Brotherly derby
Location of Albania (green) and Kosovo (orange)
Native nameDerbi vëllazëror
Other namesBrotherly (Albanian: Vëllazërorja)
SportFootball
LocationEurope (UEFA)
Teams
First meeting
  • Unofficial: Tirana[a] 2–0 Kosovo
    (Tirana, 29 November 1942)
  • Official: Albania 3–1 Kosovo
    (Tirana; 14 February 1993)
Latest meetingAlbania 2–1 Kosovo
(Elbasan, 11 November 2020)
Broadcasters
Stadiums
Statistics
Meetings totalCompetitive matches: 0
Exhibition matches: 7
Total matches: 7
Most winsCompetitive matches: 0
Exhibition matches: Albania (5)
Total matches: Albania (5)
Most player appearances10 players (3)
Top scorer
All-time series
  • Albania: 5
  • Draw: 1
  • Kosovo: 1
Largest victoryKosovo 3–0 Albania
(Zürich, 28 May 2018)
Smallest victoryKosovo 0–1 Albania
(Pristina, 7 September 2002)
Largest goal scoringKosovo 2–3 Albania
(Pristina, 17 February 2010)

Brotherly derby (Albanian: Derbi vëllazëror), also known as the Brotherly (Albanian: Vëllazërorja) is the name given in football to any match between the men's national senior football teams of Albania and Kosovo.

History

First match

The first match between these two teams took place on 29 November 1942. It was a friendly match as part of the celebrations for the thirtieth anniversary of the independence of Albania. The match ended with a 2–0 win for Tirana,[a] and the starting line-ups of that match was:[2][3][1]

Albania
  • Halit Laçej (GK)
  • Ramazan Hima
  • Dik Qiriqi
  • Bajram Kurani
  • Muc Koxhja
  • Xhavit Demneri
  • Hasan Balla
  • Akil Derani
  • Zyber Lisi
  • Tas Bylyku
  • Ali Visha
Kosovo
  • Mustafa Daci (GK)
  • Ballanca
  • Ahmet Zaimi
  • Mazllum Xërxa
  • Veseli
  • Hajdar Hamza
  • Nebil Dylatahu
  • Ramadan Vraniqi
  • Dobrica Barbaroga[b]
  • Bajrami
  • Henci

Second match

50 years after the first match, the newly separated Football Federation of Kosovo from Football Association of Yugoslavia signed a cooperation protocol with the Albanian Football Association and in the framework of this protocol it was decided to play on 14 February a friendly match between these two national teams,[4] and this match ended with a 3–1 win for Albania.[5] The starting line-ups of that match was:

Albania
Kosovo

2002–2015

During the period 2002–2015, these national teams played a total of three friendly matches (two wins for Albania and a draw), the first match during this period took place on 7 September 2002 and this match ended with a 0–1 win for Albania.[6] Eight years later, respectively on the second anniversary of Kosovo's independence, a match was played again between these two national teams and this match ended with a 2–3 win for Albania. The profits gathered from the match went to those affected by floods in Shkodër.[7]

These national teams played a friendly match on 13 November 2015. Albania played this friendly after almost a month after beating Armenia in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying which provided Albania with qualification for the first time to a major competition, UEFA Euro 2016.[8] For Kosovo this match was among the few matches allowed by FIFA which would then be the last match before Kosovo's membership in UEFA,[9][10] and FIFA.[11] This match ended with a 2–2 draw,[12] which was called a brotherly draw,[13] where after this match officially all matches between the two national teams began to be called brotherly.

First official match

On 29 May 2018 the first official match was played between the two countries. This match took place on a neutral ground, in Letzigrund of Zürich. 18,700 fans mainly from the Albanian diaspora watched a 3–0 win for Kosovo, which was their first victory in history against Albania.[14]

'Unnecessary friendly'

On 28 October 2020, the Football Federation of Kosovo confirmed that a friendly match against Albania on 11 November would be played before the last two UEFA Nations League matches as a substitute for Albania's canceled match against Gibraltar.[15] However, this match was criticized as an "unnecessary friendly" by both managers Edoardo Reja[16] and Bernard Challandes,[17] as the match would be taking place at a crucial moment for both teams, with Albania needing to be prepared for their next two Nations League matches in order to secure the promotion from League B, while Kosovo was faced with a player shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a poor Nations League performance which threatened to relegate the team from League D. Regardless, the friendly went ahead and ended with a 2–1 win for Albania.[18]

Overall and matches

Overall

Competition Round Matches Wins Draws Goals
Albania Kosovo Albania Kosovo
FIFA World Cup competition 0 0 0 0 0 0
qualification process 0 0 0 0 0 0
UEFA European Championship competition 0 0 0 0 0 0
qualification process 0 0 0 0 0 0
Friendly 7 5 1 1 13 9
Total 7 5 1 1 13 9

Matches

29 November 1942 (1942-11-29) Friendly [a]Tirana  2–0 Kosovo Tirana, Albanian Kingdom
14:30 Visha 5'
Lisi 89'		 Report Stadium: Shallvare
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Abdurrahman Toptani (Albania)
14 February 1993 (1993-02-14) Friendly Albania  3–1  Kosovo Tirana, Albania
Abazi 38'
Seferi 39' (o.g.)
Fortuzi 42'		 Report Munishi 72' Stadium: Selman Stërmasi Stadium
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Bujar Pregja (Albania)
7 September 2002 (2002-09-07) Friendly Kosovo  0–1  Albania Pristina, Kosovo
Report
Report (RSSSF)		 Abazi 45' (o.g.) Stadium: Pristina City Stadium
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Bekim Pakuja (Macedonia)
17 February 2010 (2010-02-17) Friendly Kosovo  2–3  Albania Pristina, Kosovo
Hasani 31'
Gashi 75'		 Report (1st)
Report (2nd)		 Bicaj 4'
Muzaka 31' (pen.)
Balaj 90+2'		 Stadium: Pristina City Stadium
Attendance: 10,000
13 November 2015 (2015-11-13) Friendly Kosovo  2–2  Albania Pristina, Kosovo
14:00 (UTC+1) Celina 58' (pen.)
Rashani 69'		 Report Manaj 54'
Rrahmani 73'		 Stadium: Pristina City Stadium
Attendance: 38,000 (record)
Referee: Lorenc Jemini (Albania)
29 May 2018 (2018-05-29) Friendly Kosovo  3–0  Albania Zürich, Switzerland
20:00 (UTC+1) Zeneli 20', 51'
Zhegrova 67'		 Report Stadium: Letzigrund
Attendance: 18,700
Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)
11 November 2020 (2020-11-11) Friendly Albania  2–1  Kosovo Elbasan, Albania
16:00 (CET; UTC+01:00) Balaj 31'
Uzuni 65'		 Report
Report (UEFA)		 Muriqi 85' (pen.) Stadium: Elbasan Arena
Attendance: 0
Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (Turkey)
19 November 2022 (2022-11-19) Friendly Albania  Canceled[c]  Kosovo Germany or Switzerland

Records

As of 11 November 2020

Below are two lists of the top 11 players with the most appearances and goals in Brotherly derby.
Players in bold are still active at international level.

Players who played for both senior national teams

During the period before 2016, these two national teams have exchanged players with each other, which influenced these two teams to be called reserve (B) teams of each other, Kosovo national team was called Albania B due to many players coming to play for Kosovo as they had no space to play for Albania, while Albania national team was called Kosovo B due to of the large number of players of Kosovo Albanian descent in its composition.[20] These exchanges began to be called acts of treason after Kosovo's membership in UEFA and FIFA, where some Albania players of Kosovo Albanian descent such as Amir Rrahmani, Herolind Shala and Milot Rashica who were part of the plans for the future of the Albania, moved to Kosovo.[21]

Albania then Kosovo

Besnik Hasi is the first player to switch from Albania to Kosovo
Player Date of switch Albania career Kosovo career
Besnik Hasi June 2007[22] 2000–2007 2007
Ilir Berisha 2 March 2014 2013 2014–2015
Loret Sadiku 2 March 2014 2013 2014–2015
Samir Ujkani 2 March 2014 2008–2013 2014–
Debatik Curri 19 May 2014 2006–2013 2014
Mërgim Brahimi 7 October 2015 2012 2015
Alban Meha 15 August 2016[23] 2012–2015 2016
Milot Rashica 15 August 2016[24] 2016 2016–
Besart Berisha 16 August 2016[25] 2006–2009 2017
Amir Rrahmani 22 August 2016[26] 2014–2015 2016–
Herolind Shala 30 August 2016[27] 2014–2016 2016–2021
Fidan Aliti 4 November 2016[28] 2014 2017–
Kastriot Dermaku 31 August 2018[d] Has not debuted 2018
Gledi Mici 31 May 2021[e] Has not debuted 2021

Kosovo then Albania

Debatik Curri is the first player to switch from Kosovo to Albania
Player Date of switch Kosovo career Albania career
Debatik Curri 19 May 2014 2014 2014
Amir Rrahmani 6 June 2014 2014 2014–2015
Loret Sadiku 13 September 2018[32] 2014–2015 2018
Kastriot Dermaku 2 October 2018[d] 2018 2018–2021
Ardian Ismajli 30 October 2018[33] 2018 2018–
Arbnor Muja 17 August 2023[34] 2023 2023–
Mirlind Daku 1 September 2023 2020–2021 2023–

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The alternative name of the Albania national team that was used during this match.[1]
  2. ^ Dobrica Barbaroga was the Albanianized full name of Dobrica Barbarogić by the media of that time, which seems to be expression of peaceful coexistence with national minorities even in Kosovo at that time.[2]
  3. ^ The match was canceled due to lack of logistics as no suitable stadium was found to play the match.[19]
  4. ^ a b Kastriot Dermaku is the second player after Debatik Curri to briefly change the national team from Albania to Kosovo and from Kosovo to Albania.[29]
  5. ^ Gledi Mici is the first player born and raised in Albania to accept to play for Kosovo,[30] but could not make his debut as the club asked to release him from the squad in order to be as fresh as possible for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League preliminary round matches.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b Mendrit Shehu (18 November 2019). "Kosova, kalvari sportiv e miqësorja e harruar me Jugosllavinë" [Kosovo, the sports ordeal and the forgotten friendly with Yugoslavia]. Gazetasi (in Albanian).
  2. ^ a b Besnik Dizdari (12 December 2007). "Besnik Dizdari: Kur në Tiranë lindte Përfaqësuesja e Kosovës...(II)" [Besnik Dizdari: When in Tirana the Kosovo national team was born...(II)]. Zemra Shqiptare (in Albanian).
  3. ^ Besnik Dizdari (15 September 2019). ""Armiqtë" e vërtetë dhe "miqtë" e rremë të Kosovës" [The real "enemies" and false "friends" of Kosovo] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport.
  4. ^ "Futbolli 1991–2011, 20 vjet mëvetësim" [Football 1991–2019, 20 years independence] (PDF) (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 2011. pp. Respectively on pages 64 and 65, contain information about cooperation protocol and the match.
  5. ^ "International Matches 1993 – Europe, January–March". RSSSF. 14/02/1993, Tiranë, Dinamo, 14000, Friendly International, ALBANIA–KOSOVA
  6. ^ "Kosova 0:1 Albania". RSSSF. 7 September 2002.
  7. ^ "Miqesore/Kosove - Shqipëri 2-3" [Friendly/Kosovo - Albania 2-3]. AlbaniaSoccer (in Albanian). 17 February 2010.
  8. ^ "Fiton Shqipëria, shkojmë në Francë" [Albania wins, we go to France] (in Albanian). Albanian Football Association. 11 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Football Federation of Kosovo joins UEFA". UEFA. 3 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Kosovo accepted as member of Uefa after Congress vote". The Guardian. 3 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Zyrtare: Kosova pranohet në FIFA, jemi të barabartë me të gjitha vendet e botës" [Official: Kosovo is admitted to FIFA, we are equal to all countries in the world] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 13 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Festë, emocion dhe spektakël futbolli" [Holiday, emotion and football spectacle] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 13 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Miqësorja vëllazërore në barazim 2-2, Prishtina e tëra në festë" [Brotherly friendly in 2-2 draw, Pristina wholly holiday]. TeleSport (in Albanian). 13 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Kosova e fiton me spektakël miqësoren kundër Shqipërisë" [Kosovo wins the friendly against Albania with spectacle] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 29 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Kosova, vëllazërore me Shqipërinë më 11 nëntor" [Kosovo, brotherly with Albania on 11 November] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 28 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Reja: S'e doja miqësoren me Kosovën, për Kumbullën kemi ende shpresë" [Reja: I did not like the friendly with Kosovo, we still have hope for Kumbulla]. Kanal10 (in Albanian). 10 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Miqësorja vëllazërore/Flet Shaland: Në këtë situatë ndeshja me Shqipërinë e panevojshme" [Brotherly friendly/Challandes speaks: In this situation, the match with Albania is unnecessary]. Syri.net (in Albanian). 10 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Shqipëria fiton 2–1 "vëllazëroren" me Kosovën" [Albania wins 2–1 "brotherly" with Kosovo] (in Albanian). Albanian Football Association. 28 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Anulohet vëllazërorja me Kosovën, Shqipëria luan miqësore me Kombëtaren që na bekoi në Europian" [The friendly match with Kosovo is cancelled, Albania plays a friendly with the national team that blessed us in the European] (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. 19 October 2022.
  20. ^ Besnik Dizdari (18 November 2015). "Kosova A – "Kosova B" 2–2 ose Kosova – Shqipëria 30–6!" [Kosovo A – "Kosovo B" 2–2 or Kosovo – Albania 30–6!] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport.
  21. ^ Andi Bushati. "Milot Rashica, një tradhtar i mërzitur" [Milot Rashica, an upset traitor]. Ekonomia Online (in Albanian). Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Rrëfimi i Besnik Hasit: Debutimi me Shqipërinë, Kosova, klubet e drejtuara dhe ëndrra për stolin kuqezi" [Besnik Hasi's story: Debut with Albania, Kosovo, run clubs and dream of red and black bench]. Insajderi (in Albanian). 15 August 2016. Gjashtë muaj pasi lashë Kombëtaren e Shqipërisë, në atë kohë Kombëtarja e Kosovës nuk ishte ende e pranuar, u zhvillua një turne në Turqi dhe Kosova luajti me Arabinë Saudite. Nuk ishte ndeshje zyrtare dhe duhej të luhej në një fushë që nuk e dinte askush, sepse kishin frikë se reagonte Serbia në UEFA. Isha dhe unë në atë ndeshje, 'Duhet të kemi kapiten për këtë ndeshje', më thanë. Fituam 0-1. Ishte eufori e madhe, sepse s'kishte njerëz. Vetëm ata që e organizuan ndeshjen dhe pjesëtarët e stafit të Federates së Kosovës. Ndjenjë shumë pozitive, sidomos për ata çuna, sepse e morën si arritje që luajtën për Kombëtaren dhe fituan
  23. ^ "Edhe Alban Meha po Kosovës" [Even Alban Meha said yes Kosovo]. TopSporti (in Albanian). 15 August 2016.
  24. ^ "Rashica zgjedh Kosovën" [Rashica chooses Kosovo]. TopSporti (in Albanian). 15 August 2016.
  25. ^ "Besart Berisha do t'i bashkohet Kombëtares së Kosovës" [Besart Berisha will join the Kosovo national team] (in Albanian). Radio Television of Kosovo. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Amir Rrahmani lë Shqipërinë, i bashkohet Kosovës" [Amir Rrahmani leaves Albania, joins Kosovo]. Albinfo (in Albanian). 22 August 2016.
  27. ^ "Edhe Herolind Shala vendos të luaj për Kosovën" [Herolind Shala also decides to play for Kosovo]. Albinfo (in Albanian). 22 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Ekskluzive: Futbollisti nga Lugina e Preshevës i bashkohet Përfaqësueses së Kosovës" [Exclusive: The footballer from the Presevo Valley joins Kosovo national team] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 4 November 2016.
  29. ^ "Largimi i "çuditshëm dhe tinëzar" i Kastriot Dërmakut nga Kosova" [Kastriot Dërmaku's "strange and insidious" departure from Kosovo] (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 3 October 2018.
  30. ^ "Ekskluzive: Kosova fton katër lojtarë të Prishtinës, spikat ftesa për Gledi Micin" [Exclusive: Kosovo invites four players from Prishtina, the invitation for Gledi Mici stands out] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 30 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Challandes liron nga grumbullimi i paraparë 4 futbollistët e Prishtinës" [Challandes releases from the planned gathering 4 footballers of Prishtina] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  32. ^ "Loret Sadiku përfundimisht mund të luajë vetëm te Shqipëria, FIFA refuzon edhe Suedinë" [Loret Sadiku can finally play only with Albania, FIFA also rejects Sweden] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 13 September 2018.
  33. ^ "Ardian Ismajli lë Kosovën për Shqipërinë!" [Ardian Ismajli leaves Kosovo for Albania!] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. 30 October 2018.
  34. ^ "FSHF-ja konfirmon se Arbnor Muja do të ftohet në shtator nga Sylvinho" [The AFA confirms that Arbnor Muja will be invited in September by Sylvinho] (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. 17 August 2023.

External links

Albania national football team
Kosovo national football team
European football international rivalries
Categories