Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
Content has been published claiming that former German footballer Lothar Matthaus has praised the Albanian national team's performance as the best, against Spain, in the Euro 2024 football match.
The content was published yesterday (June 25) in a public Facebook group, named "Kombëtarja Kuq e Zi" and also by several Albanian-language information portals.
Is the statement true?
Hibrid.info has not been able to find any credible sources of information that prove that this statement came from the player with the most appearances in the German national team.
Link to content published in the "Komëtarja Kuq e Zi" group on Facebook:
The same content was found published in the form of an informative article by several Albanian-language portals such as: “shenja.tv”, “360grade.al”, “fol.mk” and “ina-online.net” (see here, here, here and here).
Alleged statement by former German national football player Lothar Matthäus:
"I haven't drunk anything and I'm not tired, but the Albanians were better than the Spaniards tonight! They can go home with their heads held high! The Albanians can be proud... these words in front of the double-headed plis, surely came from the heart. One of the cameramen was also wearing a plis on his head - the whole time. I want to say it once again: the players played well, as far as they know and could at this moment. Could they have done better, surely yes. But could they have been even worse on the field, that could have happened too. As for the Albanians? They are the biggest winners of this Championship so far"
Hibrid.info has researched this alleged statement in English and German using the search engine "Google", but has not found it published in highly reliable media, neither in text, audio or visual form (see here and here).
The latest comments found are in several articles that show that the German legend has expressed high appreciation for the Spanish national team representative, Lamine Yamal (see here and here).
Analyze:
The claim that former German footballer Lothar Matthaus has rated Albanians as better than the Spanish in their Euro 2024 match is untrue.
The alleged statement has not been found published in reliable sources.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.