Despite all the disappointment, pride prevailed. Accompanied by thunderous applause from the many fans, the underdogs from Albania left the Dortmund stadium with their heads held high after the 1:2 (1:2) defeat against Italy.
The courageous performance strengthened the belief for the next tasks in the difficult Group B against Croatia and Spain. “We must not forget. We played against a team that is one of the favorites. We were in the game well until the end,” praised Brazilian coach Sylvinho. “We have a lot of young players, they are still growing.”
One of his pros even earned a place in the history books of continental football. Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in European Championship history after just 22 seconds, making it 1-0 for his team. The 25-year-old midfielder broke the previous record held by Russian Dimitri Kirischenko, who scored after 67 seconds in a 2-1 win against Greece in 2004.
“Scoring this goal was a dream for me. It makes you happy like a child. It may have been a historic goal, but the more important thing is that we have to keep going now,” commented the acclaimed Bajrami.
The Albanian fans proved to be an additional source of encouragement. They were clearly in the majority in the sold-out Dortmund stadium and turned the city into a party zone even before the match. “Unbelievable, that’s our twelfth player,” enthused midfielder Taulant Seferi. Coach Sylvinho was similarly enthusiastic: “It was great. We couldn’t have expected the whole stadium to be red.”