Erjon Bogdani

[6] He holds numerous Albanian records, including most goals as substitute and oldest goalscoring in history, and has been dubbed as the best striker to play for the Red and Black.The young Bogdani then joined Partizani Tirana's academy, where he played through the different age groups and eventually signed his first professional contract with the club in 1994.[12] With the first half of the 1999–2000 Prva HNL season over, Bogdani was transferred to Italy at the winter break, joining Reggina on a three-year contract in January 2000.Under coach Massimo Ficcadenti Bogdani played all 38 matches where he participated as a starter completing 33 full 90-minutes and was the team top-scorer in the Serie B with 17 goals scored.On 11 January 2007 the struggling A.C. ChievoVerona signed 29-year-old Albanian international striker Bogdani from Serie A rivals AC Siena for an undisclosed fee.[34] Bogdani's second goal came in the next cup match versus Gubbio, netting the opener with a penalty kick in a 3–0 home win, which allowed Cesena to progress to round of 16.[41] Bogdani first became part of the Albania U21 team in 1996, where he scored on his official debut in a 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification match against Portugal on 9 October 1996.[43] Bogdani was called up to Albania under-23 by coach Sulejman Mema to participate in the 1997 Mediterranean Games football tournament, which began on 8 June in Southern Italy.[44] Bogdani was first introduced to the Albania senior squad by manager Neptun Bajko in April 1996 for the friendly match versus Bosnia and Herzegovina.[50] Bogdani missed out almost the entire UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying due to injury suffered at club level, participating only one time on 7 June 2003 against Republic of Ireland where he was an unused substitute under coach Hans-Peter Briegel.[51] Having been out of the team for more than 18 months, Bogdani returned in February 2005 for the matchday 5 of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign against Ukraine in which he appeared as a second-half substitute for fellow striker Tare.[52] Then he was put as starter in the next matches after a good run on club level, notably scoring in the loss to Denmark and win versus Kazakhstan.[53][54] Then he scored a brace in the 2–2 draw versus Ukraine in the penultimate qualifying match which gave him four for the campaign, making him top goalscorer of the team, as Albania finished Group 2 at 5th place, leaving behind Georgia and Kazakhstan.[55] Bogdani continued to lead Albania's attacking force in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, playing 11 matches, all of them as starter, and was along with Altin Haxhi the most used player.[60] Bogdani made his 50th international appearance in the friendly versus Cyprus in August 2009, netting the third goal in a 6–1 home win which was Albania's largest ever victory.Bogdani began his UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying by playing as a starter in the opening Group D match versus Romania as Albania drew 1–1 at Stadionul Ceahlăul.[2] Now a veteran, Bogdani continued to be a part of the national team even after the appointment of manager Gianni De Biasi, who was known for having a liking for youth players.[71] For the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, De Biasi had introduced young forwards into the team to create more competition for the starting eleven.Young forwards such as Edgar Çani, Armando Sadiku and Bekim Balaj provided competition for the established and mature internationals which were Bogdani and Hamdi Salihi.Bogdani captained Albania for the first time in his career four days later in the friendly match against Lithuania in his 74th international appearance, playing for 70 minutes before making place for Lorik Cana.[10] In August 2022, Bogdani moved back to Italy as the new head of scouting for the youth sector of Palermo, working under his former teammate Leandro Rinaudo.
TiranaPSR AlbaniaForwardPartizani TiranaGençlerbirliğiNK ZagrebRegginaSalernitanaVeronaChievoLivornoCesenaAlbania U21Albania U23AlbaniaAlbania U19footballZagrebSerie AAlbania national teamAlban BushiAlbanian Football AssociationGianni De BiasiAlbanian SuperligaTurkeySüper LigCroatiaJosip KužePrva HNL1998–991999–2000Bologna2000–01 seasonSerie B2001–02 Serie B2002–03 Serie AMassimo FiccadentiGionatha SpinesiDiego MilitoFrancesco TavanoItaly's top-flightA.C. SienaCagliariAscolihat trickPalermo2005–06 season2006–07 seasonA.C. ChievoVeronaCataniaTorinoLuigi DelneriCristiano LucarelliJuventus2008–09 seasonStephen Makinwa2009–10 seasonMichele MarcoliniDomenico Di Carlo2010–11 seasonEmanuele GiaccheriniLuis Jiméneznext seasonGubbioAC SienaVicenzaItalian CupMichele PaolucciSampdoriaretiredAlbania U21 team1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualificationPortugalAlbania under-23Sulejman Mema1997 Mediterranean Games football tournamentSouthern ItalyYugoslaviaMahir HaliliAlbania senior squadNeptun BajkoBosnia and HerzegovinaNorthern IrelandWindsor ParkCyprusMacedoniaAstrit HafiziUEFA Euro 2000 qualifyingGroup 22002 FIFA World Cup qualificationMedin ZhegaIgli TareAltin RraklliUEFA Euro 2004 qualifyingRepublic of IrelandHans-Peter Briegel2006 FIFA World Cup qualificationUkraineDenmarkKazakhstanUEFA Euro 2008 qualifyingAltin HaxhiBelarusGroup GQemal Stafa StadiumGroup 1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifyingGroup DRomaniaStadionul CeahlăulSloveniaHamdi SalihiRudi VataFIFA World CupFranceLuxembourgArmand DukaCampo de Fútbol de Vallecas2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiersEdgar ÇaniArmando SadikuBekim BalajGroup EEmiljano VilaSwitzerlandGeorgiaNorwaycaptainedLithuaniaLorik CanaFIFA World Cup qualificationAlbania national football teamAltin LalaPaolo TramezzaniAlbania national under-19 football teamLeandro Rinaudo1993–941994–951995–961996–971997–981999–002000–012001–022002–032003–04Hellas Verona2004–052005–062006–07Chievo Verona2007–082008–092009–102010–112011–122012–13UEFA CupNorth MacedoniaFriendlyParken StadiumCopenhagenMeteor StadiumDnipropetrovsk2010 FIFA World Cup qualificationMontenegroStade Josy BarthelLuxembourg CityMadrid2014 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlbanian CupPanorama SportWayback MachineSporti ShqiptarESPN FC