The representative of Kosovo will be without many footballers for the decisive duel against Greece in the League of Nations. However, despite these absences, the victory over Northern Ireland has encouraged the "Dardans" led by coach Alain Giresse. Giresse and Milot Rashica, on Saturday at the press conference, expressed themselves very optimistic that despite the suspensions and injuries that Kosovo has faced in the first three games in the League of Nations, they believe that they will achieve a positive result in Greece. The match between Greece and Kosovo, the fourth of the third edition of the League of Nations, is played at 20:45 on Sunday. The victory is important for Kosovo, as it would tie at the top of the table with Greece, with nine points each in Group 2 of League C. Even a draw would keep Kosovo in the game, but it would diminish its chances of winning the group where is a part The loss would take away another chance to seek qualification for European Championship 2024. Greece has nine points, three more than Kosovo.
"It is a difficult match and Greece is a strong opponent. I can't say that this match is a final, but it is definitely a big match. And an eventual victory in this meeting would certainly increase our ambitions to win the group", said Giresse. "After the victory against Northern Ireland we have come here to play an important match against the team that is the first in the group, Greece, and we will see what this match will bring."
The 69-year-old selector of Kosovo, the Frenchman Giresse, has said that against Greece there are many absences, but he believes in the quality of those players who are ready for the game.
Betim Fazliji, Lirim Kastrati and Ibrahim Dreshević will be absent after the yellow cards they received in the match against Northern Ireland and are suspended.
Edon Zhegrova and Benjamin Kololli are absent due to injury, along with Mergim Vojvoda, who left at the beginning of the gathering. Meanwhile, Vedat Muriqi said against Northern Ireland that he played injured. However, goalkeeper Arijanet Muriq and defender Fidan Aliti, who were absent in the last match, will return.
"We have big and very important shortages for us. They are not with the team and we cannot use them. It is important to compose a team with these footballers that we have and manage to get a positive result. I want to say that all teams have 23 or 24 footballers like us. From this contingent we used 17 footballers and during this batch we had problems, not only with injuries, but also with suspensions and it was not easy to replace the absent footballers", added Giresse.
At the press conference on Saturday in Kosovo, alongside the Frenchman, Milot Rashica was also present. Rashica was one of the best on the field, in the victory that Kosovo scored at the "Fadil Vokrri" stadium against Northern Ireland on Thursday night (3:2). Rashica won the penalty in Muriqi's first goal, while assisting in the second goal scored by Zymer Bytyqi. He said that he will try to continue with such performances in the next matches for Kosovo, starting from the duel with Greece.
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"Seeing the importance of the match, I hope that my contribution affects the goals. I think my game against Northern Ireland was the best at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium. We are missing a lot, but all the players are ready and we will give our best. I believe that the time has come to make the first victory against Greece. If we want to win the game then we have to score goals. I hope we will create many chances and score as many goals as possible", added the Norwich City player.
Rashica said that in Greece, Kosovo traveled to win.
"As we know, it is the last match of this gathering and this match can determine everything. We are prepared to give our best to win this match. We expect it to be a very difficult match and it is a different opponent from the last match. But I believe that with the motivation and the good things we did in the last game, we will use them. We played against Greece and we know how they play and I hope that on Sunday we will do much better than in the last game", he said.
