Albania women’s football team vying for European glory
A revolution has undertaken Albania women’s football over recent years, but how are they feeling at the prospect of being drawn in the ‘group of death?
This season Vllaznia became the first Albanian team ever to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League since its rebranding in 1992. They could hardly have anticipated, however, being drawn in a more difficult group. European giants Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid await the minnows from South Europe.
But for Vllaznia and the whole of Albania, it is a dream come true.
Vllaznia has become the dominant force of Albanian women’s football over the past decade, winning their domestic league nine times in a row. For the first time, however, they finally qualified for the group stages of the Champions League this year, scoring an 88th-minute goal against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava to win 3-2 on aggregate.
For Megi Doçi, who scored an incredible 66 goals for Vllaznia in the league last season, the chance to play the giants of women’s football only serves as further motivation. She said: “When you see we are in a group with Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid, it makes me want to give 100% and more, and it’s a motivation for the other girls because they want to play with those teams.
“Knowing that these clubs have great players, some who cost like £400,000 or more, it’s a great thing for us to be a part of this group.”
Albania Women’s Football – a rapidly growing sport
For native Albanians, it has not been an easy road to the European stage. Pre 2007, football for women only in the country was almost non-existent. After two years of amateur tournaments being held, the Albanian Women’s National Championship was set up in 2009.
Albanian born club captain Ezmiralda Franja, highlighted the difficulties she faced growing up, “When I started to play football 13 years ago it was really hard for my family and I. There were not so many teams of women’s football that were playing at the time.
Doçi, who also grew up in Albania, echoed these experiences. She said: “It’s difficult because of the mentality of our families, because they think girls can’t play football, and the girls just have to stay in the house and do the housework and those things.
“It’s been like 12 years that I’ve played football. I tried with the boys because they don’t have girl teams, and it was difficult. There were like 30 people there and it was so difficult.”
As Vllaznia’s women’s team grew from strength to strength, investment into the Albanian game followed. Manager Oliver Matija said: “About four or five years ago the national association as well as other sponsors and partners have started investing more and more in Albanian football, especially the women’s game. But I think this will be a great step ahead for our country and for our national association. We are gathering more sponsors every year, and with the quality that our teams have, everything is growing so it’s a great thing.”
There is hope that the club’s involvement in the Women’s Champions League may lead to even further involvement. “Qualifying for the group stage is one of the biggest achievements in our country. Seeing that we have achieved this great thing, I think the city and the state will invest more in the Championship, and also in our team.” Franja said.
The USA and Vllaznia
Vllaznia’s current squad features five American’s who have taken the chance to move thousands of miles away to play the game they love. Defender Alexus Knox made the move over the summer. She said: “It’s very different playing in Albania, compared to playing in the US. In the US, although women’s sport isn’t really recognised as much, you come over here (to Albania), and you really get an appreciation of where we come from and the resources that we have.”
Describing how the move came about, Knox added: “After I got my name in the NWSL draft but didn’t get picked up, my name being in there really got a lot of recognition so I started to look out for going overseas. Vllaznia came up and my agent at the time talked to Vllaznia back and forth, and the opportunity to play in the Champions League was just something I could not pass on. I did my research before I came, but it has honestly been a blessing since I got here.
“It’s very exciting. I’ve just been having a really good time emerging into this culture, and finding new ways and different styles of playing soccer.”
Vllaznia begin their UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign at 17:45 pm GMT on the 20th of October, welcoming Real Madrid to the Stadiumi Loro Boriçi in Shkodër, the home of Albania women’s football.
