A determined opening saw them control the first 20 minutes but they produced no clear chances.
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Romania, who last lost to Albania in 1948, are the first team to be eliminated from this year’s Euros having secured just a solitary point from their draw with Switzerland in their second fixture.
Armando Sadiku (L) heads in the winning goal for Albania.
Romania midfielder Nicolae Stanciu fired the game’s first chance over the crossbar in the third minute before another long-range effort from midfielder Ovidiu Hoban forced Albania goalkeeper Berisha into a nervous, fumbling save.
The three points against Romania may be not enough to qualify it for the next round but it is still the biggest ever success in the worldwide sporta arena for the tiny western Balkan country’s history.
Albania won the day off the field as well as on it, with their fanatical followers drowning out those Romanians who travelled to cheer the team on in France.
“We didn’t get many chances, we played with our head and our mental strength”, De Biasi said.
“I was very pleased with our performance, and pleased we could give such a big joy to our fans”, De Biasi said. Ironically, yesterday we had fewer opportunities than the other two games, where we paid a little ‘pressure around us.’ Last night, we got rid of some of this weight.
Alibec then curled narrowly wide from distance, but Albania started to impose themselves on the counter-attack as Ermir Lenjani skied over from point-blank range, although his blushes were spared by the offside flag. In fairness to Romania, their defensive mindset helped them against a highly talented French side as the hosts needed a spectacular late goal to clinch victory.
Pogba, much criticised over a contentious gesture at the end of Wednesday’s 2-0 win against Albania, clearly felt he had a point to prove as he came out of the traps flying in a game played on an very bad surface in Lille.
“First we will have to prepare as if we have to play Friday or Saturday”.
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How he repaid coach Gianni De Biasi’s faith, contributing to a sturdy defensive display alongside fellow centre-back Mërgim Mavraj, producing four clearances, three interceptions, two tackles and a vital block.
