Live TMW
11.15pm – The press conference will begin in a few minutes Sylvinho. From the press room of the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, Albania’s coach will comment on the match against Italy played this evening.
00.12 – The press conference begins.
After the opening goal the team suffered. Could it have been handled better?
“Yes, certainly. But we can’t forget that on the other side there was a very strong team, Italy accelerated the game a lot. Italy just had to win and they accelerated, it’s a shame not to have managed that situation better I think that if we didn’t concede a goal, especially the second, the match would have been good. Unfortunately we couldn’t resist and then it was tough for us.”
Could he have done something differently to handle the situation better?
“I’m disappointed with the result, I can’t hide it. Even when you play against Italy who are very strong you think you’ll win. But as a coach I have to go out and thank the many Albanians who came here to watch the match. It’s a shame not to have equalized in the last minute but it’s okay, this is football, we now have to think about the next match.”
What can we expect from Albania in the next matches?
“We suffered a lot in the first 25 minutes. We have young, very good players, but it’s not easy, it’s Albania’s second participation in a European Championship. We have a young team, very good players, but the first 25 minutes were difficult. However, we cannot forget that there was a very strong team in front of us, a candidate for victory. Yet we remained in the game until the end, it was a shame that we didn’t find the equalizer at the end.”
Don’t you think the team could have played a little higher?
“The competition has started, we have 3-4 matches. We prepared the match by going strong on our opponents, we tried not to let Jorginho and Barella play but their level is high, they are good at dribbling. I didn’t tell the team to play low, but if you face them head on they score you 5-6 goals. We stayed in the game until the end and if Manaj equalized in the final today we were talking about another game.”
Since he came on the field Manaj has made very important runs in depth. Do you plan to give him more space in the next races?
“He did well, but we can’t forget that there were 20 minutes left of the match and whoever was on the pitch for 70 ran behind Italy and sacrificed himself. He had the opportunity that we imagined, but unfortunately it didn’t come As for the next race, I haven’t thought about it yet.”
What will change with Croatia?
“The first 25 minutes were very difficult, it is only Albania’s second participation in such a competition. The next one will be a totally different match: Croatia is strong, the level is high, but on an emotional level it will be a different match because the tournament has started. In my case, when I was used to playing the Champions League, I knew what to expect the evening before playing Real Madrid or Juventus of matches you don’t know what you’re up against because you’ve never played these matches. The first match is very tough, difficult, once this one was played the players freed themselves up This is only our second participation in a European Championship. I want to thank the fans: they were fantastic tonight.”
What did you see in your players after the match?
“We have to fight and do everything to always stay in the game. If we win it’s better, but if we don’t win we have to try not to lose. They are disappointed like me, no one goes on the pitch to lose. But they were proud to represent Albania and the path is the right one, we stayed in the game and in the final we had the opportunity to equalise.”
00.33 – Press conference concluded.