Fastest goal in EURO history, Albania still lost to defending champion Italy

The Albanian team is the most impressive name in the EURO 2024 qualifiers when they beat Poland and the Czech Republic to take the top spot in Group D, conceding only 4 goals after 8 matches. Coach Sylvinho and his team have proven that this team came to EURO 2024 not to "pave the way", but is a team with real strength in the competition with Italy.

Albania only needed... 23 seconds to reach the historic milestone. From a faulty throw-in by Federico Dimarco in the first seconds, Nedim Bajrami controlled the ball neatly and then finished into the near corner, sending the ball flying past Gianluigi Donnarumma - the best goalkeeper of EURO 2020.

Bajrami becomes the author of the fastest goal in EURO history

With his goal in 23 seconds, Bajrami became the player to score the fastest goal in the history of EURO finals, breaking the previous record of Dmitri Kirichenko (Russia) at 1 minute 7 seconds, in the match between Russia and Greece at EURO 2004.

However, coach Luciano Spalletti's Italian team stood firm. Despite conceding a shocking goal, the team in blue quickly took control of the game and began to launch a series of attacks. Despite playing in their usual defensive counter-attacking position, Albania could not withstand Italy's diverse attacks from many different positions.

In the 11th minute, Lorenzo Pellegrini crossed the ball perfectly for Alessandro Bastoni to jump high and head the ball into the Albanian net, equalizing the score at 1-1. Exactly 5 minutes later, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Jasir Asani of Albania, Nicolo Barella swung his leg extremely hard to send the ball into the opponent's net, helping Italy take the lead for the first time.

The Italian team attacked fiercely after conceding a goal.

The rest of the first half was completely in Italy's hands. Barella and his teammates controlled the game with 70% possession and continuously created opportunities. In the 34th minute, Davide Frattesi ran down to face goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, he decided to chip the ball, but the Albanian goalkeeper pushed the ball against the post.

In the 40th minute, Strakosha played brilliantly again when he "read" Gianluca Scamacca's pass, helping Albania not concede another goal before the break.

The two teams only played openly in the first half.

The Albanian team took the initiative to play slowly and steadily in the second half to cope with the pressure from Italy. The reigning EURO champions also did not push their squad high, but played at a moderate pace to stay safe. Therefore, the match was boring, with very few opportunities created - which was the opposite of the first half.

The Italian team kept the score 2-1 thanks to a solid defense and... luck, in the situation where Rey Manaj ran down to face Donnarumma, but the ball missed the post at a narrow angle. Winning the first 3 points at EURO 2024, the Italian team finished second in the group. Coach Spalletti and his team will meet the top team Spain in the next match.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ghi-ban-nhanh-nhat-lich-su-euro-albania-van-thua-duong-kim-vo-dich-y-185240616034232239.htm