion Bogdani* 52 12 1996 11-14-2009 (32)

Top goalscorers

Below is a list of the 10 players with the most goals for Albania, as of March 17, 2010 (* denotes players still available for selection):[21]

No Name First game Last game Goals Caps Goals per Match
1 Alban Bushi* 1995 2007 14 67 0.21
2 Ervin Skela* 2000 2009 13 65 0.20
3 Erjon Bogdani* 1996 2009 12 53 0.23
4 Altin Rraklli 1992 2005 11 63 0.17
5 Sokol Kushta 1987 1996 10 31 0.32
6 Igli Tare 1997 2007 10 68 0.15
7 Adrian Aliaj 2002 2006 8 29 0.28
8 Loro Borici 1946 1958 6 23 0.26
9 Edmond Kapllani* 2004 2008 6 26 0.24
10 Bledar Kola 1994 2001 6 39 0.15

Honours

Senior team

Albania U-23

Albania U-21

Albania U-18

Albania U-17

Albania U-16

Albania U-15

Albania U-14

World Cup record

European Championship record

See also

References

  1. ↑ FIFA (10 August 2010). "FIFA Coca Cola Ranking". http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 FIFAAlbania. "Albania in FIFA website". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=alb/ranking/gender=m/index.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  3. ↑ Kirill. "Eloratings.net". http://eloratings.net/europe.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kirill (16 August 2010). "Albania matches". Kirill. http://eloratings.net/Albania.htm. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  5. ↑ AFP. "Haan named Albania boss". FIFA (FIFA). http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=667585.html#haan+named+albania+boss. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  6. ↑ Albania suspension lifted by FIFA
  7. ↑ FIFA says its emergency committee has decided to lift suspension of Albania
  8. ↑ FIFA lifts suspension of Albania over alleged interference
  9. ↑ "UEFA EURO 2012". UEFA.com. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro2012/news/newsid=913020.html. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  10. ↑ Spain among top draw seeds
  11. ↑ National Team Coefficients Overview
  12. ↑ Euro2012 Group D Qualifying Fixtures (Romanian)
  13. ↑ FSHF. "The Team" (in Albanian). Albanian Federation of Football. http://www.fshf.org/ekipi.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  14. ↑ Sauku, Endrit (21 January 2010). "History of the Qemal Stafa Temple" (in Albanian). Albania Sport (Dash Frasheri). http://albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=13808. Retrieved 3 August 2010. 
  15. ↑ Worldstadiums. "Stadia in Albania". http://www.worldstadiums.com/europe/countries/albania.shtml. Retrieved 3 August 2010. 
  16. ↑ Frasheri, Dash (11 August 2010). "Albania, modest victory against Uzbekistan" (in Albanian). Albania Sport. http://albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=15496. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  17. ↑ Frasheri, Dash. "Duka: The new stadium? We'll find the money" (in Albanian). Albania-sport. http://www.albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=12396. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  18. ↑ Tifozat Kuq e Zi
  19. ↑ "Lukshinov: Enver Hoxha's passion of soccer (11/10/2009)". Albania-sport.com. http://albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=12130. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  20. ↑ "Albania - Record International Players". Rsssf.com. http://rsssf.com/miscellaneous/alba-recintlp.html. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  21. ↑ "Albania - Record International Players - Goals". Rsssf.com. http://rsssf.com/miscellaneous/alba-recintlp.html#goals. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  22. ↑ Malta 2000 Events

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