Today in the European Football Championship, Group A teams will play their last matches in the group stage. While Switzerland and France will compete for the first place in the group, the national teams of Romania and Albania will try to secure a ticket to the next stage in a life-or-death match. The preview of these matches is presented to you by "Eurofootball.com".
Match time and location: On June 19 at 22:00, at the "Parc Olympique Lyonnais" stadium. The match will be broadcasted live on LRT cultural channel.
Tournament situation: Both Romania and Albania need a victory in order to have a chance to advance to the next stage.
News from the team camps: Players from the Romanian national team - Razvan Rat, Bogdan Stancu, and Mihai Pintilii - were treating minor injuries and did not train with the team, but they might play in these matches. In the Albanian national team, Ledjan Memushaj did not train yesterday and might miss this match. Albania will also see the return of Lorik Cana, who missed a match due to disqualification.
Coaches' comments: Angel Iordanescu (Romania): "Romanian football needs a victory. For many years, we have not participated in the European Championship, and now we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the whole country happy. We need to be focused and avoid wasting energy on unnecessary things. The boys need to understand that in order to achieve a result, they will have to leave everything on the field.
Our situation is difficult because we had three injured players. It's hard to say if they will miss the match, but after the meeting with Switzerland, they trained individually. I will make a decision about them on the day of the match." Gianni De Blasi (Albania): "So far, my players have looked good, but our opponents punished us for our mistakes. Although we also had our chances, we are probably not experienced enough to capitalize on them. I told the players, "If we want to continue the fight in the championship, we must seize our opportunities."
We need to be focused on defense, as Romania is very strong in set pieces. They are strong and have a similar mentality to our players. We are ready for these matches and will try to play a perfect match, as we need a victory. Everyone is surprised at the quality of football we're playing. However, if we don't get results, people won't care about your style of play. We know how important it is to play as a team. Tomorrow we will have the most important match that will determine the whole tournament."
Players to watch: Romania: Bogdan Stancu Stancu is the only one who scored goals for the Romanian national team in this championship, scoring penalties in both matches. Goals will be crucial for the team in these matches, and Stancu, who has tasted scoring, will be the one all Romania fans' eyes will be on. Albania: Etrit Berisha Albania's national team has yet to score in this championship, so in their quest for a victory, the Albanians will have to put much greater effort into attacking in this match. This will open up additional spaces in the team's defense, and for this reason, Albania's goalkeeper Etrit Berisha will have to play a great match. If Berisha can keep a 'clean sheet' in these matches, the team's chances of victory will decrease to a minimum.
Predicted lineups: Romania: Tătărușanu; Săpunaru, Chiricheș, Grigore, Raț; Prepeliță, Hoban; Torje, Stanciu, Stancu; Alibec. Albania: Berisha; Hysaj, Cana, Mavraj, Agolli; Lila, Xhaka, Kaçe, Abrashi, Lenjani; Sadiku.
Expert predictions: Reymundas Tomayo ("Yibada"): "Both teams need only a victory, and despite Albania fighting with all their might, in my opinion, the favorite to win the match is Romania. Romania 1 - 0 Albania." Seanas Donelly ("All Sports News"): "I believe this match will end in a draw, and the fact that the Albanians have not yet stood out in this championship suggests that the draw will be uneventful. Romania 0 - 0 Albania." Ari Papas ("Outside 90"): "If either of these teams wants to advance to the next stage, they need a victory. Both teams find it difficult to score goals, so it's hard to expect a high-scoring game, even if both teams take risks. Romania looked more dangerous against the other group teams, so I have no doubt that they will try to take control of the match. Romanians should win this match, and with a little luck, improving their goal difference they can surpass Switzerland and rise to second place in the group. Romania 2 - 0 Albania."
Interesting facts: Romania has not lost to Albania in the last thirteen consecutive matches (10 wins, 3 draws). In all 16 matches between them, Albania has never scored more than one goal against Romania. Romania has won only one match in the final stage of the European Championship. Throughout all matches in the European Championships, Romania has kept a clean sheet only once. Albania has lost the last three matches - the worst streak since 2013. In the first two matches, Albania had only two shots on target, both in the first match against Switzerland.
