Several online media outlets in the Albanian language published an article on March 3 titled "Albania's hopes are fading, Flick takes the Albanian to Germany."
This article mentions the name of the footballer of Albanian origin, born in Germany, Mergim Berisha.
Online media outlets such as "cna.al" and "aktuale.mk" have claimed that Berisha has been invited by German national team coach Hansi Flick. The content also states that his name has been mentioned by several German media outlets as one of the candidates who could be invited to the national team for the matches in March.
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the German media outlet "Express.de" has mentioned Berisha as one of the five candidates who could be invited by the German national team.
So, there is still nothing official about Berisha's invitation from coach Flick.
Links to the article published on the portals "cna.al" and "aktuale.mk":
https://www.cna.al/sport/shuhen-shpresat-e-shqiperise-flick-merr-shqiptarin-te-gjermania-i352580
German media outlet "Express.de" has selected five young footballers who could receive an invitation from the German national team for the March matches as part of the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship.
In this list, "Express.de" has also included the name of Mërgim Berisha, calling him a "typical striker" who can do a lot of work for the German national team. (see here)
After research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info managed to find the statement of German coach Hansi Flick published on February 28 regarding the invitation of new players for the March matches.
Flick said in this statement that "we will see if we have one or two new arrivals in the national team", without mentioning any names of any footballer. (see here)
Analyze:
Several Albanian-language media outlets have published an article with a fabricated headline claiming that the German national team has signed the footballer of Albanian origin, Mërgim Berisha.
However, after research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info has confirmed that Germany's coach, Hansi Flick, has not yet invited Berisha to be part of this national team, but that his name has been mentioned by the German media outlet "Express.de" as one of five candidates who could receive an invitation from this representation.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this article as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.