Albania
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The Albania national football team is the national football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania.
Although not considered as one of the strongest footballing sides in Europe, Albanians are passionate about their football and have occasionally managed to display a good image against more illustrious opponents.
Founded on June 6 1930, Albania had to wait 16 years to play the first international match, debuting against Yugoslavia in 1946. In 1932 Albania had already joined FIFA (during the congress June 12 - June 16) and in 1954 it was one of the founding members of UEFA. Albania had been invited to play in World Cup 1934, but owing to organizing difficulties it didn't take part.
In spite of the senior football team, Albania also has teams of U21, U19, and U17 level. The one of the most successful is the feeder of the senior team, the U21 level. In the finals of the Euro 1984 U21 championship they went all the way to the quarter-finals, only to be knocked out by Italy 2-0 on aggregate. They became the only Albanian team in any level to qualify for a competitive tournament. Currently Albania does not have a womens' team but they are working towards creating one. Most of the matches of Albanian national team have been played in Qemal Stafa. The stadium was built around the 1930s as a multi use stadium. Today, it is mostly used for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 spectators with 15,000 seats. Albania has also used the Loro-Boriçi stadium in Shkodra where they have had some successful matches, like beating Russia 3-1 in a home Euro 2004 qualifying match. There is a rumor that the Football Association of Albania is planning to build a stadium in Tirana with a capacity of around 40,000.
In the current matches for the 2008 European qualifiers campaign, Albania have managed very good results as well as good team play. Starting with the 2-2 away draw to Belarus, two wins against Luxembourg home and away (2-0, 0-3) and a 0-0 draw away to Bulgaria have been the most cherished results. Great matches have been played against Netherlands in both legs, although extremely dubious referee decisions have marred Albania's performances, ending up in two losses (2-1, 0-1). Other set-backs have also been suffered after drawing 0-0 against Slovenia and losing to 0-2 Romania in both matches played at home. Albania ended hopes of qualifying mathematically when they failed to win over Slovenia away and managed a yet again 0-0 draw. In the penultimate match at home against Bulgaria, Albania excelled playing wonderfully but ended up in a very unlucky draw. After going ahead with dominating football, they conceded in the dying minutes and later missed a penalty. In the last match at home, Albania was hugely disappointing losing 2-4 against Belarus. Contrary to the popular belief that this would be the easiest match during the campaign, Albania not only missed a chance to break the points-record of all competitions but also produced a very lethargic performance in a rainy night. Now the last match of the campaign is going to be played against Romania.
Founded on June 6 1930, Albania had to wait 16 years to play the first international match, debuting against Yugoslavia in 1946. In 1932 Albania had already joined FIFA (during the congress June 12 - June 16) and in 1954 it was one of the founding members of UEFA. Albania had been invited to play in World Cup 1934, but owing to organizing difficulties it didn't take part.
In spite of the senior football team, Albania also has teams of U21, U19, and U17 level. The one of the most successful is the feeder of the senior team, the U21 level. In the finals of the Euro 1984 U21 championship they went all the way to the quarter-finals, only to be knocked out by Italy 2-0 on aggregate. They became the only Albanian team in any level to qualify for a competitive tournament. Currently Albania does not have a womens' team but they are working towards creating one. Most of the matches of Albanian national team have been played in Qemal Stafa. The stadium was built around the 1930s as a multi use stadium. Today, it is mostly used for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 spectators with 15,000 seats. Albania has also used the Loro-Boriçi stadium in Shkodra where they have had some successful matches, like beating Russia 3-1 in a home Euro 2004 qualifying match. There is a rumor that the Football Association of Albania is planning to build a stadium in Tirana with a capacity of around 40,000.
In the current matches for the 2008 European qualifiers campaign, Albania have managed very good results as well as good team play. Starting with the 2-2 away draw to Belarus, two wins against Luxembourg home and away (2-0, 0-3) and a 0-0 draw away to Bulgaria have been the most cherished results. Great matches have been played against Netherlands in both legs, although extremely dubious referee decisions have marred Albania's performances, ending up in two losses (2-1, 0-1). Other set-backs have also been suffered after drawing 0-0 against Slovenia and losing to 0-2 Romania in both matches played at home. Albania ended hopes of qualifying mathematically when they failed to win over Slovenia away and managed a yet again 0-0 draw. In the penultimate match at home against Bulgaria, Albania excelled playing wonderfully but ended up in a very unlucky draw. After going ahead with dominating football, they conceded in the dying minutes and later missed a penalty. In the last match at home, Albania was hugely disappointing losing 2-4 against Belarus. Contrary to the popular belief that this would be the easiest match during the campaign, Albania not only missed a chance to break the points-record of all competitions but also produced a very lethargic performance in a rainy night. Now the last match of the campaign is going to be played against Romania.
Source: Wikipedia.
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