Ilir Daja
Daja in 2017
Personal information
Full name Ilir Daja
Date of birth (1966-10-20) 20 October 1966
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Ballkani (manager)
Youth career
1974–1980 17 Nëntori
1980–1987 Dinamo Tirana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1988 Besa Kavajë
1988–1991 Dinamo Tirana
Managerial career
2005–2006 Elbasani
2007–2008 Dinamo Tirana
2008–2009 Besa Kavajë
2011 Dinamo Tirana
2012–2013 Besa Kavajë
2015–2016 Tirana
2017–2018 Skënderbeu Korçë
2018–2019 Flamurtari Vlorë
2019–2020 Skënderbeu Korçë
2020–2021 Partizani Tirana
2022– Ballkani
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ilir Daja (born 20 October 1966 in Tirana) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Ballkani. He has won the Albanian League as a coach with three different clubs: KF Elbasani, Dinamo Tirana and Skenderbeu Korçe. He also won the Kosovo Superleague two times with Ballkani and lead them to qualification for the group stage of UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Club career

Daja spent his youth career with 17 Nëntori, before playing for Dinamo Tirana for ten years.[1] In 1989, in Dinamo's European Champion Clubs' Cup clash against Dinamo București, Daja suffered a major knee injury that forced him to go on surgery several times.[1]

Managerial career

Daja started his managerial career in 2005 with Elbasani whom he stayed until 2007, helping the club to win the Kategoria Superiore in 2005–06 season. Then he signed with Dinamo Tirana two seasons later to prevail again in this competition.

Tirana

In October 2015, Daja begun negotiations with Tirana and on 28th,[2] Daja signed a contract until the end of the season.[3] He was presented to the media the next day.[4] Tirana defeated Kukësi 2–1 at home in Daja's first match in charge, returning in winning ways after three league matches.[5] On 1 November 2016, following the goalless draw against Vllaznia,[6] Daja was released from his contract by club president Refik Halili.[7]

Skënderbeu

On 3 January 2017, Daja was hired as the new coach of Skënderbeu hours after the departure of Andrea Agostinelli, who was released from the club.[8] He was introduced the next day, declaring that if the team didn't win the league, it would be a big failure.[9]

In the summer of 2017, Daja guided the team in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds, being the mastermind as Skënderbeu achieved group stage for the second time ever and also become the first Albanian club to pass four rounds.[10] They easily won in the first qualifying round versus amateur side Sant Julià, progressing to the next round 6–0 on aggregate.[11] In the second round, Skënderbeu managed a 1–1 draw versus Kairat at Almaty Central Stadium for the first leg; despite being down in the first ten minutes after a Gerard Gohou, the team pushed for an equalizer and got it thanks to a Bakary Nimaga tap-in.[12] In the second leg, Daja's team won 2–0 to progress to next round 3–1 on aggregate; his decision to play Sebino Plaku for James Adeniyi resulted a success as the striker scored the second goal with a lob.[13]

In the first match of third round versus Mladá Boleslav, Skënderbeu lost 2–1 after a late goal scored by the opposition, only one minute after Skënderbeu's equalizer.[14] In the second match, Daja's side won with the same score, which led the match to penalty shootouts where his side was more precise as they won 4–2 to reach the play-off for the third time in history.[15] In the play-off round, the team played Dinamo Zagreb;[16] they earned a 1–1 draw at Stadion Maksimir despite being on lead until the injury time,[17] before holding on to a goalless draw in the returning leg to group stage on away goal rule.[18]

On 9 May 2018, Skënderbeu was confirmed as Kategoria Superiore champion following a 4–2 win at Lushnja and Kukësi's 3–2 away defeat to Teuta.[19] Later on 27 May, he led to team to the Albanian Cup success, by defeating 1–0 Laçi in the final for their first ever Albanian Cup title.[20] Skënderbeu thus completed the domestic double for the first time in history.[21] Daja also become the first manager since Sulejman Mema in 1999 to achieve this feat.[22]

On 19 June 2018, after Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld UEFA's decision to exclude Skënderbeu from UEFA competitions for the next 10 years, Daja announced his departure from the club.[23]

Managerial statistics

As of 23 May 2018
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
Tirana 28 October 2015 1 November 2016 42 18 15 9 042.86 [24]
Skënderbeu 3 January 2017 19 June 2018 76 44 16 16 057.89 [25]
Flamurtari 19 June 2018 23 July 2019 71 24 26 21 033.80
Total 189 86 57 46 045.50 —

Honours

Player

1990[26]

Manager

Elbasani

Dinamo

Skënderbeu
Balkani

References

  1. 1 2 Jetmir Halilaj (22 October 2016). "Një jetë në futboll, Ilir Daja: Ju rrëfej 50 vitet e mia" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Tirana pranë firmës me trajnerin Ilir Daja" (in Albanian). InfoAlbania.al. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ilir Daja merr drejtimin e skuadrës së Tiranës" (in Albanian). Gazeta Tema. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ilir Daja prezantohet te Tirana" (in Albanian). TV Klan. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Tirana vs. Kukësi 2 – 1". Soccerway. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Tirana vs. Vllaznia Shkodër 0 – 0". Soccerway. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "Zyrtare, Ilir Daja largohet nga Tirana" (in Albanian). Super Sport Albania. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Zyrtare/ Ilir Daja merr Skënderbeun" (in Albanian). Lapsi.al. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Prezantohet Daja: Quhet dështim nëse nuk shpallemi kampionë" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Skënderbeu shkruan historinë / Kalon 4 ture me rekord dhe rikthehet në Europa League!" [Skënderbeu writes history / Passes 4 round with record and returns to Europa League] (in Albanian). City News. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "Skënderbeu kualifikohet në raundin e dytë të E. League" [Skënderbeu qualifies to the E. League second round]. Gazeta Shqip (in Albanian). 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Super Skënderbe, barazim 1-1 ndaj Kairat" [Super Skënderbeu, a 1-1 draw against Kairat] (in Albanian). KFSkenderbeu.al. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Skënderbeu avancon në raundin e 3 të E. League" [Skënderbeu advances to the E. League third round] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Mladá Boleslav 2-1 Skënderbeu". UEFA.com. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  15. ↑ Andi Deçka (3 August 2017). "Skënderbeu europian eliminon Mladën" [European Skënderbeu eliminates Mladá] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Rinald Bregasi (4 August 2017). "Skenderbeu përballë Dinamo Zagreb" [Skenderbeu versus Dinamo Zagreb] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  17. ↑ Elvis Rexha (17 August 2017). "Skënderbeu "flirton" me fitoren në Zagreb" [Skënderbeu "flirts" with the win in Zagreb] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  18. ↑ Andi Deçka (24 August 2017). "Skënderbeu heroik, Dinamo fiket në "Elbasan Arena"" [Skënderbeu heroic, Dinamo turned off in "Elbasan Arena"] (in Albanian). SuperSport Albania. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Skënderbeu zyrtarisht kampion, festa korçare nis 3 javë nga fundi" [Skënderbeu officially champion, Korça celebration starts 3 weeks from the end]. Gazeta Shqip (in Albanian). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Skëndërbeu është fituesi i Kupës së Shqipërisë 2018" [Skënderbeu is the winner of 2018 Albanian Cup] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "ZYRTARE/ Skënderbeu shpallet kampion i Kategorisë Superiore për sezonin 2017-2018" [OFFICIAL/ Skënderbeu named champion of Albanian Superliga for 2017-18 season] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Daja nuk është i vetmi, edhe një trajner tjetër ka fituar dopietën në një sezon" [Daja is not the only, here's another coach that has won the double in a season] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Ilir Daja braktis Skënderbeun pas dënimit nga UEFA, merr drejtimin e Flamurtarit" [Ilir Daja abandon Skënderbeu after the punishment from UEFA, takes charge of Flamurtari] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  24. ↑ "Albania - KF Tirana - Results and fixtures - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  25. ↑ "Albania - KS Skënderbeu Korçë - Results and fixtures - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF
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