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)
Position(s)	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)
International career
1998–2010	Albania	45	(0)
Managerial career
2011–2016	Anorthosis (Goalkeeping coach)
2016–	Cyprus (Goalkeeping coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.

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. 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
1994-95	Partizani Tirana	Superliga	2	0					2	0
1995-96			18	0					18	0
1996-97			17	0					17	0
Greece			League		Greek Cup		Europe		Total
1997-98	OFI Crete	Alpha Ethniki	4	0					4	0
1998-99			32	0					32	0
1999-00			27	0					27	0
2000-01			28	1					28	1
2001-02			20	0					20	0
2002-03			18	0					20	0
2003-04	Ionikos		28	0					28	0
2004-05			27	0					27	0
2005-06			28	0					28	0
Cyprus			League		Cypriot Cup		Europe		Total
2006-07	Anorthosis Famagusta	First Division	26	0					26	0
2007-08			27	0			5	0	32	0
2008-09			10	0			11	0	21	0
2009-10			19	0					19	0
2010-11	Olympiakos Nicosia		5	0					5	0
2010-11	Ermis Aradippou		0	0					0	0
Total	Albania		37	0					37	0
	Greece		212	1					212	1
	Cyprus		88	0					88	0
Career total			m	n	m	n	m	n	m	n

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. So far, he has made 44 appearances for the Albanian national team.

National team statistics

Albania national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1998	2	0
1999	2	0
2000	4	0
2001	2	0
2002	3	0
2003	4	0
2004	0	0
2005	0	0
2006	3	0
2007	11	0
2008	5	0
2009	0	0
2010	4	0
2011	4	0
Total	44	0

Honours

Club

Partizani Tirana

• Albanian Cup (1): 1996-97

Anorthosis Famagusta

• Cypriot First Division (1): 2007-08
• Cypriot Cup (1): 2006-07
• LTV Super Cup (1): 2007

Individual

• Albanian Footballer of the Year (1): 2008

References

a.	^ Albanian spelling: Arjan Beqaj. Serbo-Croat spelling: Arjan Bećaj.
b.	^ Template:Kosovo-note

External links

• Arjan Beqaj at National-Football-Teams.com
• Arjan Beqaj – FIFA competition record (archived)