Ilir Përnaska
Personal information
Full name Ilir Jonuz Përnaska
Date of birth (1951-05-07) 7 May 1951
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1967–1981 Dinamo Tirana (136)
International career
1971–1981 Albania 15 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ilir Jonuz Përnaska (born 7 May 1951) is an Albanian former footballer who played as a striker for Dinamo Tirana between 1967 and 1981, as well as the Albania national team. He is one of Dinamo's most famous players who is known for being one of the most prolific goalscorers in Albanian history, topping the domestic league's goalscoring charts in six successive seasons.[1]

Club career

Përnaska is a product of the famous Dinamo academy and in 1967 Skënder Jareci promoted him along with Faruk Sejdini to the Dinamo first team, where at the age of just 16 he was in the usual starting eleven. On his debut in 1967 in an away match against Traktori Lushnja, Përnaska helped his side to a 3-1 win with 2 goals at the age of 16 on his professional debut.[2]

Ilir was part of the 'Golden Age' of Dinamo between 1971 and 1981, where under the guidance of Skënder Jareci the club dominated Albanian football winning 5 Albanian Superliga titles and 3 Albanian Cups. Përnaska formed a successful offensive partnership Vasillaq Zëri and Shyqyri Ballgjini which is considered to be the best offensive trio in Dinamo's history. He was crowned top scorer in the league for 6 consecutive seasons between 1971 and 1977, becoming the second most frequent winner of the Albanian Golden Boot, behind Partizani Tirana's Refik Resmja, although Përnaska is the player who has been top goalscorer more than any other player in history as Resmja was only joint top scorer in 1955 and 1959.

Ilir retired from professional football in 1981 at the age of 30 after 14 years at Dinamo where he scored 136 goals[3] and left his mark in the history of the club as well as Albanian football. Following his retirement he received a letter from Albania's Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha along with a pair of shorts, which the player himself found to be a humourus act on the state's behalf.[2]

International career

He made his debut for Albania in a May 1971 Olympic Games qualification match against Romania in Tirana and earned a total of 15 caps, scoring 5 goals. His final international was a September 1981 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland.[4]

International goals

Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 November 1971Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Turkey1–03–0UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
214 November 1971Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Turkey3–03–0UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
33 November 1976Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Algeria2–03–0Friendly
43 November 1976Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Algeria3–03–0Friendly
519 October 1980Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Bulgaria2–12–11982 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Honours

Dinamo Tirana

Individual

Personal life

Përnaska was born in Tirana, his father Jonuz Korça was from the southern city of Korçë and his mother from the Këllezi clan in Tiranë, the last name 'Përnaska' was given to him over time. He moved to Ascoli Piceno, Italy in 1992, where he resides with his wife and 2 daughters.[2]

References

  1. ↑ ""Këpucët e Arta" të Shqipërisë, nga Refik Resmja te Iir Përnaska". Telegraf. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Agron Kaja (13 May 2011). "Të bësh futboll është sakrificë, por talenti e kthen atë në "art"" (in Albanian). Gazeta Telegraf. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Pension i posaçëm për legjendën e Dinamos, Ilir Përnaska - Panorama (in Albanian)
  4. ↑ "Ilir Përnaska - national football team player". EU-Football.info. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
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