Hasi: Dream of Albania's bench

Besnik Hasi could be considered one of the Albanian football icons for his football career in the west, but also the one from the coach. Professionally grown in the West, he at the age of 27 arrives in the Red National as the first Kosovo Albanian to debut with the National.

In an interview with Top Channel, Besnik Hasi relates his first moments of contact with the representative team.

It was then coach Medin Zega who contacted me for the interest of the Albanian National. It was the beginning of 2000. I also had contact with Igli Taren, who convinced me that the National Party was making a competitive team for international activities as representatives of our country. We had left Kosovo very early, and our nationals back then did not exist. When Albania's invitation came, I naturally boasted and had a special pleasure. I remember the first game when I played, there was a friend in Tirana with Malta. There were about 2,500 people in the stadium because not many fans were at the stadium at the time. When the national anthem began, the thrill that grips you began. It wasn't a game of League Champions or other European cups that I played until then, it was all other feelings that were missing”, Hasi relates.

In those years, many things did not work, and the National, according to Hasi, was a semi-ammator team.

“remember first training. We stayed in Dale, far away from where we had to train. We didn't have a program plan to point out that tomorrow morning there's training or stuff. I wake up and ask when the training was. They told me to wake up, ask, talk and then train. This was something I had never seen in my career. Then we went to train at the Dyinamo training center. The field was miserable, training caught us at a dark hour, and the field had no light. He was the brother of one of our players, standing there, the one who reacted and said, "There's nothing about me lighting Benzit's lights. I thought to myself... Bobo where I came back”. Hasi further indicated.

To him, the peak of that National in all perspectives was victory in the face of European champions Greece.

The event with Greece sums it all up in those years. They had just been declared European champions, and this was the first official match after champions were declared. It was September, the atmosphere in Albania had all week that was on. We were much more professional back then. When we arrived before the game at the stadium, the Square Skenderbeg was packed. We told ourselves... they still went to the stadium? When we arrived later at the stadium, he was packed. The ones we saw were fans who couldn't get the ticket out. And normal, like every time before the game, when we enter the stadium, we see the grass to decide what heels we're gonna keep for the game. The atmosphere was unprecedented, I had played the Madrid Real with 60-70 thousand viewers, Belgium's derby, but it still didn't compare to that atmosphere, because it was my country. At one point I was with Igli Taren and he saw me getting excited, and he said, "Hey, wait, wait, wait, the game has still begun. I told him that this was the first time I've seen my country this way”, Hasi discovers from his experiences.

In 2013 the name of Besnik Hasi, then deputy coach of Anderlecht, is officially mentioned as candidacy for the post of the Red National.

“were very positive talks with the Federation president. It was a very difficult decision, as I was very wavering at that moment. Obviously, when your country makes an offer to be a coach, it proves a pride, a responsibility. I was a deputy then, and I had no experience as a first coach. In Anderlecht, I was highly respected, both as a club and as a president. On the other hand, I also had the respect of Federation President Armand Duka. It was a very difficult decision. I also told President Duka that it was a decision I could not make on my own, since I also had to consult Anderlecht's president because I owed him much. He certainly didn't leave me and he told me you should stay here, so when I made that decision it was very difficult. Even harder was telling President Duke that. He had given me a lot of faith and had given me the time available to place”, says Besnik Hasi.

A few months later, in 2014, Hasi took up the post of coach of Anderlecht.

I remember the words of the President of Anderlecht, Roger Vanden Stock, when he put me as a coach. He said: Trust me, you're like my daughter because you've been in this club for so many years. But as the first coach, you realize your days are numbered! I told him I'd be gone one day. I also told him that I had nowhere better to find out than I did because I was at home. I lived just five miles from the body stadium”, says Hasi.

The two successful years with Anderlecht, where he won the championship and the cup, raised the level of demands on Besnik Hasi.

The decision to go to Legia was probably a riot as soon as possible. I had very good offers that I closed myself so that I wouldn't go. I don't know, I was at war with myself and I made one of the most unlikely decisions. All my friends and family told me I made two choices in countries where Albanians hate. Then came the decision to the Olympian of Piraeus, because I considered it a very big team. I wanted to go and make a good result. But fate turned the other way there. Maybe it was even harder because I was Albanian, maybe, but I don't think so, because I don't allow myself to think that way. I am Albanian, even though I have a Belgian passport, because I in Belgium are known for Albanians. I can't deny I'm Albanian. I am a man first and secondly I am Albanian and I am proud of what I am. My children were born in Belgium and speak Albanian, even with Gjakova dialects, because they were used at home. The despair is that I didn't go any further and in my image these two <x1) clubs have damaged me, Hasi says.

In recent years, with recognition of Kosovo's representative, among national trainers, but also federations have launched an inevitable rivalry.

Before Kosovo was admitted to UEFA, it was much easier for Albania, because all the overall Albanian talents decided for Albania, while today there are two teams. Boys who come from Kosovo play for Kosovo, and it's natural. But there are also those who choose Albania, because it is a very good team and this as a team has tradition. There are football players who view the National as the stairs that go higher, which is wrong for me, because you must first feel the National and then the rest come. Of course, football elections are now no easier, because they are two national”, Hasi says.

Hasi himself, would he again choose Albania under these conditions?

I don't know. It would be very difficult. I'm glad I haven't had the chance to choose, because it's not easy”, theovar says.

However, he finds he has also experienced the fanele of the National of Kosovo, even in secret.

“Six months after I left Albania's National, at the time the Kosovo National Republic was not yet accepted, a tour was held in Turkey, and Kosovo played with Saudi Arabia. It was not an official match, and it had to be fought in a field that no one knew, because they feared Serbia reacted to UEFA. I was in that fight, and we should have captain for this fight, they told me. We won 0-1. It was a great euphoria because there were no people. Only those who organised the match and members of the Kosovo Federation staff. This is a very positive feeling, especially for those guys, because they got it as a play-up for the National and won”, Hasey reveals.

But what are Hasi's impossible career offers, like football player?

I think, as a footballer, I've reached my maximum. I had a moment since I returned from Germany to Genku, we had just been declared champions in Belgium and had an offer from Real Sociedad. I still have their offer at home, I still keep it. At that time there was war in Kosovo, and Genk's fans expressed their solidarity, because I was beginning to collect help for them. The Gjakovas had fled their homes and were sheltered in Albania, stayed in camps around Tirana and Durres, and when we were declared champions, they helped me a lot. Some 350 families helped with modest help, but it was a hope for all. And because they showed so much kindness to me, I couldn't accept Socied's offer and told the manager I didn't want to go. We'll talk to the president. He told me, but I refused”, says Hasi.

While non-fulfilled bids have also been made for the coach's post.

There was a moment when I was a coach at Anderlechti and I talked to some people from Fiorentin, but it never became concrete. But for me it was a sign of respect”, Hasi says.

A great desire for him remains the direction of the Red National.

It's never the perfect time. Today I'm out of work and without a club and the Albanian Federation has the coach. Maybe when Albania doesn't have a coach, I'll have a club, but the desire is great and I can't deny it, and no one else who has played for the National, who wants to run the National. I hope one day it'll be my chance to be National coach”, the coach of bloodbaths points out.

As for the National of Kosovo, it seems he has never been in their preferences.

I don't know if I've been on their list, but I haven't had any contact with any of the Federation of Kosovo, or one working for the Federation of Kosovo”, closes his interview with Top Channel, Besnik Hasi.