Albania's football coach, Sylvinho, has briefly responded to the possibility of qualifying for the World Cup, which is being held this year in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
"Definitely," was Sylvinho's short answer at the end of the interview given to the Albanian Football Federation.
Sylvinho spoke at the beginning of the interview about Albania's matches last year.
He is satisfied with the achievements and results of the red and black team.
"After a very difficult moment in Latvia, then in September we beat Latvia, in October we beat Serbia on the road and in November Andorra on the road. That was the moment when I saw a more mature team, after three years of watching the European qualifiers and an important and beautiful European. I can say that we are now used to playing important, decisive matches, whether against Italy or against a slightly more modest team. These players have begun to understand and play matches with important, decisive national teams. They have done very well, in all three consecutive matches, it has not been easy, we have won and this has brought us to the playoffs. In my opinion, those three months have been very beautiful", said the Brazilian.
He also commented on Poland, the opponent in the World Cup qualifying playoff.
The Poland – Albania match is played in Warsaw on March 26. The playoff final is on March 31.
"We're talking about two games, everyone comes there at 100%. Every now and then I hear here that there may be a weak or easy team to beat. As a coach who has been living football for a decade, I disagree. Football has changed, you see everything, in 90 minutes anything can happen. Poland is a strong team, we know it well. The Poles have a process, we have another, now it will be played, anything can happen", added Sylvinho.
Poland is not an unknown opponent for Albania. Sylvinho has made a comparison of previous encounters with the Poles.
"In football, three months later everything changes, now we are talking about 2-3 years ago. The Poles have a very good team, great players. Few people know or remember that the same Poland four years ago went to the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup. They did not play the first match, because it was against Russia, but in the second match they beat Sweden with a score of 2:0. It is a team with important players, they are used to and know the playoff phase well, they have also participated in the World Cup. On our part, we have a team that has improved a lot, it is a team that is already used to playing difficult, decisive matches, apart from the difficulty, because they are all like that, but decisive matches. There are 90 minutes, where you know that you have to make as few mistakes as possible and that everything is important, because the smallest mistake can do you a lot of harm. I believe a lot in our team, in our players and in our work. There are still 2-3 months left, I hope we go there with our maximum strength," says Sylvinho.