The last three matches of the U21 representative of Kosovo, within the qualifiers for the European Championship 2023, will serve three things to the technical director of FFK, Albert Bunjak. In the press conference held on Monday, when he published the list of 27 footballers for these matches, Bunjaki revealed his three goals. First, he said that he aims for positive results to finish this cycle as high as possible in the table, then to change the generation, and finally he added that from this gathering, the preparations for the other eliminators begin, in which the European qualification is aimed. Kosovo will play the next match within Group G on Saturday in a trip to Andorra. On June 10, they host England, before ending these qualifications with a trip to Albania, three days later.
Currently, Kosovo U21 is fifth (penultimate) in the group with eight points collected after seven games played.
Bunjaki said that with two wins from these three remaining matches, they would finish in third position, which is the goal. Bunjaki called the last three matches "final phase".
"Actually, we are in the final stage, these are the last three matches of these qualifications. It is another moment as it is the time of generational change. These three matches are also important in terms of sports. I say this because after two good results with Slovenia, we have a chance to finish high in the group and this is important for the next qualification draw. So this is our goal", said Bunjaki, who since the departure of the German Michael Nees, has taken the direction of this generation.
He said that he has already started to think about the change of generation and for this the best proof is the published list. According to him, almost half of the players invited for these three matches were born in 2002 and 2003.
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"Parallel to the sports aspect, these three games are the last for the 2000 and 2001 generation. It is thought to gradually give space to younger players, that is, the 2002 and 2003 generation. This shows best that in the list of players invited, 14 of them belong to this generation, who have the right to play in the other qualifications as well", said Bunjaki. "The situation of the players is a little different because we have the last three games. We have experienced players who will help integrate the new generation. The amount of minutes played by some players is worrying, but it is related to many aspects. A large number of them belong to the U19 team and have not yet matured for the U21, but the earlier the integration begins, the better. So we decided to invite them, test them and I can say that our preparations for the next qualifications start now, while our goal remains the qualification".
Bunjaki warned that during these three matches he will try to give as much space as possible to young players. He expressed his concern that young players are not getting minutes in the Kosovo Super League teams. Bunjaki called on all the coaches of Kosovo's elite teams to be braver and give space to young people, as according to him, only in this way will they benefit. but also the U21 Representative.
"We will try to find a balance to rest the experienced players in order to give a chance to the young ones and I believe we will come out with good results. The concern is that a large number of young people are not activated in the Kosovo Super League, even though their activation should have been a good example because the clubs are rewarded. Of the 93 players who are in the Super League aged 17-22, 63 are not activated or play at most 125 minutes for 18 rounds and that is very little. This shows that some of the clubs have tradition and courage to give space to young people. Other courses prefer experienced players. I appeal to the coaches to have courage and patience with the young players, because it is also reflecting on the representative team", said Bunjaki, who warned that the selection criteria will also change in the future. "The selection criteria will change. To be part of the U21 Representative, you must be part of the first team where you play. If you are U19, then you have 60-70 percent of the minutes in the team where you play. These criteria will change in order to allow the best players to come."
Although he admitted that the first duel with Andorra will not be easy at all, Bunjaki believes in a positive result.
"We aim for the best possible results to have a better draw for the next qualifications. They are matches with different character. Andorra is a much better collective team than an individual one. It won't be easy because we play on artificial grass, but we aim to come back with a positive result. If we get two positive results out of three games, we will finish third in the table, which would be a very good result and a surprise."
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The winger Valmir Veliu, who is part of the Llapi team, also spoke at the press conference. Veliu is one of the seven football players from the Kosovar teams who have been invited to Kosovo U21 for the three games in June.
"I want to give my best in these three matches. All games are difficult, but we will look for positive results. The duels with Andorra and Albania are a little easier on paper, but we will also be ready to face England", said Veliu.
