Arsenal youth centre-back Maldini Kacurri made his debut for the Albania senior national team on Friday, helping the side to a win and a clean sheet.
Arsenal’s Maldini Kacurri received his first senior international call-up from Albania this month, and it didn’t take long for him to get his first start under his belt.
Kacurri was named as a starter against Gibraltar on Friday, and he ended up playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 win.
Though the Arsenal youngster did pick up a yellow card early in the second half, he’ll be pleased to have made a winning start and to have helped his team to a clean sheet.
It’s worth mentioning that the match was only a friendly against one of Europe’s lower-ranked sides. We’ll have a better idea of Albania’s plans for Kacurri after Tuesday’s match against Latvia, a competitive World Cup qualifier.
If Kacurri remains involved in the competitive fixtures, it won’t be long before he might have the chance to face off against England.
Albania and England are in the same World Cup qualification group, and they’ll take each other on in their final game of the group stage on November 16th.
Born in London, it’s still technically possible that Kacurri could end up playing for England. With just one friendly appearance for Albania to his name, he still easily qualifies to make the switch.
Yet the 19-year-old has represented Albania at u17, u19, u21, and now senior levels. It seems he’s pretty committed to the country.
Kacurri’s international debut drags back up some of the frustrations around Arsenal’s use of the loan system this summer. The centre-back is seemingly capable of playing senior international football, yet he’ll go back to Arsenal and play for the u21s.
The Arsenal academy only loaned out Ismeal Kabia and Lucas Nygaard this summer, and Kacurri is one of a number of players who will feel they’ve been overlooked for a loan this season.