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Ilir Daja

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Eli Dasa.

Ilir Daja
Daja in 2017
Personal information
Full name Ilir Daja
Date of birth (1966-10-20) 20 October 1966 (age 57)
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Dinamo City (manager)
Youth career
1974–1980 17 Nëntori
1980–1987 Dinamo Tirana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1988 Besa
1988–1991 Dinamo Tirana
Managerial career
2004–2005 Pogradeci
2005–2006 Elbasani
2007–2008 Dinamo Tirana
2008–2009 Besa Kavajë
2011 Dinamo Tirana
2012–2013 Besa
2015–2016 Tirana
2017–2018 Skënderbeu
2018–2019 Flamurtari
2019–2020 Skënderbeu
2020–2021 Partizani
2022–2024 Ballkani
2024– Dinamo City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

Club career

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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

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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

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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

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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]

Ballkani

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Daja was appointed as manager of Kosovo Superleague club FC Ballkani on 5 January 2022. He won three league titles, one Kosovar Cup and one Kosovar Supercup in his three seasons in the club. He also guided the team to the group stage of UEFA Conference League in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In doing so, Ballkani became the first team from Kosovo to qualify for the final stage of a UEFA club competition. Daja resigned from his post on 2 September 2024 after the team failed to qualify for an European competition for the third time in a row. His last game was a league defeat against KF Malisheva away.

Dinamo City

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On 11 September 2024, Daja was appointed as new manager of FC Dinamo City, the club formerly known as Dinamo Tirana. He had previously played for the club and had also been their manager in two different spells. When he took over, Dinamo had played three games in the 2024-25 Kategoria Superiore, winning one and losing two. His first game was a 2-2 away draw in a local derby against his former club FK Partizani Tirana on 12 September 2024.

Managerial statistics

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As of 16 September 2024
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
Tirana 28 October 2015 1 November 2016 37 16 14 7 043.24 [24]
Skënderbeu 3 January 2017 19 June 2018 79 47 16 16 059.49 [25]
Flamurtari 19 June 2018 30 June 2019 40 18 9 13 045.00
Skënderbeu 8 August 2019 9 August 2020 41 20 8 13 048.78 [26]
Partizani 10 August 2020 27 December 2021 61 29 19 13 047.54
Ballkani 5 January 2022 2 September 2024 135 81 28 26 060.00
Dinamo City 11 September 2024 Present 2 1 1 0 050.00
Total 395 212 95 88 053.67 —

Honours

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Player

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1990[27]

Manager

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Elbasani

Dinamo Tirana

Skënderbeu

Ballkani

References

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  1. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on 22 December 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.[permanent dead link]
  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.[permanent dead link]
  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 - KS Skënderbeu Korçë - Results and fixtures - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  27. ^ Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF
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