Igli Allmuça (born 25 October 1980) 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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who was the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Albanian First Division 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 count ...

club

Dinamo Tirana Futboll Club Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital Tirana. They play in the Kategoria e Parë, the second tier of Albanian football, in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1950 during the communist r ...

. Allmuça played 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 ...

and spent the majority of his career with

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 ...

and

, being successful in both clubs. He also had e brief spell with

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 ...

, becoming one of the few players to represent all capital teams and to win at least a trophy with them. Allmuça is one of the most decorated players in the history of Albanian football, winning with Partizani Tirana, Tirana, Dinamo Tirana and Skënderbeu Korçë. Allmuça is the 10th Albanian player with most appearances in European competitions with 32 matches between

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 ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

Club career

Tirana

On 29 June 2006, Allmuça joined

on a one-year transfer, taking the vacant number 17. Following his presentation, Allmuça flew out to Macedonia to link up with the rest of the squad on their summer training camp. He was an important instrument in team's European campaign, playing 4 out of 4 matches, as Tirana were eliminated in the second round by

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

. He made his competitive debut on 13 July in

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

first round's first leg against

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

, where he played 79th minutes in an eventual 1–1 away draw. He had an important role in the returning leg as Tirana recorded a 2–0 win at

Selman Stërmasi Stadium The Selman Stërmasi Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Selman Stërmasi) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tirana, Albania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Tirana. The stadium holds 9,500 people (all seated). It i ...

, progressing in the next round with the aggregate 3–1.

Dinamo Tirana

In August 2007, Allmuça signed with

for the upcoming 2007–08 season. On 27 June 2008, following the end of the season where Dinamo was crowned as Albanian champions, Allmuça agreed a contract extension for another season.

Skënderbeu Korçë

On 10 June 2011, Allmuça agreed personal terms with Albanian champions

Skënderbeu Korçë , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

and signed a one-year contract with them, and was assigned number 14 for the 2011–12 season. He made his competitive debut with the club on 13 July 2011 in team's first ever European match against

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

, playing 67 minutes in e eventual 2–0 home defeat. In the returning leg of Champions League's second round seven days later, Allmuça played full-90 minutes, being unable to avoid the 4–0 away lose, with Skënderbeu Korçë who were eliminated with the aggregate 6–0.

Kukësi

On 2 August 2012, Allmuça joined Kukësi on a free transfer, signing a one-year deal with a wage of 45.000

Albanian Lek The lek (; indefinite singular ''lek'', definite plural ''lekët'', indefinite plural ''lekë''; sign: Lekë in Albanian or Lek in English, sometimes L; code: ALL) is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided 100 ''qintars'' (; ...

. He was allocated squad number 14, and made his Kukësi debut in team's first ever

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 ...

match, a goalless draw against Luftëtari Gjirokastër in which Allmuça played full-90 minutes. Allmuça concluded his first season with Kukësi by playing 34 matches between league and cup, scoring 14 times in the process. Following the end of the season, he was named "Albanian Superliga Fair Play Award". Allmuça was released from Kukësi on 5 January 2015 after making only four league appearances in the first part of the season. He said that he didn't expect his departure from Kukësi, adding that he club's directors didn't gave him a reason for his releasing.

Return to Dinamo Tirana

On 8 January 2015, Allmuça, aged 34, returned to

who were in

to play for the second part of 2014–15 season. He was immediately named the new captain of the team, and made his return debut on 7 February by playing 62 minutes in a 1–0 away loss to Lushnja. He scored his first goal of the season in his second appearance for Dinamo Tirana, the lone goal of the match 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 ...

from a penalty kick. Allmuça was able to cement a place at the starting lineup by playing 14 matches, all of them as a starter scoring four times in the process, scoring one goal in each month, as Dinamo Tirana failed to promote in

. In the last match of 2014–15 season against

on 16 May 2015, Allmuça converted a penalty kick to help Dinamo to finish the season with a win. Following the end of 2014–15 season, Allmuça decided to retire from football at the age of 34, thus terminating his 16-year career, starting his coaching career in the process.

International career

Youth teams

In 2002, Allmuça, aged 21, was called up for the first time to play for Albania U21 in their qualifying campaign for 2004 UEFA Euro U21 by then coach

Hasan Lika Hasan Lika (born 1 January 1960) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player. Club career Lika spent his playing career representing Partizani Tirana from 1978 to 1984. International career Lika won his first and only cap on 20 ...

. He made his competitive debut on 11 October 2002 in team's first qualifying match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, playing full-90 minutes in defence with the number 2 in an eventual goalless draw at

. Five days later, he made his appearance with Albania who fell down 1–0 against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He would play another five matches in teams not successfully qualifying campaign; during the qualifiers, Allmuça was moved in midfield by the coach Lika and he swapped the number from 2 to 14. Albania eventually concluded the Group 10 in third place with 10 points from three wins, one draw and four losses.

Senior team

Allmuça received a call-up from the Albania senior team coach

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...

for the friendly match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 20 June 2011. In this match, Allmuça played as a starter before being substituted in 58th-minute for fellow midfielder

Gilman Lika Gilman Lika (born 31 January 1987) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vllaznia Shkodër in the Albanian Superliga and the Albania national team. Having started his career with Vllaznia Shkodër in 2004, he ...

, with the match finished in a 4–0 away lose. That was his first and last international appearance for Albania senior team.

Managerial career

Dinamo Tirana

On 30 June 2015, Allmuça was named the new coach of

for the upcoming 2015–16 season, taking the duty over

Faruk Sejdini Faruk Sejdini (born 7 February 1950), is an Albanian professional football coach and former player. Club career Sejdini had a successful albeit short career, representing Dinamo Tirana between 1966 and 1979. His career begun in 1967 in the acade ...

. He started his work for the new season on 13 July. In Allmuça's first match as a manager in Albanian First Division, Dinamo lost to Luftëtari Gjirokastër 2–0 at the Internacional Complex. Following another league defeat at the hands of Pogradeci, Allmuça won his first match in charge against

Shkumbini Peqin KF Shkumbini is an Albanian football club based in the city of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in the early 1920s after ...

on 26 September 2015, thanks to goal of Jozef Thana and the own goal of Emilan Lundraxhiu.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

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 ...

(1): 2003–04 *

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Supercup final was not played in the occasions when the champion team won the Double (association foot ...

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

;Tirana *

(1): 2006–07 *

(1):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

;Dinamo Tirana *

(1): 2009–10 *

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Runner-up

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;Skënderbeu Korçë *

(1): 2011–12 *

: Runner-up

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

;Kukësi *

: Runner-up

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

: Runner-up 2013–14

Individual

Fair Play Award (1):

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allmuca, Igli 1980 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers FK Partizani Tirana players KF Tirana players FC Dinamo City players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players FK Kukësi players Kategoria e Parë players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian football managers FC Dinamo City managers Kategoria e Parë managers