March 03, 2010| Altin Zeqiri, ALBANIAN TIMES
Albania beat Northern Ireland 1 - 0 in a friendly match in Qemal Stafa, Tirana.
All odds were for northern Irish side to win in Tirana but the classy Albanians were unbreakable.
British newspapers predicted 2 - 0 to the Irish side but they were basing the facts of better side in the FIFA world ranking with Northern Ireland ranked at the 39th place whilst Albania on the 96th place.
The only goal of the match for Albanians came on the 28th minute. The 33 year old Ervin Skela on his 60th international cap curls home a magnificent 25-yard free-kick after George McCartney had been hauled back for a challenge on Erion Bogdani. Albania gets the goal their first-half play deserves.
In the second half Stephen Craigan headed against the bar and then fired a shot against a post with Rory Patterson almost scoring from the rebound.
The match was played on a quagmire of a playing surface and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Maik Taylor was called into action on 24 minutes when he tipped over a long-range dipping effort from Skela.
Substitute goalkeeper Tuffey saved a Salahi header, and also a low drive from Bakaj.
Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington saw his side outplayed by Albania in the friendly in Tirana.
Albania were well in control and Angolli dragged a shot wide in the 42nd minute with the defence all at sea.
Northern Ireland’s record scorer David Healy was back in the starting line-up but Sammy Clingan was a late withdrawal with a virus and was replaced by Michael O'Connor.
Albania was by far the better side in the 90 minutes and had many chances to double the scoring. A well deserved win for the home side.
Albania: Hidi, Lila, Dallku, Vangjeli, Angolli, Lala, Curri, Bulku, Duro, Skela, Bogdani. Subs: Beqaj, Cana, Kapllani, Hyka, Bakaj, Vila, Salihi.
Northern Ireland: Taylor, Little, McGivern, McCartney, Craigan, O'Connor, McGinn, Davis, Healy, Lafferty, McCann. Subs: Tuffey, Carson, Kirk, Shiels, Patterson, Evans.
Referee: Elir Pilav (Sarajevo)
FIFA World Cup 1966
The first time that Albania competed for a place in the world's elite, for the 1966 World Cup in England, was in a match against Netherlands on 24 May 1964. Drawn in Group 5 with the Dutch were also Northern Ireland and Switzerland. Albania's only point in the qualification round came from a 1–1 draw at home to Northern Ireland in Tirana, which denied Northern Ireland a place in the Finals.
Rank – Team – Pts
1 – Switzerland - 9
2 - Northern Ireland – 8
3 - Netherlands – 6
4 – Albania - 1
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