Arjan Beqaj (born 25 August 1975 in

Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...

) is a former

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a goalkeeper. He is now the goalkeeping coach at Anorthosis Famagusta. In a career spanning 19 years he played for seven clubs in four countries. He is also a former Albanian international, earning 43 caps from 1998 to 2011.

Club career

Early career

Beqaj began his profession career in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

with local side Liria Prizren in 1992. He then moved to

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, Albania at the start of 1995 to attend university, where he was to play for

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani, or FK Partizani for short, is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's curren ...

. He played in Albania for two and a half years as he left in 1997 to join

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

after being spotted playing for Albania U-21s.

Greece

He spent six seasons at

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.

Anorthosis Famagusta

Beqaj was one of the most important players that helped Anorthosis reach the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

for the first time in history in the 2008–09 season. The team started their campaign in the first qualifying round where they faced

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Pyunik Football Club Pyunik Yerevan ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Փյունիկ Երևան, Futbolayin Akumb P’yunik Yerevan), commonly known as Pyunik ("Phoenix"), is an Armenian professional sports club based in the Kentron neighbourhoo ...

. It was an easy task for Anorthosis who won both matches with Beqaj keeping two clean sheets. In the next round against Rapid Wien, Beqaj kept a clean-sheet in the first leg but was beaten three times in the second leg but nevertheless Anorthosis progressed 4–3 on aggregate. Beqaj was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in the second leg of third qualifying round against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, making several vital saves in a 1–0 narrow loss which was enough to clinch to qualification to group stage after a 3–0 win in the first leg. By doing so, Anorthosis made history by becoming the first

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

team to ever qualify for the Champions League group stages.

International career

Beqaj was born in

Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

(in present-day

), but is an Albanian international and has become Albania's first choice goalkeeper since legendary Albanian goalkeeper

Foto Strakosha Fotaq "Foto" Strakosha (born 29 March 1965) is an Albanian retired goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach of Lazio Youth. Strakosha is regarded as one of Albania's most popular and greatest goalkeepers. In his 20-years playing career he pla ...

, who retired from both club and international football in early 2005.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

Honours

Club

;Partizani Tirana *

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

: 1996-97 ;Anorthosis Famagusta * Cypriot First Division: 2007-08 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 2006-07 * LTV Super Cup: 2007

Individual

Albanian Footballer of the Year Albanian Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the best professional Albanian footballer elected by Football Association of Albania members, coaches and captains of the Kategoria Superiore clubs. The award can also be given to a forei ...

: 2008

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beqaj, Arjan 1975 births Living people People from Prizren Kosovo Albanians Association football goalkeepers Kosovan footballers Albanian footballers Albania international footballers KF Liria players FK Partizani Tirana players OFI Crete F.C. players Ionikos F.C. players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players Olympiakos Nicosia players Ermis Aradippou FC players Kategoria Superiore players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus