Safeguarding Albania's future

By Dritan Ikonomi

It is hard to think how Albania could have made a better start to their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. Fresh from winning UEFA EURO 2004™, Otto Rehhagel's Greece travelled to Tirana for their first qualifier only to lose 2-1 against Hans-Peter Briegel's rejuvenated side.

'A great day'
"It was a great day for both the team and me personally as Albania's coach," the German told uefa.com. "Winning against the European champions was wonderful, but in the group that victory is only worth three points, like any other victory against any other team. It is in the past now and we all are looking ahead."

Striking distance
After four games, Albania have picked up six points and currently lie in fourth place in Group 2, five points adrift of group leaders Ukraine, but within striking distance of challenging Turkey and Denmark for second place and the chance of a place in the play-offs for the 2006 finals.

Bigger picture
However, for Briegel, there is more at stake than just the World Cup. "Our position in the group is not the most important thing for me," he said. "What really matters is the team's ongoing progress. I want Albania to improve; to lay the ground for success in the coming years."

Threadbare infrastructure
For the coach, the main obstacle to progress is Albania's threadbare footballing infrastructure. "I would say the infrastructure of Albanian football is very bad compared to other countries," he said. "However, it is much better than it was two years ago."

'Miracles don't come easy'
The 49-year-old has seen some improvements in the two years since he took on the Albania job, but there is much work still to be done. However, Briegel is not entirely downhearted. "I cannot say I will work miracles, but everyone has their dreams," he said. "Albania are capable of beating anyone, but miracles don't come easily.

Local difficulties
"It is difficult to create a strong national team based on the players of the Albanian league, because the infrastructure has a direct impact on the quality of the players. Players from Albanian teams find it harder to develop in comparison to foreign players or Albanians playing abroad."

Three matches
In their next three World Cup qualifiers, Albania will have a great chance to assess their progress so far. Starting with a home game against Ukraine, Briegel's men will then go on to play Turkey and Greece away - three games which will effectively decide their destiny in the competition.

'Wishes are just wishes'
"Nine points would be ideal, but very often in football wishes are just wishes," said Briegel. "Normally I do not think three matches ahead, however I would be happy with five points from these three. They would help us a lot in our battle to reach second place."

Ukraine threat
He added: "Ukraine are a very strong team in excellent form, but things can change before 9 February. I cannot predict the score, but they will not win 3-0 here. [Andriy] Shevchenko is a strong striker. I think we can stop him provided we do not have the injury problems we had in our last matches."

Unexpected triumph
Little is expected of Albania but their coach - who won the Serie A title with Hellas-Verona FC in 1984/85 - would love to upset the pecking order. "People talk about Ukraine, Denmark and Greece as favourites, but no one mentions Albania," he said. "This could be our advantage. We can surprise them all."