It has been a downhill jurney for Albania so far! Just as the team started to get better, and the hopes of the ‘Tifozat Kuq e Zi’, Red and Black Fans, were on the rise, FIFA and the Albanian Government had to pull this stunt on us. The fans are hoping for a speedy resolution! As of right now, we dont even know if the league will continue to operate? And with the fight for the championship heating up between city rivals Partizani and Dinamo, we might have to wait even longer for their final meeting.

Again, lets hope for a speedy resolution, so we can see how the national team will compare to that of C.Ronaldo’s Portugal, and Z.Ibrahimovic’s Sweden for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In December 2007, reports came out that he will be the next coach of Albania, and in a press conference in January 2008 it was confirmed. His job is to lead Albania into a high spot in their Group 1, which includes Portugal, Sweden, Danmark, Hungary, and Malta.

Arie Haan and the Albanian fans will be hoping that the players will stay together, and not get separated into two teams(as Kosova has gained their independence now). If they do stay united, then it will be interesting to see how the Albanian national team will match against Ronaldo’s Portugal, and Ibrahimovic’s Sweden.

It’s not just the Albanian national team who will loose players, Switzerland may loose Valon Behrami, who currently plays for Lazio and is regarded as a future star, but the country that will be hit the hardest will be Albania.

Now I’m not saying that we are a great football nation, but we were improving greatly, thanks mainly to players like Cana, Beqaj, Dallku etc.

There are currently 6 Albanians from Kosovo in the national team, this is the list:

GK Arjan Beqaj, age 32, 30 caps, plays for Anorthosis Famagusta(Cyprus)
DF Armend Dallku, age 24, 21 caps, Vorskla Poltava(Ukraine)
DF Blerim Rrustemi, age 25, 4 caps, AC Horsens(Danmark)
DF/MF Debatik Curri, age 24, 11 caps, 1 goal, Vorskla Poltava(Ukraine)
MF Lorik Cana, age 24, 25 caps, 1 goal, Olympique Marseille(France)
FW Besart Berisha, age 22, 7 caps, 2 goals, Burnley FC(England)

Just look at the ages of these guys, besides Arjan Beqaj, everyone else is 22, 24 or 25. These guys are young, and all of them have a bright future. It would be a tragedy if this guys dont play for the Albanian national team anymore. Now dont get me wrong, I dont wanna sound like the independence of Kosova is a bad thing, its not, by far its one of the best things that could have happened, im just saying that it might also spell the end to a decent national team. Once again, only time will tell, lets see what is going to happen!

ps. Happy Independence Day Kosova!

Edgar Cani is considered by a lot of Italian journalists to be the next powerful striker in Italian football. He is closely compared to Christian Vieri, and thats why Inter put a 2 million dollar bid for him, but was not able to sign the player. During the week before signing for Palermo, Edgar was called by the Albanian U21 team, but he declined to offer, saying that he was too busy with his transfer and could not get focused enough to play for the U21 team. A few days later, reports came that he had accepted an offer to play for the Italian U19 team.

In an interview for an Albanian website, he declared that he wants to play for the Albanian National Team, but he just couldn’t at the moment.

Albanians have seen this before, and they are just hoping that Edgar will make the right decision and play for the “Kuq e Zi” (Red and Black, Albania). Other players like Valon Behrami(Lazio, Switzerland), Sotir Nini(AEK, Greece, known as Sotiris Ninis now), have declined the Albanian National Team, and played for their adopted countries.

Will Edgar Cani make the same decision, or will he follow Marseille’s Captain, Lorik Cana, and play for his home country? Only time will tell, lets just hope hes not another Jonathan De Guzman!