Albania has to wait to see if it qualifies for next round

De Biasi said: “I’m sure we gave huge joy to the Albanian fans”. Three minutes later and Ovidiu Hoban attempted to beat Etrit Berisha from the left side of the box, but the Albania ‘keeper was able to gather at the second attempt after the ball had bounced in front of him.

“It was a real curse, and there was a lot of tension in the final minutes against Romania because we thought the curse might come back”. They were also fortunate to keep 11 men on the pitch when Basha avoided a second yellow card for tripping Lucian Sanmartean as the Romania substitute weaved his way towards goal.

In his four years as coach, Italian De Biasi has tried various players to find the ideal combination and it seems he found it on Sunday.

Albania’s future in the competition depends on what happens over the coming days but coach Giovanni De Biasi said his team will be preparing as though it has a match to play either on Friday or Saturday.

Albania survived a nervous start, growing in confidence throughout the game and scoring with a header from striker Armando Sadiku just before half time.

“I don’t think it’s only the team who has done us proud – the supporters have done too”. His right-wing cross flew straight as an arrow towards the far corner of the six-yard box, coaxing Romania ‘keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu from his goal-line. “Maybe in some departments we have less than others, but when it comes to sacrifice we make up for a lot of things”, the centre-back said.

France ranks first in the group A ranking with 7 points, followed by Switzerland with 5 points, Albania with 3 points, and Romania with only 1 point.

Romania was eliminated after only earning one point – a draw against the Swiss – in its three group matches. “We didn’t get many chances, we played with our head, with mental strength”.

They set about their mission proactively, albeit to an intimidating soundtrack of constant noise from Albania’s fanatical fans, who struck up a racket long before kick-off and kept it up throughout, even as Romania made the stronger start.

Romania, anyway, was a little unlucky: Andone hit the crossbar at minute 75 with a shot from the right, after a good play by Torje, the best for his team tonight.

Facing the media after the game, Iordanesu, voted Romania’s Coach of the Century, was accused of orchestrating “the shame of the century”, as a member of the press attacked the manager’s team selection and questioned his future.