The days of ritual slaughter are over

As a Swede from one of European football's most northern outposts, Sven-Goran Eriksson realises that few prizes are more valued than victory over the game's mother country.

Eriksson knows this is precisely the message Albanian coach Medin Zeka will impress upon his players in the dressing room before tonight's World Cup qualifying tie here in the Qemal Stafa Stadium.

Just as Sweden emerged as a power - unbeaten now in eight games with England - so Europe's poorest country is beginning to turn a few heads among the game's international elite.

The narrow 2-1 defeat in Germany at the weekend really tells you all you need to know about the emergence of football in this backwater of southern Europe - and the threat they now pose to England's World Cup hopes.

The Albanian national team have progressed at roughly the same speed as the rest of a society that was locked in the 19th century until about a decade ago.

"When we came here with Bobby Robson in 1989 it was almost medieval," recalled former England captain Terry Butcher, now part of the BBC Radio team. "It was still a horse and cart society." England beat Albania 7-0 over two legs on their way to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals but the days of that kind of ritual slaughter are over.

Albania beat Greece 2-0 here last October, but it's their performance in Leverkusen at the weekend that's been gnawing at Eriksson's sense of optimism.

"I was surprised they did so well," he insisted. "I've watched the game and they deserved a draw. Fifteen years ago even the prospect of a draw would not have been possible for them."

Eriksson is right to temper the euphoria that followed the 2-1 win over Finland at Anfield. Impressive in parts, it was not a convincing team performance and Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand particularly can expect another searching examination of their centre back partnership.

They were at the heart of a disjointed defensive performance at Anfield and, I suspect, will have more trouble tracking Albania's decoy runners than marking their cumbersome 6ft 6in striker Igli Tare. "We know more about the England players than they know about us," said Tare, who plays for Brescia in Serie A.

"They are technically superior to the Germans, but we are prepared for them. We know how difficult it will be, but the performance in Germany gave us hope."

As the senior man, Campbell has a duty to impress his personality on the team. It's important surely that he accepts the Tony Adams role and keeps discipline within the back four. "We could have defended better against the Finns," admitted Eriksson.

Having established a sound tactical framework in which David Beckham and Michael Owen are flourishing, there is a sense that Eriksson's leading England's towards a brighter future. But we need hard evidence to support that, and three points tonight would be a good start.