Albania beats Romania 1-0 to keep Euro 2016 hopes alive

A surprising second spot in the qualifying group behind Portugal, who they beat in a shock away win, saw Albania finish ahead of Denmark who failed to beat them at home or away, and bitter rivals Serbia, who forfeited three points after a riot in Belgrade forced the match to be abandoned.

Had Romania won they would have finished third with four points as Switzerland managed to earn five points with a draw against France.

The Albanian support inside Stade de Lyon was impressive in number and volume as they congregated in hope of witnessing their country’s first goal and points of the European Championship.

“We don’t have the talent of our teams, but that’s what makes us special”. “I am so proud to be a part of this team”.

Armando Sadiku’s looping header gave Albania the historic victory over Romania, but they must wait to see if they’ll continue at Euro 2016.

As in their opening two games, Albania were well organised at the back and disciplined in midfield.

Despite being out possessed, Albania took advantage of their few chances to snatch a 1-0 victory from a severely disappointed Romanian side.

Ciprian Tatarusanu completely misjudged a Memushaj cross from the right and Armando Sadiku sent the looping header back across into the far top corner.

They came, they sang, they danced.

Albania may have had a second when Memushaj fired inches wide just after the hour-mark before Romania came close to equalising when substitute Florin Andone fired into the woodwork.

A hard-working 4-5-1 formation soaked up early Romanian pressure before gradually wrenching control as their opponents quickly ran out of ideas.

Gianni De Biasi’s side had lost their opening games against Switzerland and hosts France but produced a superb performance to claim their first win at a major tournament. The Albanian fans were once again signing their hearts out from the stands, while their heroic team did their best to drive forward.

And the coach, who strongly indicated at his pre-match press conference that the Nantes player would be selected, perhaps fooling the opposition, praised the experienced and versatile skipper for his grace upon being informed he would not start. “We just didn’t take the chances we had in a good start to the game”.