Enri Tafaj (born 22 May 1989) is an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n 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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Tafaj began his career in 2007 with

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

after working his way up through the youth setup at the club. He joined up with the first team during the winter break in the 2006–07 season. He made his league debut with KF Tirana in round 32 of the 2006–07 Albanian Superliga season on 12 May 2007. The match was against

Teuta Durres Teuta ( Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agro ...

at the

Niko Dovana Stadium The Niko Dovana Stadium, officially Stadiumi "Niko Dovana", is a multi-use stadium located in Durrës, Albania. It is the home ground of Teuta. The capacity is 12,040, making it the fifth largest ground in the country. It was renamed in 1991 in h ...

. Tafaj started the game and played the whole 90 minutes. He made no further Superliga appearances for Tirana, and in January 2009 he joined KS Dajti on loan for the rest of the season to gain experience. He then moved to

FC Kamza Football Club Kamza was a football club based in Kamëz, Albania. Founded on 10 September, the club has competed in the lower levels of Albanian football for much of its history, except for the 2011–12 season where they were promoted to the ...

, as KS Dajti had been renamed. He spent the early part of the 2010–11 season on loan at Laçi, but played only once, in a 7–1 defeat in the second leg of the Europa League first qualifying round match against

Dnepr Mogilev FC Dnepr Mogilev ( be, ФК Дняпро Магілёў, ''FK Dniapro Mahilyow''; russian: ФК Днепр Могилёв) is a Belarusian association football, football team, playing in the city of Mogilev. Their home stadium is Spartak Stadium ...

. In the 2011–12 Superliga season, Tafaj played regularly for Kamza. He scored only once, a late consolation in a 2–1 defeat at Pogradeci. He took part in the

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

"play-out", as Kamza lost to Besa Tavaje to return to the First Division after just one season. Tafaj returned to pre-season training with Kamza, but joined Superliga side

Tomori Berat KF Tomori is an Albanian football club based in the city of Berat. The club's home ground is the Tomori Stadium and they currently participate in the Kategoria e Parë. History The sport of football was introduced to the city of Berat in the ear ...

before the start of the 2012–13 season, where he was converted from midfielder to defender.

International career

Tafaj was called up to the Albania under-19 team for the Slovakia Cup tournament in April and May 2007, and also played twice in qualifying for the UEFA under-19 championships. In October 2008, he was called up to the Albania under-21 team to face their Macedonian counterparts, but took no part in the match.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tafaj, Enri 1989 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders KF Tirana players FC Kamza players KF Laçi players KF Tomori players FK Partizani Tirana players FC Dinamo City players Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Parë players