The year 2019 was attractive, exciting and successful for the Kosovo National Football Team, which exceeded expectations and was also promoted in the FIFA ranking.
"Dardans", for the first time, participated in the qualifications for the European Football Championship, which took place from March to November.
Kosovo, which has only three years since its admission to UEFA and FIFA, was in Group A, together with England and the favorite Czech Republic as well as Bulgaria and Montenegro.
"Dardans" made their debut in "Fadil Vokrri", against Bulgaria, on March 25, KTV reports.
The stadium was small enough to accommodate all those interested in seeing the Kosovar stars up close.
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Success of the Year – Kosovo National Football Team
In the end, the match ended 1:1, despite the dominance and numerous chances that Kosovo had.
Arbër Zeneli scored the first goal in the European qualifiers.
On June 7, Kosovo played the second match as a guest of Montenegro, a duel that was played without spectators and ended 1:1. Milot Rashica directed "The Dardanians".
Even against the Malaysians, Kosovo was better, but did not manage to get full points, even though it was in the lead.
In addition to dropping 2 points, they also lost star Arbër Zenelin, who was injured and could not play in the qualifying match in 2019.
The third turned out to be the truth for selector Bernard Challandes' Kosovo.
The first triumph came as a guest of Bulgaria on June 10, in the most dramatic match, where the Kosovars won 3:2.
"Dardans" were winning 1:0 with Rashica's goal, but the Bulgarians came back and took the lead 2:1.
They kept the advantage only until the 64th minute, when Vedat Muriqi equalized the result at 2:2.
Precisely in the 93rd minute, the substitute Elbasan Rashani managed to turn Rashica's beautiful arching into a goal for the historic victory, a triumph that was celebrated in the streets of the capital as well as in other cities.
Kosovo also got 3 golden points against the Czech Republic, in the match played in the capital, which ended 2:1 for the Kosovars.
Kosovo conceded a goal first, but managed to equalize the result with the striker
Vedat Muriqi, and in the 67th minute, Mergim Vojvoda scored a sneaky goal, which was similar to that of Liverpool's Origi against Barcelona.
Vojvoda's goal secured the victory for "Dardans" and increased the hope of qualifying for the 2020 European Championship.
In addition to the draws and victories, Kosovo reached the 15th number of consecutive games without defeat and it had been 2 years since the last defeat.
The big media in Europe also wrote about the fantastic performance that no other national team had.
On September 10, Kosovo played the biggest match in its history, against the England National Team, at "St Marys" in Southampton.
The start was like a dream, where Valon Berisha scored in the first minute, to get all the Albanians on their feet.
However, the reaction of the English was quick and within the first half they scored five times.
Meanwhile, in the second, Kosovo scored two more goals and created several chances, but in the end lost 5:3, suffering the first defeat after 15 games.
Despite the loss, the Dardanians were praised for their performance and became the first nation to score 3 goals in England since 2017.
The loss to the English did not affect the Kosovar footballers at all, who returned to victory, first in the friendly against Gibraltar 1:0, and against Montenegro, 2:0.
Rrahmani and Muriqi scored the winning goals against the Malaysians, keeping Kosovo in the race for qualification and in the penultimate match of the Group, many things would be decided against the Czech Republic.
The match against the Czech Republic was decided to be played on November 17 in Plzen, due to security reasons.
With a win, Kosovo would be only one point away from the European Championship, while a loss would eliminate the "Dardanes".
Against the Czechs, Kosovo was not complete, as the main attacker, Vedat Muriqi, who was injured with Fenerbahçe a few days before the match, was absent due to injury.
Arbër Zeneli, Herolind Shala and Hekuran Kryeziu were also absent.
Even against the Czech Republic, Kosovo scored first, with Atdhe Nuhiu, a goal that drove the "Dardans" present in the stadium crazy, who, despite the difficulties, had traveled from various European countries to support their native country.
The joy did not last long, as the Czech Republic scored two quick goals and won the match, to ensure the qualification to "Euro 2020".
In the last match of the group, Kosovo was defeated by England in "Fadil Vokrri" 4:0, suffering its third defeat and the first at home.
The match against the English made a big impact in the British and European media, for the way the England National Team and its fans were received.
While in some countries they were racially offended, in Kosovo the opposite happened.
"Welcome Bro", was the banner that occupied the largest European media.
The English were amazed, saying that they had traveled the world but had never encountered better hospitality.
In addition to the hospitality given to England in Kosovo, part of the media and social networks was also the selector, Bernard Challandes, who was very attractive and motivating at the press conference in Pristina, as well as after the first half in the match against England in Southampton.
Kosovo exceeded expectations, as it finished third in Group A, behind England and the Czech Republic.
"Dardans" collected 11 points, leaving behind Bulgaria and Montenegro.
13 goals scored and 16 conceded was the balance of Kosovo with Vedat Muriq who was the best scorer with 4 goals scored.
The interest in seeing Kosovo in "Fadil Vokrri" in the qualifying matches was extraordinary.
Within a few minutes, all the online tickets were sold and the criticism was great, even manipulations were suspected, and the State Prosecutor's Office also intervened.
Kosovo, despite being eliminated from the regular qualifications, has one last chance, through the League of Nations.
On March 26, it will face North Macedonia in the semifinals of League D and, in case of victory, it will move to the final where it will face the winner of the match between Georgia and Belarus.
Kosovo A ended 2019 in 115th place in the FIFA ranking, having risen by 16 positions from 2018.
Football players shine, age groups without surprise
After the qualifications, the Kosovo National Team has started in the women's competition since its debut.
The Kosovar girls defeated Turkey in the first match 2:0, while they lost to Slovenia 5:0 and won in the trip to Estonia, 2:1.
Modesta Uka, who plays for Sturm Graz, scored 4 of Kosovo's 3 goals.
With 6 points, Kosovo, which is led by selector Afërdita Fazlija, is competing for qualification for the 2021 European Championship.
The new age groups, U21, U19, and U17, also played in the international arena, which played qualifying matches for the European Championship.
Coach Rafet Prekazi's U21 played 5 qualifying matches, where they achieved 2 victories against Andorra and Turkey and suffered three losses from England, Albania and Austria. Even, for several months it was in the first position. Mathematically, it is still in the race for qualification as it ranks third, KTV reports.
The Kosovo U19 national team, coached by Ramiz Krasniqi, failed to pass the group to qualify for the "Elite Round".
The young "Dardans" drew with Russia, but lost to Poland and Wales to be eliminated.
Kosovo U17 had the same fate. Besnik Kollar's team finished last in the group. However, they managed to become a top topic in the media and social networks, after drawing 0:0 with the champion, the Netherlands. Meanwhile, they suffered losses from Slovenia and Wales.
Feronikeli's "triple" and fierce competition with Pristina
In the elite of Kosovar football, Feronikeli was the headline of 2019, where he managed to win everything that can be won in one season in Kosovo.
Led by coach Zekirija Ramadani, the team from Drenas won the most valuable title with great success.
The title trophy was fought until the last lap, where the champion was decided.
The "Rexhep Rexhepi" stadium, which did not hold more than 4 spectators and with conditions not at all good to host such a match, was the arena where it was decided who will hold the crown of the best for 12 months.
Feronikeli had two more points and against Pristina, even a draw was enough for them, reports KTV.
Meanwhile, coach Mirel Josa's team only needed a victory to return the title to the capital after 6 years.
In the end, Feronikeli won 1:0 with the goal of defender Yll Hoxha.
This was the second time in a row that the championship was decided in the last round and the second time that Pristina did not come out to grab the title in the 33rd week.
80 points collected, which was a record in Kosovo football, with 25 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats, the team from Drenas was declared champion for the third time in history.
With 22 goals, Kastriot Rexha was the best scorer of the season.
Liria and KEK left the league, finishing in the last two positions, while Trepça '89 and Gjilan remained in the draw.
89 defeated Vellaznimin and remained in the Super League, while Gjilani triumphed over Besa to ensure survival.
In the elite, directly from the First League, Vushtrri and Dukagjini were included. For Klinas it was the first time after 16 years.
The team from Drenas was also uncompetitive in the Cup, where it triumphed in the final against Trepca '89 with a deep result, 5:0.
Kastriot Rexha, with 2 goals, and Fazliu, Hoti and Morina with one each, achieved one of the deepest triumphs in the Cup final. Meanwhile, Ardian Muja scored the only goal for the 89th.
"Nikli" passed the pre-qualification stage, but failed further
For the third year in a row, football teams from Kosovo in the men's competition appeared in European competitions.
Feronikeli, as champion, took part in the Champions League qualifiers, while Prishtina in the Europa League, KTV reports.
The pre-qualifying tournament of the Champions League was held in Pristina for the first time, where, in addition to Feronikeli as the host, three other teams participated, Santa Colloma of Andorra, Lincoln of Gibraltar and Tre Pena of San Marino.
In the semi-finals, Feronikeli defeated Loncoln with a score of 1:0 with the goal of Mendurim Hotiti.
Meanwhile, in the final he triumphed with a comeback against Santa Colloma 2:1 with the goals of Mevlan Zeka and Kastriot Rexha.
In the first qualifying round, the champion of Kosovo faced TNS The New Saints.
In the first match in Wales, he managed to draw 2:2, even though he was losing 2:0.
But, when Feronikeli was expected to become the first Kosovar team to advance to the second round, it did not happen, as it suffered a 1:0 defeat in "Fadil Vokrri" and was eliminated to go to the second round of the Europa League.
At this stage, they faced Slovakian Bratislava, where they lost both matches. 2:1 as a guest and 2:0 at home, to be eliminated from European competitions, but collected more than 1 million euros from participation in the international arena.
Prishtina failed miserably in Europe, eliminated by the amateurs of Gibraltar
Worse than Feronikeli, coach Josa's Prishtina passed, which in the pre-qualifying round of the European League, faced the amateur team from Gibraltar, Saint Josephs.
It was the second time that Prishtina participated in this competition thanks to another team.
The first time was made possible by Besa, who did not have a license as the winner of the Cup, and the second time, Feronikeli, after winning the title and the Cup.
In the first match in the capital, they drew 0:0, while in the return match they lost 2:0 and were eliminated from the European League.
The criticism was great, especially for coach Josa, who had resigned but was not accepted by the club initially. But, after negative results in the new season as well, Josa left Pristina without being able to bring the title that has been missing since 2013.
KFF Mitrovica wrote history, passed the first stage
The women's club, Mitrovica, which won everything in Kosovo during 2019, also appeared in the Champions League.
The girls of the Kosovar team wrote history by passing the pre-pre-qualifying stage.
In three games, the team led by coach Seidi Onbashi scored three victories, reports KTV.
Mitrovica won against Cluj 2:1, NSA Sofia 2:0 and Breznica, 1:0, to pass to the next stage, where they face the German giant Wolfsburg.
In "Fadil Vokrri" they lost 10:0, and in the return match 5:0, to be eliminated from the big European competition.
Balkani, champion of the fall season in the IPKO Superliga
August 17, 2019 marked the beginning of the 2019/2020 Kosovar football season.
As usual, most clubs strengthened during the summer, aiming for trophies and European competition.
The competition was great, where 5 clubs are competing for the title of champion.
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Kosovo's historic victory in Sofia
The surprise of the fall was the Balkans of coach Ismet Munishi, who after 17 weeks ranked first, being declared the champion of the first half of the championship.
10 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses were the results of the team from Suhareka.
The trio, Blend Baftiu, Arbër Hoxha and Jetim Topalli, excelled by scoring 18 goals together, out of 23 scored by the entire Balkan team.
Baftiu is also the best scorer in the Super League with 10 goals, 3 more than Arb Manaj of Trepça '89.
Super-reinforced Gjilan also had a good form, where it finished in second place, while Drita was ranked third and Prishtina fourth.
The reigning champion, Feronikeli, failed to maintain the form it had in the last season, finishing in fifth position, reports KTV.
The departure of Zakirija Ramadan before the start of the championship, and the arrival of the Malaysian, Dejan Vukičević, did not turn out to be successful, as the coach from Montenegro did not have good results and was dismissed by the club management. He was replaced by coach Agim Sopi, and Albert Bunjaku, who will be in the capacity of advisor.
Flamurtari, Ferizaj, Vushtrri and Dukagjini had the most negative results and are the last four teams in the ranking.
At the end of the championship, the last four teams will be relegated to the First League, as from the 2020/2021 season, the Kosovo Super League will have only 10 teams.
On December 20, the Football Federation of Kosovo distributed the awards for the best of 2019.
Vedat Muriqi of Fenerbahçe and the Kosovo National Team was declared the best.
Meanwhile, Kastriot Rexha of Feronikeli received the awards for the best player and scorer of the Superliga.
English clubs receive the most important European trophies
This has been the undisputed year of English dominance in European club competition and the Premier League has finally returned financial power with results on the pitch.
But, 2019 will also be remembered for a large number of returns of results.
For the first time ever, all four finalists in Europe's two strongest club competitions were from England.
Liverpool beat Tottenham in the Champions League final, while Chelsea beat Arsenal in the Europa League.
Manchester United staged one of the greatest ever comebacks in football under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they overturned a 16-2 deficit to win at Old Trafford in the last 0 of the competition. 3:1 in Paris.
Marcus Rashford's late penalty at Prince's Park sent United ahead thanks to away goals.
In 106 attempts by clubs from Europe, no club had managed to advance when after the first match they had been defeated 2:0, in the direct elimination phase.
Even the quarterfinals in "Champions" provided drama until the end. In fact, it was only VAR that eliminated Manchester City from Tottenham, thanks to away goals, and the match ended with a total score of 4:4.
Raheem Sterling scored to send Pep Guardiola sky high with City in contention to win all six trophies.
Afterwards, the referee Cuneyt Cakir signaled that the goal is illegal. Guardiola fell to his knees, hands on his head, in total despair.
But it was not all over there. Liverpool was brought to its knees at Camp Nou by Barcelona, losing 3:0.
Everything was thought over, however, the electrifying atmosphere at "Anfield" baffled the visitors from Spain, who were defeated 4:0, thanks to two goals each, from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum.
24 hours later another remarkable comeback. In Amsterdam, captain Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech gave Ajax a 3-0 aggregate lead as they looked set to reach their first final in 23 years.
However, Brazilian Lucas Moura scored a second-half hat-trick to send Spurs through.
In the final of Madrid, Liverpool won against Tottenham 2:0, with goals scored by Mohamed Salah and Divock Origin and the fans witnessed an excellent edition.
Liverpool was once again the best team of the strongest competition in Europe for the sixth time.
Eden Hazard scored twice in the Europa League grand final in Baku, Azerbaijan to help Chelsea to a 4-1 victory over fellow Londoners Arsenal.
Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud opened the scoring first, followed by goals from Pedro and Hazard from the penalty spot.
Alex Iwobi gave Arsenal hope of getting back into the game with this goal, however, Hazard soon added his second personal goal and fourth for a convincing triumph in the competition.
It was Chelsea's fifth European trophy, and their first since winning the Europa League in Amsterdam in 2013. Giroud was the top scorer with 11 goals as Chelsea went 18 matches unbeaten in the Europa League.
The first edition of the "Nations League" met the Portuguese who won against the Netherlands
UEFA's newest competition, the Nations League, turned out to be more successful than expected and ended with the victory of Portugal over the Netherlands, 1:0, in the final held in Porto.
Man. City become champions with just one point more than Liverpool
The Premier League race between Manchester City and Liverpool for the title of the champion was completely won in the last duel by Guardiola's "Citizens", with only one point more than Jurgen Klopp's "reds".
Despite conceding a goal and being found at a disadvantage, Manchester City took control of the game and beat Brighton 4:1 away, making Liverpool's win against Wolves null and void. Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan canceled out Glenn Murray's only goal.
It was the first time a team defended the title since Sir Alex Ferguson did so with Manchester United in 2009. City's 98 points is the second most in Premier League history, a record which Pep Guardiola himself holds with 100 in total. In addition to the league, City won the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the Community Shield this season.
Juventus won the "Scudetto" for the eighth time in a row, and the 35th in the history of the club
Juventus at home, with a 2:1 victory over Fiorentina, managed to be crowned with the eighth title in a row in the elite of Italian football.
Knocked out of the Champions League by Ajax in the quarter-finals, Juventus won with a comeback thanks to goals from Alex Sandro and an own goal from German Pezzellas.
For the Italian giant, it was the 35th title in total, to allow Cristiano Ronaldo, in addition to the championship of England and Spain with United and Real, to win that of Italy, in the first attempt, a season in which he scored 19 goals .
The 28th victory in 33 league games sent the "Old Lady" to the quota of 87 points, 20 more than the second place, Napoli, with six games to go.
The "Bianconeri" became the first team to win the league eight times one after another from the Top 5 leagues, in England, Spain, France, Italy and Germany.
Barcelona won another championship, the 10th under Messi
Barcelona once again won the Spanish La Liga championship, three rounds before the end, after a 1:0 victory over Levante.
This was the 26th title in Barcelona's history, still behind Real Madrid who lead with 33.
Of the 26 championships won, 10 of them have come in the Lionel Messi period, with the Argentine not stopping to win individual awards as well.
The Argentinian for the third time in a row also won the "Pichichi" award with the most goals scored, and for the sixth time since his debut with Barcelona.
The battle for the title in Germany between Bayern and Dortmund was won by the Bavarians
Bayern Munich were crowned Bundesliga champions again in a great fight to the end with Borussia Dortmund. The Bavarians clinched their seventh straight title thanks to victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on the final day of the season.
Kinglsey Coman, David Alaba, Renato Sanches, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben scored in the 5:1 win against Frankfurt.
Dortmund also ended the campaign with a 2:0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus.
However, Bayern ended the season with 78 points, two more than Borussia Dortmund, which was also the 29th Bundesliga title, a record in itself.
In his debut season with the Bavarians, coach Niko Kovaq won the championship, as well as the German Cup on May 25.
Lionel Messi, with an individual record, won the "Golden Ball" for the sixth time
Lionel Messi was announced as the winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2019 and was the sixth trophy he received in total.
At the ceremony, Luka Modric presented the Barcelona captain with this trophy, as it was the Croatian who held it in 2018.
Messi was the leader in the list of voters and it was the first triumph for him, since 2015, four years after this award was not released from the hands of Real Madrid footballers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Modric.
The magical Argentine finished ahead of Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, despite the centre-back winning the Champions League and being a Nations League finalist. Cristiano Ronaldo completed the top three.
Messi was also praised by FIFA, Rapinoe, the best among women
Argentina star Lionel Messi has been named the best footballer of the year by the home of football FIFA for the sixth time, having previously won it in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
The 32-year-old scored 54 goals in 58 games for Barcelona and Argentina during the 2018/19 season.
USA forward Megan Rapinoe was the most outstanding in the women's competition by FIFA.
Hazard to Real, Griezmann to Barcelona, Felix to Atletico, Coutinho to Bayern
The summer transfer window in the top five European leagues was very active and many moves were made, some of which were known in advance.
After many attempts, Real Madrid managed to transfer Chelsea striker, Belgian Eden Hazard for 100 million euros.
The one that surprised everyone was the transfer of Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona for 120 million euros, and with the millions of euros earned, Atletico Madrid made possible the transfer of the Portuguese star, Joao Felix.
Philippe Coutinho was loaned from Barcelona to Bayern Munich because there were not many spaces in the team.
Harry Maguire became the most expensive defender in the history of football, after he was transferred from Leicester City to Manchester United for a total of 87 million euros.
The transfer of Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus cost two million euros less.
From the almost golden generation of Ajax, Frenkie de Jong also left, who took the road to Spain, to the champion Barcelona, for 75 million euros.
The transfer of Rodri from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City for 70 million euros was also expensive, which was a transfer record for "Citizens".
With the departure of Mauro Icardi from Inter to PSG on loan, his place was taken by the pair of "Red Devils", Romelu Lukaku for 65 million euros and Alexis Sanchez on loan.
Xavi, Robin van Persie, Robben and Petr Cech retire
After the end of the season, Xavi Hernandez ended his career as a footballer, as one of the best in his position, with the career he had in Barcelona and Spain.
Xavi, 39, retired from the Spanish national team in 2014 and left Barcelona a year later after 17 seasons. He also played in Qatar with the Al-Sadd team.
With the Spanish, he won the World Cup in 2010, and twice the European Championship in 2008 and 2012. With Barcelona, he has a record of 767 appearances, where he won 25 titles, including 4 Champions Leagues and 8 La Liga titles. .
Robin van Persie also retired from active football at the age of 35.
Dutch star Arjen Robben also ended his career at the age of 35, with 12 leagues won, 8 with Bayern, two with Chelsea, and one each with PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid. Robben has played 96 times for the Netherlands and was beaten in the 2010 World Cup by Spain.
The former striker of Arsenal and Manchester United played the last match of his career with Feyenoord. In 280 appearances in the Premier League, Van Persie scored 144 goals. With Arsenal he won the FA Cup, while with United he enjoyed the title in the 2012/13 edition. With his country Holland, he has scored 52 goals in 101 matches.
With the last team, Feyenoord, he had 20 goals in 34 games, while he also made his career in Turkey at Fenerbahçe.
Petr Cech joined an ice hockey team after retiring from active football.
The former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper ended his career at the age of 37 after losing the Europa League final to Chelsea in May.
Cech was a four-time Premier League champion and once Champions League champion with Chelsea, while holding the record for appearances for the Czech Republic, appearing in 124 matches.
He won the FA Cup with Arsenal.
Brazil won the Copa America trophy for the ninth time
Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus scored once, assisted the other, was sent off and prompted the VAR monitor.
All of that was forgotten in the Copa América grand final when Brazil beat Peru 3-1 to claim their ninth trophy in total, and their first in 12 years.
Jesus assisted Everton's first goal of the game, Paolo Guerrero equalised, but then Brazil scored through the City striker. Jesus was sent off in the 70th minute, however, it was Richarlison who secured the trophy for the Brazilians.
This event will also be remembered for Messi's explosion. He said that Argentina has been a victim of corruption. Argentina won 2:1 against Chile, while Messi was punished with a red card in that game, along with Gary Medel.
Algeria won the African Cup of Nations, defeating Senegal in Cairo, 1:0
Algeria won the African Cup of Nations for the second time, with only one goal scored in the match against Senegal, in the final that took place in Cairo.
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Kosovo, the sensation of 2018 in football
Thanks to a deflection by Salif Sanes, Baghdad Bounedjah scored in the goal of the goalkeeper Alfred Gomes.
Senegal had the chance to win their first trophy in this competition, but failed even with Sadio Mane, and in the end it was Algeria who enjoyed this trophy since 1990.
