Last night brought some good news for Albanians, following the bitter elimination we suffered at the hands of Spain. It's a bitter pill to swallow, one that will take a long time to digest. However, the events of last night offer a slight sense of relief.
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| Ramadani lying on the ground and Asllani sitting on the ground after the defeat that Albania suffered against Spain on June 24 |
First and foremost, Serbia has been eliminated and will no longer be part of EURO24. This eliminates any possibility of them making anti-Albanian chants throughout the rest of the tournament. On the other hand, England drew 0-0 with Slovenia. With this result, Slovenia moved up to third place with three points.
This was precisely the group where Albania had high hopes of advancing if they had managed a draw against Spain, which would have given them two points. So, if Albania had drawn against Spain, with England and Slovenia drawing 0-0, Albania would have been officially eliminated from the European Championship in Germany.
This was, in fact, the biggest regret for Albanians. As if the loss to Spain wasn't enough, in the 98th minute, they learned that Italy had drawn against Croatia. If we had scored a goal, considering all the chances we created, we would have reached third place. But fortunately, given how Group C unfolded, it wouldn't have helped us, and our journey would have ended there.