Switzerland scored four goals in just over 20 minutes on Friday and Foda was not lenient in his criticism after the slap in the World Championship qualifying premiere.
At the press conference before Monday's meeting with Sweden – an event where questions and answers were mixed briskly between Albanian, German and English and required two interpreters – Foda was open and honest.
The performance on Friday was clearly subpar, but it should not look that bad against Sweden at home, where the audience support is fiery.
"Too passive"
We were too passive and had too few players in the defense who kept their positions. We have jointly analyzed the match and talked clearly about the mistakes we made.
I am convinced that we will play better. We play at home, for our audience and want to make our fans enthusiastic, says Foda.
Foda, 59 and born in Mainz, Germany, had a long career as a player in the Bundesliga. He represented Kaiserslautern, Arminia Bielefeld, Saarbrücken, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart before ending with play in Basel (Switzerland) and Sturm Graz (Austria).
The coaching career is somewhat more modest, but he has worked for clubs such as Sturm Graz and Kaiserslautern and was for four years (2018-2022) national coach for Austria. Last year, he took over the responsibility for Kosovo.
Sweden is the favorite
He has a clear picture of what awaits on Monday evening (kick-off 20.45).
Sweden has many good players offensively and plays with intensity and with high pressure. Therefore, it is important that we are compact and in the right positions defensively and that we can work our way through their lines and try to create chances.
I see Sweden as a clear favorite, but we'll see tomorrow what we can accomplish, says Foda and tells that he has prepared the team for the possibility that Alexander Isak may play.
It is possible that Sweden plays with (Viktor) Gyökeres and Isak and with (Anthony) Elanga on the side. We are prepared for both options. The important thing is that we do not play like against Switzerland in the first half.
Foda also revealed that he had turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia.
I am a person who makes decisions with my heart. I decided to work in Kosovo because I think very much of the country. I hope that we can work together for a long time.
