The last week has been full of big surprises, even if the main European Leagues were in pause for the national teams qualifying for France 2016.
The last round of matches brings to us a totally new landscape in European football: maybe thanks to the broadening of the number of qualifying teams, from 16 in 2012 to 24 in the next edition, but in the list of teams joining the final rounds of the Euros we find such names as Iceland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Poland and Albania. Not exactly classical teams of the European aristocracy.
THE MIRACLE OF DE BIASI AND ALBANIA
I want to spend some time on the absolute miracle produced by Gianni De Biasi, the Italian manager who led Albania to second place in the Group I with 14 points in 8 matches, with the stunning match won in Aveiro 1-0 against Portugal in September 2014.
In 2009 the Albanian national team was ranked at #96 by FIFA's world ranking: now they are in 32nd place, but have recently reached the highest position in their history - 22nd in August 2015. De Biasi took this team in his hands in December 2011 and this success is the outcome of hard work, of a continuous effort to change the mentality of the team, as Gianni himself told me in an interview I did for FIFA Weekly magazine:
“Initially, the biggest challenge was to understand people's mentality and the potential of the boys, to see how they could cope with playing a new kind of football. The most difficult thing for us is to change people's mentality: everyone has habits that are hard to break. But I think that in these three years of working with the Albanian national team, we have managed to do change that."
Mission accomplished? For a man like Gianni De Biasi I would say no: it has just begun.
KLOPP'S INSTANT IMPACT ON LIVERPOOL
Switching our sights, let's take a look at the Premier League.
As everybody knows, and as I disclosed last week, Jurgen Klopp has now officially turned his name into Jurgen Kop. Anfield is ready to embrace the new Liverpool manager, the man called up to take on what was left by Brendan Rodgers who, we could say, seems a hot name for the England national team bench.
I don't know if Klopp will be able to do again the good things that he did in Dortmund, with a Borussia capable of winning the Bundesliga twice in a row and reaching a Champions League final, lost in the German derby against Bayern Munich: but what I'm sure of is that he will work hard to provide again passion to Liverpool supporters, who have been disappointed too many times in recent years. He is the right man to do this, for sure.
KLOPP'S FIRST SIGNING TO COME FROM ITALY
Do you want to know the name who Jurgen Kop is thinking of bringing to Liverpool? Take a pencil, a paper and start taking note: Domenico Berardi.
Aged 21, the talented Italian striker has already scored 31 goals in Serie A with Sassuolo, the club that owns him having won the co-ownership against Juventus last summer. But the same Juventus have an option to buy him for €10 million.
If Jurgen really wants him, he has to know that it won't be easy: but Anfield could be a very interesting attraction to convince a young Italian striker who seems ready to become a new star player.
THE UNIQUE MARCO AMELIA
My last paragraph is dedicated to Marco Amelia: so he has really joined Chelsea. And I can say to you all one thing: he's very determined.
He's a very determined and unique man in the world of football, he uses his mind, he doesn't have fear to go against the tide. Dear Blues fans, you will love him.
