Albania national football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Albania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Los Albaniardos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Football Association of Albania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Otto Barić, 2006- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Foto Strakosha (73) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Alban Bushi (14) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Qemal Stafa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | ALB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 62 (August 2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 124 (August 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 88 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First international Albania 2 - 3 Yugoslavia  (Tirana, Albania; October 7, 1946) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest win Albania 5 - 0 Vietnam  (Norcia, Italy; February 12, 2003) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest defeat Hungary 12 - 0 Albania (Tirana, Albania; September 24, 1950) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Albania national football team is the national football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition.
Although long considered one of the weakest footballing sides in Europe, Albania have occasionally managed to hold their own against more illustrious opponents. In the 1968 European Championship qualifiers, they managed a 0-0 draw against West Germany, which eventually eliminated West Germany from qualification as Yugoslavia could beat its neighbour twice. During that era, Albania boasted arguably its greatest ever footballer, Panajot Pano.
It wasn't until the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers that it would achieve notable results with a 2-2 draw away to Poland and a 3-1 win over eventual semi-finalists Belgium.
The qualifiers for the 1968 FIFA World Cup saw Albania forced to play some home games on neutral venues owing to civil unrest at home. However, they were able to hold their own against Germany, losing 3-2 at home and 4-3 away in the final game. Another impressive result is a 4-1 win over Turkey. The 2004 European Championship and 2006 World Cup qualifiers have seen Albania's results improve markedly, which the latter included a 2-1 opening victory against European Champions Greece. Also Albania lost slightly 2-1 versus Netherlands in Amsterdam ArenA which the ball was clearly hand touched two times by the home players.
Albanian football is progessing with succes, much money is spended into better training and managers, Otto Baric was brought in to increase the team and hopefully qualify for Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
President Armand Duka is happy with the team and hopes that the team will bring joy.
Contents |
[edit] Famous players
- Foto Strakosha
- Besnik Hasi
- Mehmet Dragusha
- Loro Boriçi
- Riza Lushta
- Ervin Skela
- Altin Lala
- Igli Tare
- Lorik Cana
- Panajot Pano
- Erjon Bogdani
- Edvin Murati
- Altin Raklli
- Alban Bushi
- Rudi Vata
- Adem Isa
- Bledar Kola
[edit] Current squad
The following players named for EURO 2008 qualification match against Bulgaria on March 28, 2007.
[edit] Notable Managers
- Otto Barić
Hans-Peter Briegel
Hasan Akgöz
[edit] World Cup record
- 1930 to 1962 - Did not enter
- 1966 - Did not qualify
- 1970 - Entry not accepted by FIFA
- 1974 - Did not qualify
- 1978 - Did not enter
- 1982 to 2006 - Did not qualify
[edit] Last Match
Bulgaria 0-0 Albania/ Date: 28-March-2007 / Played for: EURO 2008 Qualification / Score: 0-0
Venue: "Vasil Levski" : Sofia, Bulgaria
Crowd: 40,000
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Stefan Wittberg (SWE) Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
[edit] Next Match
Albania - Luxembourg / Date: 2-June-2007 / Playing for: EURO 2008 Qualifications
Venue: "Undecided" : ,Albania
Referee:
|
International football
|
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
