“The Dardanians” determined to win against Israel
High-intensity play and massive support from the fans were among the requests made by coach Franco Foda for Kosovo’s match against Israel.
High-intensity play and massive support from the fans were among the requests made by coach Franco Foda for Kosovo’s match against Israel.
The Group B3 Nations League match will be played on Saturday at 15:00 at the “Fadil Vokrri” Stadium in Pristina.
A win would put Kosovo in contention to win the group, or at least strengthen its position in second place, which secures a better pot for the “Euro 2028” qualifying draw.
Finishing second would also see Kosovo play in the playoffs for promotion to League A of the Nations League, the highest level of this competition organized by UEFA.
The German coach said Kosovo had prepared sufficiently for the match against the Israelis.
AlsoFootball 2 hours agoKosovo’s press conference ahead of the match against Israel
“We are ready for the match against Israel,” Foda said at a press conference held on Friday.
Lumbardh Dellova and Ermal Krasniqi are Kosovo’s latest two absentees for the penultimate match of the fifth edition of the Nations League. Both were released from the squad because of injuries. Kosovo is also missing other players, such as Albian Hajdari and Florent Muslija.
Foda said the rest of the squad was ready to play and give its all. The coach also spoke about the playing surface, which the Israelis complained about again.
He said the condition of the pitch at “Fadil Vokrri” was much better than it had been for the match against Austria.
“Israel has a very good and well-prepared team, especially with Solomon in the lineup. We have seen that all the previous matches have ended with close scorelines, which shows that all the national teams in the group are similar in quality. Nevertheless, we are playing at home, we have the support of our fans, and we have to play with very high intensity to win this match,” Foda said.
Joining Foda at the press conference was Wisla Plock defender Dion Gallapeni. Gallapeni spoke about the atmosphere in the national team and expectations for both matches.
“The atmosphere is very good, considering the importance of these two matches. The young players have brought very positive energy to the group. The training sessions have gone very well, with great intensity and motivation for these matches,” Gallapeni said.
A win against Israel would prevent Kosovo from being relegated from League B, which has been coach Foda’s objective since the start of this campaign.
But Kosovo will not be able to claim first place in the group unless it beats the Israelis and Austria avoids defeat in the other match against Ireland.
Austria currently leads the group with eight points after four matches. Kosovo and Ireland, in second and third place, have five points each. Israel is in last place with two points.
Kosovo will play its final match of the campaign on Tuesday in Dublin against Ireland.
