Albania's FA 'don't care about us' says captain

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The Albanian Football Association does not care about the well-being of its players, is incapable of organising suitable travel arrangements and is run by amateurs who know nothing about the modern game, Rudi Vata, the national team captain, said yesterday.

"It's the same old story, of bad organisation back home," the 31-year-old defender told The Independent as his side rested at their Newcastle hotel following an arduous 10-hour, three-flight trip from Tirana that ended late on Monday night.

The team's itinerary, Vata added, had left no time for adequate preparation for their match against England at St James' Park tonight and anything his team can take from the game will be entirely the consequence of a spirit forged through adversity.

"Our FA does not seem to care about us too much," said Vata, a Celtic player for four years at the start of the Nineties who now plays for Energie Cottbus in Germany.

"The disorganisation is their fault. They organised the trip and they we know we're not happy. If we'd taken a charter plane we could have arrived earlier, relaxed, concentrated properly on the game. Instead we flew on scheduled flights, from Tirana to Zurich, then to Brussels, then to Newcastle, with a lot of waiting in between.

"It's frustrating. It's not as if we're going on holiday. But then we're dealing with our FA, who are a load of amateurs. They don't know what professional football means. It's their mentality and they won't change. We, the players, love our country and want to play for our country but we don't respect the FA and they don't respect us."

Vata has long been critical of his troubled country's football administration and other institutions. He was frozen out of the national side under Albania's previous political regime after the player sought political asylum in France in 1990. Since returning to the fold, he has become Albania's most capped player. It has not stopped him voicing his opinions, however.

"Whatever we achieve against England, it will have nothing to do with our FA," he said. "It will be down to the team spirit, working hard, working together, to get the best result we can, on our own."