FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Dusseldorf match unlocked. Spain punishes Albania.
We didn't expect to be punished so quickly, but the Spanish "Red Fury" scored a goal after 13 minutes of play against our "Legionnaires", pretty much cutting us off in this very important challenge.
A Spanish counterattack was best finished by Ferran Torres, who with a diagonal shot inside the area beat goalkeeper Strakosha.
Albania and Spain conclude their EURO 2024 Group B campaign at the Dusseldorf Arena with the three-time champions dominating the previous meetings between them, winning all eight matches played.
Spain are now assured of top spot in Group B and a place in the last 16, having won against Croatia 3-0 in Berlin and Italy 1-0 in Gelsehnkirchen in their first two matches.
De la Fuente's side are three points ahead of Italy at the top of the table, while Albania are level on points with Croatia on one point, after their 2-1 defeat by Italy in Dortmund in the first leg - one game in which Nedim Bajrami scored after 23 seconds, the fastest goal in European history – and a 2-2 draw against Croatia in Hamburg thanks to a goal by Klaus Gjasula in the 95th minute.
Spain has secured passage to the 1/8 round as the group winner.
Albania will advance to the next round as second place in the group if they win against Spain and Croatia win against Italy, leaving Albania ahead of Croatia in overall goals, or then in discipline points or in the European Qualifiers standings. Albania will fail to advance to the next round if they lose, or if they draw and Croatia win against Italy.
Spain have won their previous eight games, scoring 31 goals at an average of more than three goals per game.
The most recent game was their first friendly, with Spain winning 2-1 at Cornellà de Llobregat on 26 March 2022. Luis Enrique's Spain were made to work for their victory, however their first goal from Ferran Torres came only in the 75th minute; Myrto Uzuni equalized ten minutes later for an Edi Reja-led Albania, but Spain substitute Dani Olmo maintained the teams' perfect record with a 90th-minute winner.
Uzun's goal was only Albania's third goal against Spain.
The two teams met in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Spain winning 2-0 away and 3-0 at home. Diego Costa and Nolito scored in Shkodër with Rodrigo, Isko and Tiago Alkántara also scoring within half an hour in Alicante.
Albania and Spain first met in the qualifying campaigns for the 1988 European Championship, Spain winning 2-1 in their first meeting in Tirana on 3 December 1986 and then in a 5-0 win in Sevilla, Jose Mario Bakero scored a triplet.
Bakero also scored in the next game between them, a 9–0 home win in the EURO '92 qualifiers on 19 December 1990 in which Emilio Butragenjo scored four times.
This is only Albania's second European participation, both in the last three tournaments.
They made their EURO 2016 debut, losing 1-0 to Switzerland and 2-0 against hosts France before a 1-0 win against Romania in the third leg, with Armando Sadiku scoring the goal in Lyon. Xhani De Biazi's team finished in third place in Group A.
Albania was fourth in their EURO 2020 qualifying section, finishing with 13 points, behind France (25 points), Turkey (23) and Iceland (19).
With Silvinho replacing Edi Rejan as coach on 1 January 2023, Albania began their EURO 2024 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Poland, but then only recognized positive results (4 wins and 3 draws) to closed in first place in Group E with 15 points. They secured qualification for the European Championship with a 1-1 draw in Moldova in their penultimate game.
That loss to Poland in their first game of 2023 was their only loss last year; their record in contrast was 5 wins and 3 draws.
This is Albania's first match at the Dusseldorf Arena and in the city in general.
Lini një Përgjigje