Albanians abroad

With memories of the golden years (80's) of the albanian football still fresh on her mind, Albania is now attempting to recreate its strong football legacy. As young players start making their names abroad, the future is looking bright for Albanian football!

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Aurora Bulkualis
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On paper Albania had the hardest group. Portugal was the winner of that EUROs, Serbia/Denmark are very strong teams, and the bottom feeder was Armenia which was one of the stronger teams in Macedonia group.

In reality, Macedonia was the bigger accomplishment. We beat Portugal without Ronaldo and before new coach, got lucky with the Drone, and Serbia that campaign was just awful. Not to mention Armenia had nothing to play for at the end. We were at best a Pot 3 team that lucked out into a Pot 2 spot.
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Princ
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At start of the EURO 2016 qualifiers, Albania had 3 top 35 ranked nations in our group, while we were ranked 70th. Midway through the qualifiers, we had broken into the top 25 world rankings (22nd).

Updated after the end of the qualifying campaign, Albania finished inside the top 40 (36th).

North Macedonia started WC 2022 qualifiers with only one top 35 ranked team in the group, and they themselves in 65th place. Updated after the end of qualifying campaign, they ranked 67th.

There is no competition and it is not debatable. We call the man Gani Abazi for a reason! Albania under this legendary coach realized our full potential. The point is to emulate his defensive strategy so we can reach those heights once again.
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Aurora Bulkualis
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Princ wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:38 pm At start of the EURO 2016 qualifiers, Albania had 3 top 35 ranked nations in our group, while we were ranked 70th. Midway through the qualifiers, we had broken into the top 25 world rankings (22nd).

Updated after the end of the qualifying campaign, Albania finished inside the top 40 (36th).

North Macedonia started WC 2022 qualifiers with only one top 35 ranked team in the group, and they themselves in 65th place. Updated after the end of qualifying campaign, they ranked 67th.

There is no competition and it is not debatable. We call the man Gani Abazi for a reason! Albania under this legendary coach realized our full potential. The point is to emulate his defensive strategy so we can reach those heights once again.
And what happened the campaign after that? The players were completely exhausted and they sucked.

That shit doesn't work long term and it never has. Look at Greece after EURO 2004. Long term you need to play football, not bunker.
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Not only was there no consistency but Albania's 16 run had outside forces directly contributing to qualification. Court gifting Albania 3 points(in a match Albania were 2 goal underdogs in Belgrade, Duka buying Armenia)

You guys do realize that if Reja had a CAS scenario in this campaign we would be in the WC playoffs right?
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Princ
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Dallku wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:04 pm Not only was there no consistency but Albania's 16 run had outside forces directly contributing to qualification. Court gifting Albania 3 points(in a match Albania were 2 goal underdogs in Belgrade, Duka buying Armenia)

You guys do realize that if Reja had a CAS scenario in this campaign we would be in the WC playoffs right?
Let’s see Reja take 5 points off top 30 teams in a qualifying campaign and break us into the top 40 before making comparisons.

So far, he has yet to crack top 60 (currently 66th).
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Princ
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Dallku wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:04 pm Albania were 2 goal underdogs in Belgrade
Not true!

Asian handicap was closest to even money at -.75.
European handicap was closest to even money at -1.
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artan
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Dallku wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:04 pm Not only was there no consistency but Albania's 16 run had outside forces directly contributing to qualification. Court gifting Albania 3 points(in a match Albania were 2 goal underdogs in Belgrade, Duka buying Armenia)

You guys do realize that if Reja had a CAS scenario in this campaign we would be in the WC playoffs right?
This team can barely beat Hungary and had to rely on Broja taking over. This squad can't beat Portugal on the road, draw Denmark twice and probably can't beat Armenia twice.

That team wasn't better in terms of talent but they were professional and had an identity. This team still has no identity 5 years later and collapses when there's any pressure.
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Princ wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 7:38 pm
Not true!

Asian handicap was closest to even money at -.75.
European handicap was closest to even money at -1.

If you bet on their handicap they would have to win by at least 2 goals for you to win your bet. That's why -1 is practically a 2 goal favorite. If Serbia won by 1 goal that's a push. I actually remember it was -1. Didn't even look it up.
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artan wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 8:07 pm
Dallku wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:04 pm Not only was there no consistency but Albania's 16 run had outside forces directly contributing to qualification. Court gifting Albania 3 points(in a match Albania were 2 goal underdogs in Belgrade, Duka buying Armenia)

You guys do realize that if Reja had a CAS scenario in this campaign we would be in the WC playoffs right?
This team can barely beat Hungary and had to rely on Broja taking over. This squad can't beat Portugal on the road, draw Denmark twice and probably can't beat Armenia twice.

That team wasn't better in terms of talent but they were professional and had an identity. This team still has no identity 5 years later and collapses when there's any pressure.
You act like Hungary are some scrubs. Hungary is an excellent team and proved it in the group of death at the Euros as well as vs England + Poland. This Hungary would punk that Ronaldo-less Portugal B team De Biasi faced.

Denmark was dogshit. Serbia was the 2nd best team in that group but they underperformed and had outside issues. CAS was the nail to their coffin.
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Princ
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Dallku wrote: Sat Dec 25, 2021 5:53 am If you bet on their handicap they would have to win by at least 2 goals for you to win your bet. That's why -1 is practically a 2 goal favorite. If Serbia won by 1 goal that's a push. I actually remember it was -1. Didn't even look it up.
Serbia is not even favored to cover EH -1 though (~33%), Albania will cover that around 40% of the time.

At closest to even money, only 1 goal was handicapped, and therefore Serbia is a 1 goal favorite..
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