COMMERCE CITY — He was born in Zurich, grew up playing for Switzerland youth national teams and twice led the Swiss Super League in goals. But on Saturday, Rapids winger Shkelzen Gashi will don the black and red of Albania and play against his birth country in the UEFA Euro tournament in France.
Gashi was coy recently when asked why he chose to play for Albania — a small coastal nation north of Greece and across the Adriatic Sea from Italy — rather than the country where he was born and raised, but said it was a “beautiful decision” to have.