Hysen Zmijani (born 29 April 1963) is an Albanian retired 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Zmijani has been regarded by many football pundits in Albania as Vllaznia Shkodër's greatest

in history. He was born in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

into a family of athletes; his uncle Sadetin Zmijani was the captain of Vllaznia in 60', while his other uncle was a boxer and his son was a cycler. Zmijani made his senior debut for Vllaznia in September 1981 against

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 ...

Hysen Zmijani: Futbollin sot, e urdhëron biznesi, jo profesionalizmi!
- Telegraf and helped the club to win the championship in a team which boasted fellow international players

Ferid Rragami Ferid Rragami (born 1 June 1957), is an Albanian retired footballer. Club career Rragami played for Shkëndija Tiranë, Vllaznia Shkodër and Partizani Tirana between 1972 and 1988, winning three league titles and 2 domestic cups. Suspension ...

Fatbardh Jera Fatbardh Jera (born 8 February 1960) is an Albanian retired footballer who played for Vllaznia Shkodër and the Albania national team. Club career Jera spent his entire career with Vllaznia Shkodër, after becoming part of their first team in ...

, Hysen Dedja, Luan Vukatana and

Astrit Hafizi Astrit Hafizi (born 15 September 1953) is a former Albanian footballer and coach of Vllaznia, as well as coach of Albania for a two years span (1997–1999). Playing career Club Born in Shkodër, Hafizi was brought to Shkëndija Tiranë by Z ...

. In 1985, Zmijani was the winner of questionary "10 best athletes in Albania" made by newspaper Sporti Popullor. In the 1986–87 season, he won another individual award, as he was part of questionary "10 best athletes in Shkodër" and at the end of the season helped the team to win the

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 ...

, defeating

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, and it is also one ...

4–3 on aggregate.

First Albanian abroad after communism

Later in his career, Zmijani played professionally in France, Saudi Arabia and Germany for

Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio ( co, Gazélec Football Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1960, Gazélec plays in the Champ ...

Al Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

and

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

. Zmijani signed for Gazélec Ajaccio in the 1991; following the match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, he was contacted by a journalist which proposed him to the club which was playing in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

at that time. He signed the contract after arriving in Albania, with the contract containing a friendly match between his new club and Vllaznia, a friendly which gave many players to opportunity for a new life away from Albania following the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

. He was the first Albanian player who officially signed a contract with a foreign club after the fall of communism. Zmijani signed with

of Saudi Arabia in the 1993–94 season. In his first season, he helped the club to win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

after defeating

Al-Riyadh SC Al-Riyadh Saudi Club () is a football team based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that is currently playing in the Saudi Second Division (third level). It was established in 1953 as Ahli Al-Riyadh, then changed to Al-Yamamah and finally to Al-Riyadh. ...

3–1 in the final. The team repeated the success in the next season, this time winning in the final versus

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

International career

Zmijani was a part of Albania under-21 squad in their historic era in which they managed to qualify in an

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

for the first time in history. He played in every qualifying match as Albania finished Group 6 in first place ahead of West Germany, Turkey and Austria. He made his senior debut for

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 ...

in an October 1984

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and earned a total of 36 caps, scoring two goals. His final international was a November 1995 European Championship qualification match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He appeared in 18 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

Personal life

Zmijani's idol and greatest inspiration was former Argentine footballer

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

Honours

Vllaznia Shkodër *

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF *

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zmijani, Hysen 1963 births Living people Footballers from Shkodër Albanian footballers Association football fullbacks Albania international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers KF Vllaznia Shkodër players Gazélec Ajaccio players Al Nassr FC players FC St. Pauli players Saudi Professional League players Bundesliga players Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany