New on the list, Bushi: I thank him for choosing Albania

2025-11-08 15:04:00, Sport CNA

The coach of the U-21 National Team, Alban Bushi, spoke after the publication of the list of 23 players selected for the two friendly matches against Moldova and Ukraine.

The red and black coach commented on the list of players, the absences in the squad, the novelty in the squad, the two opponents and the preparations for the U-21 European Championship.

List of players? – The list is almost the same as the last match against San Marino. There are very few changes. We have two very important absences as Zylyf Muça, right defender, and Enes Osmani, left defender, they have been replaced by Vokrri and some others. I think Vokrri is a very important addition to our team. I want to thank him for choosing Albania. He is a very good player, I think he will help us a lot.

The two opponents, Moldova and Ukraine? – For us, there are no friendly matches, I have said before. We take them very seriously because they are very important matches for us, they are like official matches, because we are waiting for very strong teams in the European Championship. We have highly appreciated them. The first match is with Moldova, the second with Ukraine.

We know Moldova very well how they play, because we played a year ago in Tirana. We drew one match, and we won one match. But anyway, they are a team that has developed recently, just like us. We have improved a lot, the group has almost rotated and they know each other better. We have created a game system that suits us for the players we have. I think we will do well and there are 8-9 days that will serve us very well.

The match with Ukraine is completely different. A very high-level match. The Ukrainian team has done well in recent years. We have the match at the “Elbasan Arena” and I think we have to do our best, to give everything we have to show how much we have improved and to look forward.

How are the preparations for the European Championship going? – There are many important gatherings for us. They serve the European Championship all the time. We know that the European Championship has a very high level. The teams are very good, but we are also very strong. Despite being defeated by Germany and Switzerland, we have shown that we have character, we fight until the end and we are in the game until the end. If you fight and sacrifice, have the desire and purpose to achieve something, you should not be afraid of any opponent.