Composed Albania halt Croatia

The match was 76 minutes old and two minutes ago Kramaric brought back a down-and-out Croatian unit into the game. Budimiu’s pull-back discovered Sucic whose close-range shot was blocked in front of an empty net by Djimsiti but rebounded off the on-rushing Klaus Gjasula and entered into the net. Gjasula became the first-ever player in the history of the Euro to score an own goal as a substitute – a unique which no player would love to hold –but certainly any player would relish a quick redemption.

One goal down and time ran out, but the Albanian unit remained calm and composed in search of an equalizer. In the 95^th minute – the ball rolled down the left flank, Hoxha held it up to play in Mitaj, who cut it back into the box and Gjasula, the man who scored the own goal, swept in this time for his side.

Tournaments like the FIFA World Cup and the Euros are all about unique stories - after yesterday’s blockbuster between Turkey and Georgia at Dortmund, Hamburg came up with another thrilling encounter.

Albania is growing the habit of taking leads in their matches and today was no different. Against Italy, they might have lost the tempo but today – they toyed with the midfield and backline of Croatia.

In the first half, Croatian midfield was chasing shadows – The three attacking midfielders of Albania enjoyed spaces and could isolate Croatian defenders.

After 11 minutes. With Ivan Perisic, surprisingly deployed at left-back, slow to get out, Jasir Asani was granted a remarkable amount of space to bend in a cross from the right, picking out Qazim Laci. His header bounced awkwardly for Dominik Livakovic but the keeper should still surely have kept it out.

Albania could have been further ahead by half-time - Kristjan Asllani received an Asani’s pass and reacted immediately - it was deflected into his path after Luka Modric had, unthinkably, conceded possession, and then Rey Manaj could not get sufficient purchase on a header to beat Livakovic.

Numbers say Croatia had more on the possession but they don’t give the true picture of how they struggled to pressurize the Albanian midfield and back. After the break, the Croatian coach changed the shape of the midfield through substitutions which paid rich dividends but it was not enough to tame an Albanian unit who was beaming in confidence and deserved full points rather than sharing points.

Note: Excerpts from the The Guardian

Thank You

Faisal Caesar