Rolando Maran said Albania will go into Sunday’s final UEFA Nations League Group C1 match against Belarus looking only for victory and three points, even though a draw would be enough to finish first. Speaking at the official press conference at the Illovszky Rudolf Stadion with Kristjan Asllani beside him, Maran said the team will not play to protect a result and will instead try to impose its own game.
The match against Belarus is the last step in Group C1, and it arrives tomorrow at 18:00 with the standings still hanging over the conversation. Albania does not need to chase scenarios to understand the stakes, but Maran made clear that the staff has not asked the players to think that way. The coach said the dressing room has never discussed whether a draw would be sufficient to reach first place.
That was the sharpest line of the day. Maran said a team that enters the field counting or saving energy is not his team, and he repeated that Albania must give its best in every match. He added that Belarus is a strong opponent and pointed to its recent record, saying it has lost only once in its last 12 matches, with that defeat coming against Albania.
The selection question is still open. Maran said the final formation will be decided only after the players’ physical condition is checked, and he was not worried about Ramadan’s absence because other players are available. Ernesto, meanwhile, did not train in the morning and will be assessed on matchday. That leaves the coach with one more checkpoint before he settles on the side that will take the field.
What matters now is simple: Albania is treating Belarus as the last test of the campaign, not a match to manage. If the team follows Maran’s words, it will be searching for the result that finishes the group on its own terms, not the one that merely does enough.
