Kosovo eye Euro 2020 spot as Albania shock Wales
KOSOVO sealed a Euro 2020 playoff place only two years after becoming a UEFA-recognised national team, as Arber Zeneli scored a hattrick in a 4-0 Nations League thrashing of Azerbaijan yesterday.
Heading into the game in Pristina, Kosovo knew a draw against unbeaten Azerbaijan would be enough to wrap up top spot in Group D3 and boost their Euro qualifying hopes.
They got off to a dream start, with Heerenveen midfielder Zeneli putting them ahead in only the second minute.
The 23-year-old scored twice more in the second half, with Dinamo Zagreb defender Amir Rrahmani also finding the net, as Kosovo completed a famous win.
Kosovo only claimed their first-ever competitive victory in September by beating the Faroe Islands, but have since won three more times in the Nations League with an incredible turnaround in form.
Bernard Challandes’ men are now unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions, winning eight, since November 2017, having previously lost nine straight games.
They will play in the League D playoffs next year, where Georgia, Belarus and Macedonia will be battling them for a ticket to the 2020 European Championship.
AKosovo is an Albanian-majority former province of Serbia that broke away from the then Yugoslav republic in a bloody war in 1998-1999 and declared independence a decade later.
Albania meanwhile ousted Wales 1-0 in a friendly in Elbasan yesterday as Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale was restricted to a second-half cameo as a substitute.
The only goal of the game came as Bekim Balaj converted from the penalty spot after 58 minutes as Derby winger Harry Wilson brought down Taulant Xhaka – brother of Arsenal midfielder Granit – in the box.
The best chance for Wales fell to Sam Vokes whose weak effort SHOULDER injury to Kylian Mbappe overshadowed France’s 1-0 friendly win over Uruguay at the Stade de France yesterday as Didier Deschamps’ world champions ended the year on a high note.
Mbappe had to be replaced in the first half after a nasty fall, continuing a miserable night for his Paris SaintGermain coach Thomas Tuchel after the German had already seen Neymar hobble off injured early in Brazil’s friendly with Cameroon in Milton Keynes.
PSG face Liverpool in a crucial Champions League clash at the Parc des Princes on Nov 28.
When asked if he could give “reassuring news” about Mbappe in his press conference, France coach Deschamps said: “Not necessarily reassuring, but not worrying either.
“He had some shoulder pain after his fall and he has to have tests tomorrow morning, but there is no serious concern.”
After the disappointment of seeing the Netherlands pip them to a place at the Nations League finals with a late Virgil van Dijk goal in Germany on Monday, Olivier Giroud’s 52nd-minute penalty gave France victory in a repeat of the two teams’ World Cup quarterfinal meeting in Russia.
“It was important to finish on a positive note, even in the last defeat (by the Netherlands) saw us miss out on the (Nations League) semifinals,” Deschamps told M6.
Roared on by a large crowd in Paris, France opened up the Uruguay defence in only the fourth minute, but Giroud fired a first-time shot wide of the near post with just goalkeeper Martin Campana to beat.
Matias Vecino headed too close to Hugo Lloris as the visitors settled into the game, but Mbappe should have put France ahead when he raced clean from five yards out was parried away easily by Albanian goalkeeper Etrit Berisha during stoppage time in the first half.
The result was Wales’ second straight loss after being beaten 2-1 to Denmark in the Nations League on Friday.
“It will hurt for a while because we don’t like to lose back-to-back games so it’s disappointing and we’ll take a few days to get over it,” Gunter told television channel S4C.
“I said before the game it wasn’t about myself, it was about the team coming here and putting on a good performance and a good result to end the year which is disappointing,” he added. – AFP through on goal, only to mishit a chipped effort well wide.
The 19-year-old was left writhing on the ground in pain after a heavy touch saw him tackled by Campana, appearing to sustain a shoulder injury as he crashed to the turf.
Mbappe tried to play on, but he only lasted a matter of seconds before signalling to the bench that he could not continue and was replaced by Florian Thauvin.
Chelsea striker Giroud wasted another good opportunity for the French shortly after the break, heading over from the edge of the six-yard box.
But he was given an even better chance to get on the scoresheet as Martin Cacares was penalised for handball after Antoine Griezmann’s shot struck his chest and his arm.
Giroud stepped up and slammed a confident spotkick into the bottom corner past Campana.
“We’re a little disappointed not to be qualified in the Nations League, but it’s like that,” Giroud said.
“We may have lost a game we shouldn’t have, but we had the heart to react, and I think we did it pretty well.”
The world champions started to play with more confidence, and Tanguy Ndombele forced the onrushing Campana into a good save after a wonderful scooped pass by Griezmann.
Substitute Jonathan Rodriguez went close as Uruguay piled bodies forward looking for an equaliser, but Oscar Tabarez’s team slipped to a second successive 1-0 friendly loss after their defeat by Brazil in London last week.
“We have to understand against whom we came to play in Europe – Brazil and France,” said Tabarez.
“I think the French were superior in the first 15 or 20 minutes, but after that it was relatively balanced in the second half.” – AFP