Arjan Beqaj

Arjan Beqaj
Personal information
Full name Arjan Nexhat Beqaj
Date of birth (1975-08-25) 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- Anorthosis (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
1994-95Partizani TiranaSuperliga2020
1995-96180180
1996-97170170
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
1997-98OFI CreteAlpha Ethniki4040
1998-99320320
1999-00270270
2000-01281281
2001-02200200
2002-03180200
2003-04Ionikos280280
2004-05270270
2005-06280280
Cyprus League Cypriot Cup Europe Total
2006-07Anorthosis FamagustaFirst Division260260
2007-0827050320
2008-09100110210
2009-10190190
2010-11Olympiakos Nicosia5050
2010-11Ermis Aradippou0000
Total Albania 370370
Greece 21212121
Cyprus 880880
Career total mnmnmnmn

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

[4]

Albania national team
YearAppsGoals
199820
199920
200040
200120
200230
200340
200400
200500
200630
2007110
200850
200900
201040
201140
Total440

Honours

Club

Partizani Tirana
Anorthosis Famagusta

Individual

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 recognition as an independent state from 110 out of 193 United Nations member states.
  1. "Beqaj, Lamtumire Futboll" (in Albanian). FSHF. 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  2. (Video). "Beqaj Scores". Youtube. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  3. Strakosha retirement
  4. Arjan Beqaj at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

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