For Feyenoord, FC Drita will be the first hurdle on the way to the group stage of the Conference League next Thursday. The three-time champion finished second in the Kosovar league last season behind champions FC Pristina and settled in the first preliminary round with the Montenegrin FK Decic Tuzi, which was defeated in two games: 2-1 and 0-1. A closer look at Feyenoord’s next European opponent based on former Feyenoord player Simon Loshi, who played for KF Feronikeli Drenas in Kosovo for the past year and a half.
By Chris Meijer
There is a good chance that the 3,500 available tickets – thirty percent of the total capacity of the Fadil Vokrri Stadium due to the corona measures – for the duel between Drita and Feyenoord will sell like hot cakes. The arrival of Feyenoord triggers something special in Kosovo. “It is great for us as a country that a club like Feyenoord comes along, we are very proud and happy about that. That we can achieve that, say,” Loshi explains in conversation with football zone. “Feyenoord will be treated with respect. That will be different from other countries. The big Feyenoord is coming along, you know?”
21-year-old Loshi played in Feyenoord’s youth academy for ten years, after which the wing defender ended up at KF Feronikeli via ADO Den Haag in Kosovo. The past year and a half – with the exception of a short employment contract with the Polish Resovia Rzeszów – the native Tilburger spent in the country where his roots lie. “Drita is the best club in the country here, together with FC Pristina,” says Loshi. Drita became champion of Kosovo three times (in 2003, 2018 and 2020), but had to leave the league title to record champion Pristina in the last year. The two clubs have the most experience on the European stage within Kosovo since the country was admitted to FIFA and UEFA in 2016.
Drita survived the very first qualifying round of the Champions League in 2018 – a mini-tournament with the champions of the four smallest football countries in Europe – after victories over Santa Coloma from Andorra and Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar, but then suffered defeats against Malmö FF (in the first preliminary round of the billion-dollar ball) and F91 Dudelange (in the second preliminary round of the Europa League). Two years later, the mini-tournament for Drita ended on a dime, when Linfield was awarded a regular 3-0 victory in the final due to a series of corona infections in the Kosovar camp. Drita was sentenced to a Europa League sequel, survived the second qualifying round against North Macedonian Sileks and was subsequently eliminated by Legia Warsaw.
From Feyenoord to Kosovo: “Then you suddenly play in the Santiago Bernabéu”
Football Zone spoke to Simon Loshi a year and a half ago about his move to Kosovo.
Also this season Drita managed to survive at least one round. Decic Tuzi, the number three in Montenegro, was defeated twice: 2-1 in Pristina, 0-1 in Podgorica. During the return in the national stadium of Montenegro, to which Decic also had to divert because its own stadium does not meet UEFA requirements, trainer Ardijan Nuhiji used a 4-2-3-1 system, with which Drita folded back a bit to be disciplined. defend the 2-1 lead from the first leg. With success, because Decic’s biggest chance came from a corner. “Normally, in the Kosovar league, Drita tries to make the game. Against Feyenoord they will lean back a little more, try to keep a clean sheet and see from the counter whether they can become dangerous,” Loshi predicts.
However, Drita also showed himself in an attacking sense in Montenegro. Decic often left the ball to the Kosovars and with right winger Arbnor Muja (22), attacking midfielder Astrit Fazliu (33) and striker Marko Simonovski (29) they have some creative players in the ranks. Loshi knows Fazliu and Simonovski particularly well, as he played with them at Feronkeli. “Fazliu is a player you have to keep an eye on,” warns the ex-Feyenoord player. Fazliu, with the technically skilled Muja, is the most creative pawn in Drita’s team, in which they also regularly end up in each other’s position in possession. Erjon Vucaj and Muharrem Jashari keep the balance in midfield on their backs. “Muja is a super fast player. But also very technical, even when he is up to speed. That is a dangerous player, who likes to appear behind the lines.”
The arrangement of Drita in the diptych with Decic.
“Last season I played with Marko Simonovski, who went to Drita. A very good striker. A real sniper: he doesn’t touch the ball much, but when he is brought into position, it hits”, Loshi points out to the North Macedonian striker, who scored a goal and an assist in the duels with Decic and showed himself extremely goal-oriented with the sparse balls he got in the penalty area. Drita’s roster includes more of Loshi’s former teammates, as in addition to Simonovski, Prince Balde and Perparim Islami also traded Feronkeli for the vice-champion of Kosovo earlier this summer. However, Balde and Islami were still on the bench in the first Conference League games. The defense consists of the attacking right back Ardian Limani, the space-vulnerable Ardian Cuculi who took the winning goal in the away game against Decic, former FC Twente test player Jamal Arago and left back Ilir Blakçori.
“Normally Feyenoord should win. You can compare Drita with the top of the Kitchen Champion Division. Feyenoord should win. But if you underestimate it, you can have a hard time against everyone. My first thought is that Feyenoord will win. But you never know. I predict a 1-3 victory for Feyenoord,” Loshi thinks. A small advantage for Feyenoord is the fact that the match will not be played in the Giljan City Stadium, because its own accommodation is being renovated and does not (yet) meet UEFA’s requirements. Drita has to move to the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in the capital Pristina, 40 kilometers northeast of Giljan. “Almost every European match of Kosovar clubs is played there. I once played a game against Drita with supporters in Giljan, that was crazy. The derby (against Gjilani, the only city derby at the highest level in Kosovo, ed.) is completely crazy, you can compare that with Red Star Belgrade – Partizan Belgrade.”
Loshi does not yet know whether he will be back in Kosovo in time to be able to attend the match between Drita and Feyenoord. “If only I were, eh. If only I were with Drita. It would really be a dream for me to play against Feyenoord again,” muses Loshi. A number of former teammates of Feyenoord – he played in youth together with Orkun Kökçü, Achraf El Bouchataoui, Wouter Burger, Ramon Hendriks and Lutsharel Geertruida – can expect a message these days. “I’ll report a few, yes. Like, “You’re going to Kosovo, aren’t you?” I used to jokingly ask those boys if they would come with me to Kosovo for a holiday.” But should the Feyenoord players also ask him for advice? “No, they can fill that in themselves. They don’t need my advice, they’re probably going to play their own game.”