On the eve of Albania's match against Croatia in the second round of the UEFA Europa League group stage, Albania's head coach Silvinho attended a pre-match press conference to give his views on the team's preparations, the mentality of the match and the analysis of the opponents.
Silvinho began by confirming that the team's current state of preparation is very good and that all the players are at 100 percent. He mentioned that the team has a training session later on, but from what we have seen so far, the players are in excellent physical and mental shape.
Talking about the upcoming tournament, Silvinho believes that although it is a strong group, the Albanian team will seize the opportunity and do their best. He said that participating in this tournament is an honor in itself and the team will cherish this opportunity to play against a strong team like Croatia.
Speaking about Croatia's first round match against Spain, Silvinho said that he watched that match and studied it thoroughly. According to him, Croatia played well in that match, even though they ended up losing 0-3. He emphasized that it is hard to believe that Croatia would have lost the match if you only look at the course of the match, but anything can happen in a high-level soccer match.
Regarding Albania's loss to Italy in the first round, Silvinho explained that it wasn't that the team didn't try to attack, but that Italy didn't give them too many chances. He admitted that Italy is a strong team, but Albania stayed competitive in the game until the last moment.
Speaking about whether the team should change their mentality or style of play, Silvinho said that Albania played very well except for the first 15 minutes of the game against Italy. He emphasized that the group is very strong and the opponents have some great players. He believes that the team needs to remain calm and focused when facing strong teams.
Finally, on the question of whether there will be a change in personnel against Croatia, Silvinho said that he still needs to make a decision after completing tonight's final training session and having a working session with the coaching team. He revealed that the team is currently considering the issue, but is happy that there have not been any injuries until now.
