The president of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, recently gave an interview to "Tuttomercatoweb" in Italy where he talked about the progress of the Reds and Blacks in the elimination phase, but also about the European, stating that the confrontation with the opponents of another the quality.
"I'm happy, we all are. We have done well, we are qualified and very happy. The first time was good, but so was this. We made a very good progress, keeping behind us teams like the Czech Republic and Poland".
A great creator was undoubtedly coach Sylvinho.
"When we qualified, the coach was euphoric. He did a good job, he achieved his goal and he had every reason to. I tell you honestly, nothing happens by chance. It takes sacrifice, the right plans. Without him, the results would not be what they are. These are the fruits of it all. The direction is his, but I have to say very well for D'Olivian, he played in Italy, he is an expert who helped a lot. He, like Zabaleta, have built a compact group".
How did this choice come about?
"I have never really liked Brazilians as coaches, when they proposed to me I was not very convinced, but I met him and when we talked about projects we liked them. I'm not saying we fell in love. However, today is a successful operation"
In the last match you had seven players from Series A: Berisha, Gjimshiti, Ismajli, Hysaj, Asllani, Ramadani, Bajrami.
"The connection between Albanian football and the Italian league is strong. We have many children in Italy, there are almost 14 thousand Albanians registered in your country, almost the same football players as in Albania. To those on the list should be added Cuni from Frosinone, or Berisha from Lecce, who is currently playing in the U21s, but is almost ready to make the step up. And then I will tell you Shpendi, who plays in Empoli".
One of the most representative is Hysaj.
"Yes, he played at a high level, but I also say Gjimshiti who is our captain"
One of your and Inter's hopes is called Asllani.
"Good player, in perspective. He is only 21 years old, he can become a great player… A good player. He helped us a lot, he played almost the whole time and he did it very well."
What about Eid?
"He is a great, technical player, the most technical in our team. Look at the goal he scored in the Czech Republic, the decisive draw, we stayed in the game. And we have other very good guys, remember the name Mitaj. He plays in Russia, but he can become a top player."
Do you know that Ramadan likes Inter?
"He is a good man even before he is a good player. He is the heart of the team, he runs a lot on the pitch both in the national team and with Lecce. I am happy that he is playing well in Serie A
What is your aim for Euro 2024?
"Now comes the difficult part, we will meet strong teams. On paper we arrive as one of the weakest teams, but we want to go beyond the group. I don't know where we will reach, but we have the qualities to go further. And the party is already over, we are preparing for Germany. The coach is hungry. And I don't want to meet Italy, they are a very strong team even if they haven't achieved great results recently," said Duka. (A2 Televizion)
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