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Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent
DÜSSELDORF, Germany — After the fact, in one of the most formidable groups of Euro 2024, Albania begins its final match of the group stage against Spain on Monday with a slim hope of reaching the round of 16 for the first time in the country’s history.
After narrowly losing to Italy and drawing against Croatia, a victory against a Spanish team already top of the group and expected to alternate their team would seal their passage to the round of 16. A draw could even be enough if Croatia fails to beat Italy. and the results in the other groups allow them to progress among the best third-placed teams with two points.
That would represent a remarkable achievement for a nation of around 2.8 million people competing in only its second European Championship. Sandwiched between Cape Verde and Burkina Faso, at 66th in the FIFA rankings, only Georgia is ranked behind Albania in the tournament, but these two teams have provided the most fun in Germany so far.
Alongside Spain, Italy and Croatia, all of whom are in the top 10 of the FIFA rankings, Albania were understandably written off. Once football started, it quickly became clear that they would have a role to play in Group B.
It took them just 23 seconds to score against Italy in their first match, with Nedim Bajrami scoring the quickest goal in the history of the men’s European Championship. Italy fought back to win 2-1, but it was a performance that made people believe the unthinkable was possible.
More than 50,000 Albanian fans attended this match in Dortmund. The roars every time Bajrami or Jasir Asani collected the ball and tried to run towards their Italian opponent added to the thrill and the feeling that everything was achievable.
Perhaps it was this support and faith that propelled them to a draw against Croatia in their second match. Croatia had scored twice to cancel out Qazim Laçi’s opener, but Albania did not fade and scored a spectacular equalizer in the 95th minute through Klaus Gjasula, who had earlier scored an own goal after his entry into play. It was Albania’s third goal in the final phase. Only Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland scored more in the first two group matches.
That set the stage for wild celebrations in Hamburg, where the match was played, in Tirana, the Albanian capital, and in other German cities where fans live or have established their base for the final. In Dusseldorf, where they will face Spain on Monday, hundreds of supporters dressed in red and black flags performed a traditional Albanian dance to the sound of a beating drum to celebrate Gjasula’s leveler.
The celebration would have been even bigger if they had managed to secure their second Euro victory – their only previous victory was against Romania at Euro 2016 – and it seemed possible for a few seconds as Croatia faltered.
“In the last minutes we had chances to win the match and, if there had been more minutes, we could have done more,” said Albanian coach Sylvinho.
It means a lot for Albania to be in Germany. Prime Minister Edi Rama even suspended the national parliament for 10 days to allow more than 100 ministers and parliamentarians to attend matches against Italy, Croatia and Spain.
Among the current squad, only eight players were born in Albania. Five were born in Switzerland and others in Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Macedonia, Kosovo and England. It is perhaps the links with Italy that are strongest, both in terms of team composition and Rama’s early memories of the sport.
Ten of Germany’s 26 players play in Italy, nine of them in Serie A, including star player Inter Milan midfielder Kristjan Asllani. One of the dominant languages inside the locker room is Italian. Other notable names include former Barcelona striker Rey Manaj and Slough-born Chelsea striker Armando Broja, but this is a team that has excelled as a block during qualifying for the tournament.
Coach and former Brazilian international Sylvinho, assisted by his former Manchester City teammate Pablo Zabaleta, prefers to organize the team in a 4-3-3, playing on the counterattack. They lost just once in eight matches to qualify ahead of Czechia and Poland.
When Rama was growing up under the repressive regime of Enver Hoxha in communist Albania, he watched the 1982 World Cup on what he called a “black network” operated by RAI, the Italian state television channel. . He said: “Football was for us the image of another world, the chance to see a moving mirror, a forbidden dream.”
For new generations, this dream is no longer forbidden. Bajrami’s early goal and Gjasula’s late equalizer are moments of history and inspiration. The current squad could benefit from football training across Europe, but the hope is that times like this will breed more local talent in the years to come.
There could also be other big moments to come. Albania will have their work cut out for them in Dusseldorf against one of the best teams in the tournament so far, but Spain have already secured top spot in Group B and coach Luis de la Fuente is expected to let his players at rest. Midfielder Rodri will still miss the match due to suspension and the other players could benefit from a break before the round of 16.
Albania showed against Italy and Croatia that they are ready to fight and will once again have the bulk of the support against Spain at the Düsseldorf Arena.
The fact that they advance to the final group match with hopes of reaching the knockout stages confirms the often-scrutinized decision to expand the final tournament to 24 teams in 2016. Georgia, the only team ranked behind Albania in the tournament, could also progress further in another refreshing scenario given the dominance of Western European teams in club and international football.
“I’m so happy that we are still competing to get through the group stage,” Sylvinho said before the Spain match. “Almost no one believed we would be able to compete. Some thought we would concede three or four goals in every game, but here we are still in the tournament.”