The ex-Arsenal full-back became Albania boss at the start of January, and the Brazilian is aiming to bag a spot at Euro 2024
Marcus Alves
INTERVIEW
After spells in charge of Lyon and Corinthians, how did you become manager of Albania?
I’d returned from Sao Paulo to my home in Porto and been on the market for almost a year when I decided to travel to Milan, where I previously lived for five years. Out of nowhere, while in town, I received an invitation to go for a dinner with the president of the Albanian FA. I said to myself, ‘Why not?’ They were looking for a coach, wanted to get to know me and hear my ideas. It was a great conversation and I was very excited about what they told me – they were unveiling a new training complex, had a great generation of players and dreamed high. So I decided to accept the offer. I’d already worked with the Brazilian national team as an assistant for three and a half years, so it made sense for me. It wasn’t like I’d get there and ask myself, ‘What do I do now?’ or ‘Where do I start?’ I already knew the answer to those questions.
Do you still live in Porto?
No, it was crystal clear from the very beginning that for this to work, I’d move to Tirana. I needed to experience their routine, to meet people out in the streets. Now I’m living in a hotel that’s just 2.5km from the FA building, so sometimes I walk back home. Can you imagine another national team coach doing the same? It’s a beautiful place made up of people who welcome you in the best possible way.
You have two other former Premier League players, Pablo Zabaleta and Doriva, as assistants. How did they get involved with the project?
Doriva has been working with me for some time now and is also staying in Tirana. We played at Celta Vigo and often travelled with our families to Porto in the early 2000s, so we go back a very long way. He’d already started a coaching career when I invited him to be my assistant. For Zaba, this is his first experience in this type of role – we met at Manchester City and remained in touch. We used to speak a lot about football and watch some games together in Barcelona, where he lives. It was a no-brainer.
What has the experience been like for you in Albania so far?
There’s so much potential here that’s yet to be discovered. To ensure that we had a team that reflected that, we had to dive in from day one. That meant watching 240 games to get to an initial list of 70 footballers, then a pre-list of 39 and finally the 23 that we took to our first match against Poland in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. As part of the process, Doriva, Zaba and I visited most of the players, travelling
