Arjan Beqaj
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arjan Nexhat Beqaj | ||
| Date of birth | 25 August 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Prizren, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Liria Prizren | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Liria Prizren | ||
| 1995–1997 | Partizani Tirana | 37 | (0) |
| 1997–2003 | OFI Crete | 129 | (1) |
| 2003–2006 | Ionikos | 83 | (0) |
| 2006–2010 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 94 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Olympiakos Nicosia | 5 | (0) |
| 2011 | Ermis Aradippou | 0 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1998–2010 | Albania | 45 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011–2016 | Anorthosis (Goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2016– | Cyprus (Goalkeeping coach) | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Arjan Beqaj[a] (born 25 August 1975 in Prizren) is a former Albanian professional footballer from Kosovo. In a career spanning 19 years he played for seven clubs in four countries, and he is now the goalkeeping coach at Anorthosis Famagusta.
Club career
Early career
Beqaj began his profession career in Kosovo with local side Liria Prizren in 1992. He then moved to Tiranë, Albania at the start of 1995 to attend university, where he was to play for Partizani Tirana. He played in Albania for two and a half years as he left in 1997 to join OFI Crete after being spotted playing for Albania U-21s.[1]
Greece
He spent six seasons at OFI Crete where he played 129 league games for the Greek side and even scoring a goal in the 2000-01 season.[2] Beqaj then signed for Ionikos where he made 83 league appearances in three seasons before ending his nine-year stint in Greece.
Cyprus
Beqaj was one of the players that helped Anorthosis to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League 2008–09. He was voted man of the match in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against Olympiacos, by making many key saves. The game ended 1–0 in Olympiacos favor, but due to the aggregate, Beqaj and his teammates were able to advance to the group stage. Beqaj and his teammates made history by becoming the first Cypriot team to ever qualify for the Champions League group stages.
Career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Albania | League | Albanian Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1994-95 | Partizani Tirana | Superliga | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 1995-96 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||||||
| 1996-97 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||||||
| Greece | League | Greek Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1997-98 | OFI Crete | Alpha Ethniki | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 1998-99 | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||||||
| 1999-00 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||||||
| 2000-01 | 28 | 1 | 28 | 1 | ||||||
| 2001-02 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| 2002-03 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| 2003-04 | Ionikos | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |||||
| 2004-05 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||||||
| 2005-06 | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||||||
| Cyprus | League | Cypriot Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 2006-07 | Anorthosis Famagusta | First Division | 26 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2007-08 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 2008-09 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 2009-10 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||||||
| 2010-11 | Olympiakos Nicosia | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||||
| 2010-11 | Ermis Aradippou | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Total | Albania | 37 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |||||
| Greece | 212 | 1 | 212 | 1 | ||||||
| Cyprus | 88 | 0 | 88 | 0 | ||||||
| Career total | m | n | m | n | m | n | m | n | ||
International career
Beqaj was born in Prizren, SFR Yugoslavia (in present-day Kosovo[b]), but is an Albanian international and has been become Albania's first choice goalkeeper since legendary Albanian goalkeeper Foto Strakosha, who retired from both club and international football in early 2005.[3] So far, he has made 44 appearances for the Albanian national team.
National team statistics
| Albania national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 |
| 2001 | 2 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 |
| 2003 | 4 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 3 | 0 |
| 2007 | 11 | 0 |
| 2008 | 5 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 4 | 0 |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 44 | 0 |
Honours
Club
- Partizani Tirana
- Albanian Cup (1): 1996-97
- Anorthosis Famagusta
- Cypriot First Division (1): 2007-08
- Cypriot Cup (1): 2006-07
- LTV Super Cup (1): 2007
Individual
- Albanian Footballer of the Year (1): 2008
References
| a. | ^ Albanian spelling: Arjan Beqaj. Serbo-Croat spelling: Arjan Bećaj. |
| b. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has received formal recognition as an independent state from 111 out of 193 United Nations member states. |
- ↑ "Beqaj, Lamtumire Futboll" (in Albanian). FSHF. 2011-08-16. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ (Video). "Beqaj Scores". Youtube. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ Strakosha retirement
- ↑ Arjan Beqaj at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
- Arjan Beqaj at National-Football-Teams.com
- Arjan Beqaj – FIFA competition record
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