TIRANA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Albania lost to Turkey 2-0 in the opening match of the Euro 2020 qualifiers in Loro Borici stadium in Shkodra, northwest Albania on Friday.

The match started well for the Albanian team who made several attempts to score but it was Turkey's Burak Yilmaz, who plays for the Besiktas club in the Turkish super league, broke the ice in the 21st minute.

Turkey's second goal came in the 55th minute of the second half when midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu gave a powerful shot afar from the net.

After the match, Albania head coach Christian Panucci told reporters that the team squandered two scoring opportunities, adding that he needed to work harder with the players.

Albania is in group H in the Euro 2020 qualifiers and will play against Andorra on March 25.