Albania leaves the Helsinki Olympics without points Defeated 2-1 by a Finland that only scored twice with standard kicks, finding the weakest point of the Rossoneri in the goal. Etrit Berisha passed wrongly to the opponent in the 22nd minute and was then forced to prevent him by being sent off. While Sherri, from that free kick at the entrance to the area, allowed the ball to escape from his hands, making the score 1-1 with Maran's team with one player less. As if to complete the dark afternoon, the Cagliari goalkeeper also suffered the second goal also from Walta, with another free kick that found him unprepared.
Maran had improvised a left line with Mitaj and Pilon, playing with Hoxha in the center and Muçi on the right, but the team was functioning and Manaj unblocked the match in the 4th minute, in the developments of a corner kick. The striker's 13th goal, but the whole team was in total concentration, without making any mistakes. Until the 22nd minute. Berisha passed wrongly to Ramdani, then was forced to prevent the opponent from scoring, being punished with a red card.
Instead, Sherri, but also the second goalkeeper, made a worse mistake, letting the ball escape from his hands on Walta's not-so-irresistible free kick. Albania was punished on the only occasion when Finland appeared dangerous, complicating a match that was clearly dominating.
From there, Maran took care to close the spaces and Finland not only did not become dangerous, but in the second half with Daku on the field, they risked conceding a goal in the brilliant counterattack of the center forward with Pilon, who lost his step and moved too far to seriously endanger Hradecky. But this time too, Sherri, perhaps numbed by the goal episode, conceded a second one, also with a free kick, also from Walta. 2-1, Finland overturns the result and extends the series of positive results with the red and blacks, which have been going on for 26 years. The Nordics take first place in the group, passing with 7 points, one above Albania, which now has to do the right calculations in November, when it faces Belarus on the move and Finland in Tirana. But first, San Marino must be defeated in three days.
