[ad_1]
After the fall of the dictatorship in the early 1990s, many Albanians emigrated to various European countries. Over the years they began to fully integrate in the countries where they had moved and began to raise their families outside the borders of the homeland.
Exactly the beginning of the 2000s is the beginning of a new generation for Albanian football with talents that were born and formed as footballers in countries where their families have taken root. They are talents that come from countries like Italy, Greece, Germany, England, Switzerland, etc.
Almost everyone goes through the filter created by the Albanian Football Federation, which has set up offices with its representatives in all countries of the continent where many Albanian families live and who are responsible for discovering new footballers. It is very important that footballers are identified from an early age, as there is a great risk that they will be “kidnapped” by the national teams of the countries where they were born and raised.
Such a concern was also expressed by the red and black coach, Edoardo Reja on the eve of the start of the Nations League edition last year, when he had just invited a player like Ramen Çepele, the 17-year-old defender who grew up at Inter Milan, to the National Team. who was transferred to Germany to Hanover. A footballer who was meanwhile in the lap of the players of the Italian national team of ages.
“It is the case of the 17-year-old that I called, I talked to his parents, because he was part of the Italian national team and we had little difficulty convincing him. But Çepele is a player that in the future may be important for Albania.
I have asked and I am still looking for and we have monitored in the international arena players born in 2004, 2005 and 2006 who may eventually be part of the national team. But, someone plays in Italy, someone in France and they are born in these countries, it becomes difficult when asked if they want to become part of the Albanian National Team.
Because they first wait for the invitation of the place where they were born. But I am working and there is still no other name on the list, because I have talked to some parents and some boys who play in Italy and are part of the Italian national teams of the ages, whose names I can not say. I am currently working with these names and for the future some even younger ones. There are many young Albanians playing in Italy, but not only. “Both in Switzerland and in Germany, as well as in England, there are good players who have Albanian nationalities and we must gradually bring them closer to our national teams”, – declared the Italian coach in one of his last conferences.
Nations League innovations – This is one of the reasons why talented players are approaching directly to the big national team and are being given the opportunity to prove themselves on the stage of the “big ones”. This was confirmed by coach Reja himself as he explained his choices during the last edition.
“It has been a project of the Federation since I signed with President Duke that we build a team to aim for Euro 2024. The final project was to build a competitive and dignified team for 2024. I thought to give space to the players of young, I got footballers like Molla, Broja, Vrioni, Doka, Selahi, Kallaku, Çokaj, Çekiçi, who are more or less 20 years old and after four years will be more mature. Of course, some of them I have taken in past games, but they have not been activated. The moment I do not activate them, it is useless to pick them up, call them and leave them on the bench. “So I thought it was a good moment to take them and gradually engage them in the team and try them,” said the technician at the time.
In the October 2020 match against Kazakhstan in the Nations League, there were 10 debutants in the National team list. Starting with the youngest, Marco Molla, the 18-year-old gate giant who is active with the U-19 team of Bologna in Italy and to continue with Marash Kumbulla, the star of the summer market for which Roma paid about 17 million euros for to have her in her bosom. In fact this was the first game of Plum as a starter, although he was invited to several other games in the past, but without being able to leave the mark. It is about a player who realized an excellent season with Verona in Serie A, attracting the attention of the biggest clubs in Italy. And he is only 20 years old!
To continue further with Albi Doka, the defender formed in Tirana and this season was transferred to Croatia to NK Gorica. The 23-year-old managed to get his first invitation to National Team A after playing with all ages, as did Jon Mersinaj. The Lokomotiv Zagreb defender was unlucky this time after suffering an injury, but the future looks bright for the 21-year-old. Further, the list continues with Enis Çokaj, who also plays for Lokomotiva Zagreb together with Mersinaj, but also Sherif Kallaku, another debutant. All three regular players with national teams of all ages who already have the opportunity to make the big career step.
In attack, the novelties for this time were two names from whom much is expected: Armando Broja, the 19-year-old who grew up at Chelsea in London and is currently on loan at Vitesse in the Netherlands. A striker with excellent data who has the opportunity to grow, as he is still very young. The other is Giacomo Vrioni, who caused a stir when he transferred to Juventus U-23 last year and even debuted in the first team alongside names like Ronaldo & Co. The 21-year-old promises a lot for the future and together they can form a dream couple.
The age group – But these we mentioned are actually just some of the new names on the national team lap who have been given the opportunity to show how much they are worth in National A. In fact, there are many times more talented young people who militate in the National teams of the ages U-21, U-19, U-17, U-15, etc. Mostly foreign players such as defender Geraldo Bajrami, midfielders Armando Dobra and Kristjan Asllani, striker Emiliano Bullari, who are currently part of Hope. To continue later with Albion Ademi in Finland, brothers Agon and Arbnor Muçolli in Denmark, Dean Liço who is owned by Lazio, etc.
But what is noticed is that there are many players who have grown up in Albanian clubs and who are also excelling in the national teams of all ages. It is enough to remember names like Ernest Muçi, who was transferred a few days ago from Tirana to Legia Warsaw or Marsel Ismajlgeci, Jurgen Çelhaka, Indrit Tuci, etc. In fact, these are the fruits of the investments made in the age sector by clubs that with the help of the Albanian Football Federation have changed their strategies and are paying more and more attention to identifying and cultivating new talents. Not only the clubs but also the academies that have opened in recent years are producing quite valuable players for big football. With young people being selected by foreign clubs and with talents growing in the nurseries of Albanian clubs and academies, national teams do not suffer at all for new additions. On the contrary, there may already be luxury problems to select the best of the best, putting in a difficult position even many of the red and black coaches, who can not please everyone.
The objectives of the AFF – The satisfaction for the new generation has not been hidden even by the President of the AFF, Armand Duka, who has emphasized that with these talents the qualification for the EURO 2024 finals can be aimed. The head of the Albanian football government has expressed the conviction that this generation fills you with optimism and makes us feel good about the future.
“The main goal should be 2024. Our well-deserved goal, looking at both the U-21 generation and the first team players, looks promising that we will have a good team to qualify for 2024. We have a good new generation, so that promises, not only those who play in the first team, who have come from Hope, but there are also some other footballers who can move to the first team to join, to ‘was acclimated and to be in perspective this team that I say for 2024. If we will see the last matches of the team Hope, not only with results, but also with good games and players who really stand out, these will be invited to the first team. This fills you with a kind of optimism “, – declared President Duka, adding that nothing comes from chance and that this is the result of a good work done for years by the AFF, but also by Albanian clubs. “We support talent. They are the fruit of the joint work of all Albanian football and are the future of the first team. We have seen many players from the Albanian championship, who want to play and give their best on the field. “We have seen players who excel only thanks to their seriousness, desire and maximum dedication.”
Bush analysis – In the same line and the coach of the national team Shpresa, Alban Bushi, who has stated that National A will have great contributions in the future seeing the many talents that are growing in age. According to him, the main priority of the U-21 team remains the supply of National A and that elections are not lacking.
“Every time the team of Hope gathers, there are 10 or 12 new players, some of them are taken by National Team A and this shows that a good job has been done for the age teams of Albania. The Football Federation has built a very good strategy, creating teams from U-13 that will take part in this year’s Superior Category championship U-15, U-17, U-19, U-21. This is a work that started early and is bearing fruit now. Whenever we have shortcomings, it is not that we feel those shortcomings. Again the team is good and that shows we have a generation coming and we have a lot of alternatives. This means that the national team A will not suffer in the future “, – says Bushi, adding that Albania has come to the generation, starting from the year 1998 to that of 2002, which are standing out in the age teams.
“I think that with these young ages we have become a small France that has so many players that it does not gather good players at all, so it is not that those players who did not come this time will not be in the future. The national team A can also collect them, because they are very good players. And these are very good, then you will choose the best, we where to find it from all the good to choose the best. It is a luxury for the coach but also the competition does them good, because I see whenever we have competition in the team, they always give their best. What matters is what you give on the field. In the national team, I think we should focus only on the national team, I am not interested in the names of which club they come from or who you are “, – declared the coach of the little red and blacks. In short, the future of Albanian football promises a lot./SuperSport
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
