Asion Daja

Asion Daja
Personal information
Full nameAsion Isa Daja
Date of birth14 March 1990
Place of birthTirana, Albania
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Playing positionCentre Midfielder
Club information
Current team
FK Partizani
Number21
Youth career
1998-2000Pallati i Pionerëve
2000–2007Dinamo Tirana
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2007–2012Dinamo Tirana31(0)
2009-2010Shkumbini (loan)8(0)
2012-2014KS Kastrioti40(1)
2014-FK Partizani10(0)
National team
2006–2007Albania U173(0)
2007–2009Albania U193(0)
2009-2010Albania U211(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2009

Asion Daja (born 14 March 1990 in Tiranë) is an Albanian football player. He is a central midfielder and plays for KS Kastrioti in the Albanian Superliga.

Career

Youth career

Daja was born in the Albanian capital Tiranë, which is where he began playing football at the age of 8 with local amateur youth side Pallati i Pionerëve under the guidance of coach Hyqmet Kuka. In 2000 he won the Ramazan Kuka Cup with Pallati i Pionerëve, a competition in honour of former international referee Ramazan Kuka. In 2000 he joined the Dinamo Tirana academy where he joined the under-10 side. He worked his way through the ranks and won many regional, national and even international competitions. He excelled in the youth setup at Dinamo, especially in the under-17s and under-19s between 2005 and 2008.

Breakthrough

Towards the end of the 2007-08 season he began to train with the senior Dinamo Tirana side, and with the team firmly in 1st place he was given his senior debut on 10 May 2008 against Besa Kavajë in a 2-1 win. Daja came on in the 89th minute for Goran Vincetić with Dinamo already 2-0 up. Just 4 days later he came on in the 54th minute away against Vllaznia Shkodër and scored his first ever senior goal in the closing stages of the game to make it 3-0 for Dinamo. He won the league with Dinamo in his debut season.

For the 2008-09 season he became first team player but failed to establish himself in the starting line up due to his age and lack of experience. In total he made 13 league appearances and also featured in the Albanian Cup twice. In the league he started just 4 games, and played 90 minutes just twice.

In the 2009-10 season he struggled to play games and was loaned out to fellow Albanian Superliga side Shkumbini Peqin in January for the remainder of the season. He played in 8 league games for Shkumbini Peqin in the second half of the season and managed to help keep the side up. He returned to Dinamo at the end of the season who were crowned champions of Albania once again.

On 18 February 2004 at the age of 13 he was a match-day child mascot for Albania's friendly match against Sweden. He walked onto the field at the Qemal Stafa Stadium with striker Alban Bushi in the 2-1 win for Albania.[1]

He played for Dinamo Tirana in qualifying for the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League.[2]

Personal

Daja undertook a part-time degree at the Academy of Physical and Sports Education Vojo Kushi, commonly known in Albanian as the Universiteti i Sporteve Të Tiranës. He completed his course from the faculty of movement science in 2014 with 61 points from 100.[3]

Career statistics

Correct as of 13 July 2011

Club Season League Continental Cup Supercup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Tirana 2007–08 2121
2008–09 13020150
2009–10 203050
2010–11 70104110131
2011–12 23000000000
Shkumbini (loan) 2009–10 8050130
Kastrioti Krujë 2012–13 15150201
Career total 7021019110913

References

  1. Oni Suedi me Bushin
  2. UEFA. "Dinamo Tirana 1-0 Sheriff". 20 July 2010. Retrieved on 16 May 2013.
  3. UST results