Fatmir Vata (born 20 September 1971) is an Albanian former 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 ...

who played primarily as an

attacking 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 ...

. He began his footballing career with local side 31 Korriku, before moving 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 ...

in 1991 where he would remain for two seasons before moving abroad. He joined Croatian club Orijent before moving to

Samobor Samobor () is a city in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills ( hr, Samo ...

two years later in 1995, where he'd remain for three seasons. Vata joined Prva HNL side Slaven Belupo and spent one season with the club before moving to Vukovar '91. He joined newly promoted

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

and German side

Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over ...

in January 2000 where he established himself in the first team and helped the side to a fourth-place finish in the 2000–01 2. Bundesliga, just one point behind automatic promotion. Vata is best known for his time at Arminia Bielefeld, which he joined in 2001 and helped the club promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

in 2002. Despite suffering relegation back to

, he helped his side achieve promotion once again the following year. He left the club at the end of the 2006–07 season after 140 games and 20 goals, making him the current third-highest foreign appearance maker for the club. Vata moved to 2. Bundesliga side

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era (1933–1945) The or ...

where he spent two years before joining

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...

side

Wuppertaler SV Wuppertaler SV is a German association football club located in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. The city was founded in 1929 out of the union of a number of smaller towns including Elberfeld, Barmen, Vohwinkel, Cronenberg and Ronsdorf – e ...

in 2009, where he retired at the end of the 2009–10 season. He came out of retirement to play for amateur side FC 08 Boffzen in 2013.

Club career

Vata was born in Rrëshen,

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 ...

to a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family. In 2004, he became Albania's Footballer of the Year. In August 2009, Vata joined

from

for the 2009–10 season on a free transfer.

International career

He made his debut for

in an April 1996

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Bosnia and earned a total of 17 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was an October 2002 European Championship qualification match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

International statistics

Post-playing career

Following his retirement Vata worked as a coach for Hannover 96 and

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundeslig ...

Honours

;Individual * Albania's Footballer of the Year: 2004

References

External links

* 1971 births Living people People from Mirditë Association football midfielders Albanian footballers Albania international footballers KS Burreli players KF Tirana players HNK Orijent players NK Samobor players NK Slaven Belupo players HNK Vukovar '91 players SV Waldhof Mannheim players Arminia Bielefeld players TuS Koblenz players Wuppertaler SV players Kategoria e Parë players Kategoria Superiore players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Germany Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany {{Albania-footy-midfielder-stub