The coach of the U-21 National Team, Alban Bushi, appeared today at the official press conference, before the start of the training camp for the two friendly matches against Hungary (June 5, "Széktó Stadium", 19:30) and Turkey (June 8, "Ataturk Olympic Stadium", 19:00).
He spoke about the list of players, new arrivals, absences, preparations for the U-21 European Championship 2027 and the two friendlies on the road, emphasizing that the main objective is victory, reports A2.
Below is the full conference of coach Alban Bushi:
How is the team's situation? – We are still building the U-21 team, with birth dates of 2004/05 for EURO 2027. Every time we take new players, such as in this collection we have Enes Osmani, a very good player from Sparta Prague, an Albanian from Macedonia, whom I thank for choosing Albania. Also, Aidon Shehu, born in 2006, who plays with Hull City, a very good player, who will help us a lot. It is a young team, which needs changes every day, both in strategy, as we are doing in building our schemes, but also in players, because there is not an abundance of players from the Albanian championship who can help the U-21 team at the moment, so we are also looking in Europe.
Aidon Shehu and Giulio Velaj for the first time, what kind of players are they? – Velaj is a goalkeeper, who was with us in the tournament we held in Arabia with the U-19/U-20, he has very good qualities, he is tall and promising for the future. Meanwhile, Aidon Shehu is a midfielder who has quality, plays in England, will soon sign with the first team of Hull City, he looks a bit like Keidi Bares in the Albanian team, a player who runs a lot, plays simply and I think he will help us in our matches.
The absence of Rashica, Torraj and Kevin Zefi? – Kevin Zefi is absent for procedural reasons, due to his passport, which has not yet been issued, we are waiting. Rashica is injured, while Torraj was not selected for technical reasons by our staff.
You played in Turkey, you know the mentality. Emotions of returning as a coach? – Turkey and Hungary are two very good teams, with a very high level. Hungary is a pragmatic, compact team, plays a 5-3-2 scheme, they are very fanatical. While Turkey is more creative in its style of play. Both are difficult, but we will go for victory. For us, it is not a friendly match. We have made it very clear to the boys from the beginning that we must give our maximum from the first day of training. We saw very well with the 2008 birthday what level France, England, Germany, Portugal had, they gave us a very good lesson. Now we have to work very hard, not only in matches, but also in training, even in the training of the clubs where they play, because we will always choose the best. We have not recruited 2 players because they have not been very aggressive in training or matches, this is what we will do all the time, the one who gives his best in training and matches will be part of the National Team.
As for Turkey, I have spent many years there, I like the atmosphere there, I like the country and the people. We played Turkey again, we drew an official match in Turkey. I think we will beat them, both them and Hungary. I think Turkey is a good team, but they don't work with much strategy. The Turkish culture is completely different in terms of football. They are 80 million inhabitants, they have a lot of quantity and quality, but if you look at their statistics, they haven't done great things with the youth teams. We are not afraid of Turkey or Hungary at all.
Players from Albanian clubs? – Players from the Albanian championship are easier to control, because the entire staff of the U-21 National Team are guys who work with the Albanian championship teams. But, it's not like there are many from the Albanian championship. Of the players I have taken from the Albanian championship, 9 people, I demand more from them, especially in the matches where they also play in training. But I understand them very well, because the intensity is not right in the championship to face strong teams abroad. We played with Luxembourg, they beat us 1-0. The differences were very big in terms of aggression and intensity of the game. Qualitatively and in ball circulation, we were better than them, but the lack of aggression made us lose the match. I demand more aggression from the players of the Albanian championship. I think it's good. As for the U-17 National Team, I think the coach knows and decides, because he knows the situation better. But there are good players in the Albanian championship who could be part of Albania's youth teams in the future, such as Vogli, Mihana or Marqeshi. They are quality players and I know them.
Preparations for the U-21 European Championship 2027? – We are constantly looking, extremely. By teasing and asking our scouts that we have in Europe. Almost once a week we are in communication with them, because we want players. From the list we see today, I think that 8 or 9 players will be the base that will represent the team, while the other players will also be in competition with those who will come, to be part of the list. I think we have taken a very good player, Enes Osman, left defender. It is the first time he comes with us. He will help us a lot in the defense department. We have not had this type of player in the defense department. Neither the first team, nor the hopes, nor the ages. Very fast player, good with the ball, I think he will help us a lot. Also Ajdon Shehu who I mentioned a little earlier. In this collection we have taken these two players who I think will do well. We will then be looking in the future, from September to October, I hope we find something different.
How do you transfer to the players the grit and desire to win every duel and every match? – Inspiration is natural and I think that from the first moment we gather and train, it is the aggressiveness, intensity, personality and self-confidence that we must have to defeat the opponent, regardless of who we are facing. This is the philosophy of our entire U-21 National Team. We are down to earth when we play against big teams, but why not win. We saw the U-17 team that played against France. They did very well for 35 minutes, they were very compact. Then the quality is missing, let's say, because they were more qualitative than us and made the difference. We must have self-confidence, we also lack personality on the field. When we lose a match, we lose it only for this reason, not for other reasons. I think that opponents like France and Germany also have more quality, but when you are concentrated, focused throughout the training session, you can beat them. We beat Hungary in 10 minutes, we scored 3 goals in the “Elbasan Arena”, an extremely strong team. We beat Switzerland in Switzerland 2-1, a very good team. So, you can beat your opponents. (A2 Televizion)
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