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The prestigious television "SKY Italia" has recently made a special about Albanian football and the great development it has had in the last two decades. "A project in the avant-garde" is the title of the special made by journalist Paolo Ghisoni for the "La Giovane Italia" program on SKY, which focused on the success of the National Team with the qualification for Euro 2024 and the evolution of the sports infrastructure thanks to the support and vision of FFF.
" Albania has managed to occupy a place among the greats of Europe and after a few weeks debuts in Germany against the Italian national team. With many arrivals from Italy, such as Asllani, Gjimshiti, Bajrami, Berisha, Ramadani, who will be very useful for Silvinho in the preparation of the match.
Meanwhile, we return to the base, which has an avant-garde, excellent structure, they have created a systematized organization, directed and programmed by professionals, but in full synchrony with a president attentive to the smallest details, ambitious and deeply knowledgeable of continental football ", writes SKY.
Thus, the President of the AFL, Armand Duka, shows the journey of the technical sector of the Federation and the Albanian National Team, which will challenge Italy, Croatia and Spain in Group B of the European Championship.
" The change is visible in Albanian football, but there is still work to be done. President Duka is well aware of this and in his analysis of the growth of the most beloved sport for Albanians, he also emphasizes the good organization of the Albanian Football Federation. "According to me, we are on the right path and football in Albania has a great future. In recent years, many things have changed in Albania, since with the work done by everyone, together with the Albanian government, we have changed the infrastructure, but we still need to do more to go where we want.
Football is the most loved sport in Albania and fortunately we don't have competition in sports, as all Albanians want to become footballers, so in order to please everyone, we have to do more. The thing that makes me most proud of the Federation is how well it functions, as strong foundations have been laid for the future. With this staff we have built infrastructure, the "Air Albania" stadium, the "House of Football", sports fields and the football school. We have achieved all this, as we have created a strong organizational structure".
The "Air Albania" stadium was selected for the interview and the head of the AFL cannot but talk about it. "The stadium is the most beautiful work in Tirana, not only from the sports side. This project started 7-8 years ago, where the construction started in 2017 and ended in 2019. The Italian architect, Marco Casamonti, has realized a very beautiful and quality project. The stadium is not only beautiful, but it has brought us a lot of luck for the national team, since in the last qualifiers we managed to be in the first place in the group.
All the projects we have developed in recent years have changed football in Albania for the better. With this stadium, we have not only changed the football infrastructure, but also this part of Tirana, as the stadium has turned into a shopping and entertainment center, making it an area that lives 24 hours a day. It is a beautiful stadium for the players, the staff, the fans, the media, but it has also brought us good luck ."
"Euro 2024" was also in the focus of President Duka: "We are very pleased to be in Euro 2024, but also to play against Italy, Croatia and Spain. I invite all players and fans to live this success they have achieved. We go there to play, we go to give our best, but also hoping for a positive result. We are aware of the level of the teams we will face, but we hope to stay in Germany as long as possible ".
With Italy, the first opponent in the group matches in "Euro 2024", the reports are very good. The head of the FA, Duka, openly says that they can learn a lot about football from the Italians, so many football specialists are also part of the red and black staff. "There are many things that we can "steal" from Italy, from the Italian Football Federation, as it has more experience in football. Meanwhile, from Italian football, not only us, but everyone can learn many things.
Albania and Italy have a natural cooperation, which started many years ago, since the 90s, when Albania was going through a difficult moment and Italy opened its doors to Albanians, a large part of whom already live in Italy. We see Italian football as a big brother. About 15,000 Albanian footballers are registered in the Italian Federation, so we can say that we have a good part of our players in Italy, as many national team players also play in Serie A. As a federation, we have always cooperated with coaches from Italy. as for example with Gianni De Biasi, with whom we qualified for Euro 2016. We also collaborate with lecturers for the various courses we develop, where we recently invited Fabio Cannavaro".
The world champion with Italy, Favio Cannavaro, was invited to Tirana to share his experience with the participants of the UEFA PRO course organized by the AFL. The famous former defender is surprised by the way the Albanian Football Federation has been able to invest in an avant-garde facility such as the "Air Albania" stadium and the "House of Football" complex, as he underlines the importance of football fields.
" I am surprised, as it is not easy for a Federation to invest in sports centers and structures that, in addition to the national team, also serve youth teams. I think it should be normal for the pitches to be good, in order to have a quality match ".
Even Tomas Danilevičius, former well-known Lithuanian footballer and currently FIFA Regional Technical Advisor for Europe, confirms that Albania has made great strides forward in terms of football structures thanks to the significant investments of the Albanian Football Federation and the support of UEFA- s.
"In Albania, finding such centers with this structural level is no longer surprising, since under the leadership of President Duka and the investments of UEFA and FIFA, they have built a very good infrastructure. "Football House" serves for national team training, administration offices and is located very close to the stadium. Albania has 4 other UEFA 4 level stadiums and soon there will be 3 new stadiums with the UEFA 4 logo. For a country with a population of 2.5 million inhabitants, I think they are very well structured".
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