San Marino-Albania: captain Gjimshiti – ‘An easy match? It’s up to us’

National team captain Berat Gjimshiti spoke at the press conference about the challenge against San Marino, stressing that it should not be considered easy, and calling for maximum focus and the right mentality from the squad.

San Marino? – “What you say is true, it’s not easy, but I believe focus must be 100% in every match, and even more so in these matches where everyone expects our national team to control the game. Most believe it will be an easy match, but it won’t be at all. It’s up to us whether we make it easy or not. Focus is 100%.”

As captain, where do you think our national team needs to improve most? – “It certainly wasn’t a good period, but we returned to winning and to matches that are very important. The Nations League gives us an option for the European Championship. I believe the first step was the last match, where we played a good game and won deservedly. Of course the goals are ambitious. We want first place, and what needs to improve is the whole group – playing together and giving everything on the pitch for 90 minutes. At this level, if you make too many mistakes the game changes quickly and you have to stay focused.”

What must we do to avoid being surprised tomorrow by San Marino? – “We must enter the pitch with the right mentality. Be 100% ready. It also depends on how San Marino will play, but also on how we enter the pitch, with the aggression and quality we have. I believe we can all do it together. All the players who will be on the pitch and those on the bench are very important tomorrow. That must be our strength.”

Who asked you for the most tickets for tomorrow’s match, Albanians or Italians? – “In this case it’s mostly a Romanian friend of mine with whom I played in Italy, and he asked me for a ticket.”

Have you studied San Marino’s strikers, what is special about them as a unit? – “I know the striker, his name is Nanni, I’ve played against him. He’s physically big, almost 1.90 like me, he holds the ball very well. In Italy, when you don’t have a midweek match you play a friendly with some Serie C or Serie D side, and the strikers are always the ones with the most quality, or the number 10, and it’s not easy. They have quality and class; you have to be 100% focused because anything can happen in football.”