Sylvinho: Italy won't let us attack, all players are ready for tomorrow

Sylvinho fully praised the Red Opposers at Euro-2024 and said it is a pleasure that Albania faces them, to learn, to grow and why not, to achieve positive results.

What's the status of the team?

We're all in shape right now. We've had a brief session this afternoon and we'll talk to staff at the hotel, but we don't have any injuries, and everyone's ready for tomorrow's challenge to Croatia.

Can we describe this challenge with Croatia as a final?

Sure. This is a very difficult group, but it is a very great joy for us Albanians, since we play against the best teams and learn from them. We play 90 minutes without compromise, and we have to do our best to get results. We have opponents playing in the biggest clubs in the world and it's wonderful to play against such teams, so we'll never give up to seek positive results. We respected Italy, but we sought to avoid losing to the end and could, with little luck, manage. Maybe we can make it to Croatia tomorrow.

Croatia is a team that creates many cases. There are many stars, but some in their west. What idea have you come up with for this team?

We studied Croatia and Spain, they were defeated 3-0, but they played very well and created many opportunities to score. They created many problems for Spain, which scored its goals in just 29 minutes. Croatia has technical, physically strong and high quality passion players. Opposers are very strong, but we also have quality players like Captain Jimsiti, Aslan, Broya, Muchi, etc., some of them young and still need to grow up. These fights will help them to improve.

There has been criticism of Italy that you have respected your opponent more than necessary, not attacking him...

It's not like we didn't attack Italy, but they wouldn't let us attack. We've been attacked by three, but they've been through a five-back alignment and a lot of midfielders. Italy has been highly protected and we must admit that this competition has very high levels. Remember, Italy has midfielders like Jorginho and Barella, two very high-level football players, and we should be happy to play against them. For us, this is challenging and we can do a lot, as we grow up only by facing them. In this respect, I think we've had a good fight. We scored, we had two goals very quickly, but we still didn't give up.

Croatia's midfield is certainly very strong. How did you think you could handle it?

True, the midfield is their heart. They have names like Brozovic, Modric, Kovacic, or Perisic, who have played and played at the highest levels, so it will be very difficult. We have to fight hard and be careful not to be allowed too much because they can exploit any mistake.

/Express