A 43rd minute goal from Armando Sadiku was Albania’s first of the tournament and helped the team to their first ever win in a major tournament.
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Ultimately, the Albanians, who are making their Euros debut, got their fairytale ending and the three points earned see them finish above bottom-placed Romania in Group A. They could yet progress to the next round depending on results in the other groups.
But Sadiku’s strike left them feeling like they’d had won the tournament regardless. Three days later Portugal defeated Albania and a month later Serbia took its revenge by scoring two fast goals in the last minutes in Elbasan Arena, and the qualification of Albania to Euro 2016 was compromised again. We defended very well today in a tactical way.
Gianni De Biasi’s side play a well-drilled Italian-style counter-attacking game, often “parking the bus” to stifle the opposition, a tactic which rarely leads to more than a single goal conceded. We got there with heart and quality.
The famous win for Albania keeps them in contention to reach the round of 16 and was just reward for their extraordinary fans, who produced one of the best atmospheres at this, or indeed any, competition. Collecting a throw-in on the right, Memushaj swept a deep cross to the far post where Sadiku rose above a defender and goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu to head over the line.
Albania continued to cause problems for the Romania defence and Tatarusanu was forced to gather at the second attempt after fumbling Memushaj’s shot while Mergim Mavraj headed over from the midfielder’s corner. I asked Lorik for a sacrifice and he was very generous. It was very emotional. Ironically, we had fewer chances yesterday than in the other games, we suffered a bit from the pressure on us.
“I don’t think there’s a mechanical connection between the footballers and joining the European Union, but there is certainly an inspirational one”, he says.
Anghel Iordanescu’s Romania finished the stronger and were unfortunate to see Andone rattle the woodwork, but that proved to be their only real chance of the half, Albania holding on for a famous triumph and sparking scenes of jubilation among their supporters.
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“This moment can not be described – for those that are not here, it is hard to find the right words”, defender Mërgim Mavraj added.
