Myrto Uzuni has been a prolific goalscorer at every stop in his career, starting in his native Albania, plus Croatia, Hungary, Spain and now in the USA with Major League Soccer (MLS) side Austin FC.
Hailing from humble beginnings, which included his family emigrating to Greece in pursuit of greater opportunities when he was ten, the 30-year-old forward has always used football to provide for himself and his loved ones. It’s the same ambition that has made him a key member of the Albanian national team in their quest for a first FIFA World Cup™ berth.
The Red and Blacks currently sit second in Group K of UEFA qualifying, four points behind leaders England and just one ahead of a Serbia side with two matches in hand. A Latvia showdown looms in September, which is the start of a crucial four-match stretch over the next three months. As Uzuni told FIFA in a recent interview, Albania will do everything they can to make their people proud.
Myrto Uzuni: We are second place in the group, but Serbia have two games less. Every game now is like a final. You have to give the maximum. From this September, October and November, every game is a final, but the most important is the September game.
I think we had a great performance because it’s tough when you play against a team that are always attacking and have high quality players like Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. But I think Albania are improving a lot. We have amazing players and an amazing staff, so I think we can rival any team, and this confidence comes from the England game. If you can challenge England, you can challenge any team.
For me to be on the outside and watch the games was incredible. To see Albania at that level, playing against Spain, Italy and competing really well was great.
I had played 90 minutes in England and we only had two days of rest. I ran around 13 kilometers that game and then flew back home, so that was a tiring game. The coach put me in for the second half against Andorra and I scored. That moment was so happy, because you play for your country and you play for your family.
We have a friendly in Gibraltar before we play Latvia, so we’re going to prepare for the Latvia game in Gibraltar. Against Latvia, of course, we must win. We are out if we don’t win that game. That’s it. The pressure is there, but this pressure in football is good. So for us, it’s only three points, nothing else.
In football, you never know. You get one red card and it can break the team, so if we make one mistake against Latvia and we draw them 1-1, that can be it for us, just that one mistake. We cannot make any more mistakes from now on. We must win every game to go on to the World Cup. If we don’t win in September, we are out of the World Cup.
For me, like all the other people, this is a dream. Playing in the World Cup with Albania is my dream. I would be so proud and it would be the highest moment of my career.
The country would burn [laughs]… It’s amazing, the fans, the people, they live for the country. You see Albanian people who live in Greece or anywhere and everyone has a flag on their house because they feel it so much. We are so connected with the country.
Sylvinho came in and has made an amazing group. Sylvinho played everywhere and has a lot of quality. He trains with us and you cannot take the ball from him! He and [assistant coach] Pablo Zabaleta are doing a great job. I think they’re great coaches, really. Pablo is aggressive all the time. We’ll play a rondo there and Pablo will make an aggressive tackle on us, showing that Argentinian hunger. It’s amazing to work with them.
For me, the most important thing is that I go with Albania to a World Cup. And if I find Ronaldo in my group, this would be amazing. It would be another dream. But as I said, for me, the most important is for the country to be happy.
Goosebumps. You feel it directly in that moment. The whole stadium sings in this moment. That’s what I see here in the US. They’re also proud of their country in the US. Here the people are so connected with the country and I love that because it’s the same in Albania.
I’m feeling better because the team is getting better. When you get the results, everything is better, so I think we have to continue working in that way to achieve our goals.
Of course when you play in a league like in Spain, the quality is higher because there are teams playing in the Champions League, and there are high quality players. But here in MLS there is also quality. You see now that everyone is coming to MLS and it’s improving a lot.
Not really. I see it here at Austin FC because when we are at home, the fans are amazing. They don’t stop singing all the time, so this is extra motivation for us, to have support from the first minute to 90 minutes.
We have this conversation, yes. The last time I was in Albania with the national team, they were asking me about the training grounds, facilities and everything. I explained that everything is perfect and that the people there love football.
