Albania takes to the field against San Marino in the evening, with the Rossoneri looking for another success in the Nations League, after the victory over Belarus. Former Rossoneri footballer, Altin Rraklli, spoke about the national team, in an interview for Sport News on News 24. In the conversation with Trevisa Tufa, Rraklli commented on the new "face" of Albania, the changes and of course focused on special elements.
Rraklli, what was the taste of Maran's first official challenge, the victory over Belarus, what impressed you?
It left a good taste for me. The start of the match was not good. After the 15th minute, we came out on our own. This team is on the right track. It was a satisfying match. We wanted to do something different and we proved it. We had a very positive construct in all departments.
It actually made a lot of noise, the exclusion of elements like Broja or Bajrami, also the benching of Mitaj. How did you see these moves and did you agree?
I had my own questions. Pilo seems to have personality and a lot of self-confidence. I liked his activation, he does more offensively than Mitaj. With Sylvinho we played with 3 midfielders.
This could be a new order, a signal from the coach that the most fit players are coming to the national team, but we also had Hysaj, without a team, but a starter, and Berisha also returned... Is there something that jumps out?
If we take the players one by one, Maran has been managing for years, in terms of experience, let's say he has experience. We know that the Italians have the biggest school. He took Berisha and put him in front of Sherri.
As for Hysaj, now that he doesn't have a team, he's in the best shape. He's going through a second youth. He's shown class in all the matches. This shows his sense of smell.
Was this the moment to make some changes, to bring new players to the National Team, to try them out, or is Maran under pressure to win this Group, playing for his contract as well?
You give the answer, Maran is an experienced and old coach, he has the nose. For him, this is something new. For special players, he has the nose. He has to come out on top. His choices have to be successful.
A notable change was the placement of Muçi at the center of the project, transforming him into a key player. Are we a little late in these moments, have we taken "revenge" on Muçi?
We didn't take revenge on him, but the technical staff. He should have gotten a lot more minutes. We will get the best out of him. We will take as a basis the form, the morale they have at the moment and this comes from the quality and the goals they score. Muçi has had these years. The new coach showed himself. Our team must learn not to leave too much space behind and to exploit it in attack.
I didn't like the beginning of the game, I said it above.
Today is the test to prove this, against San Marino, just a victory is not enough, a goal is required. Are you expecting a more attacking Albania? Is it possible to do, for example, what Finland did?
We take the game with a cool head. Finland scored seven goals because they are a Nordic team, cool. You have to score the first goal once. San Marino is inside Italy, they know how to defend.
