Ilir Daja (born 20 October 1966 in

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 ...

) is an Albanian 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 is the current

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 ...

of the Ballkani.

Club career

Daja spent his youth career with

17 Nëntori 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 ...

, before playing for

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 ...

for ten years. In 1989, in Dinamo's

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older format ...

clash against

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, Daja suffered a major knee injury that forced him to go on surgery several times.

Managerial career

Daja started his managerial career in 2005 with

Elbasani Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central A ...

whom he stayed until 2007, helping the club to win the

Kategoria Superiore 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 ...

in 2005–06 season. Then he signed with

two seasons later to prevail again in this competition.

Tirana

In October 2015, Daja begun negotiations with

and on 28th, Daja signed a contract until the end of the season. He was presented to the media the next day. Tirana defeated Kukësi 2–1 at home in Daja's first match in charge, returning in winning ways after three league matches. On 1 November 2016, following the goalless draw against Vllaznia, Daja was released from his contract by club president

Refik Halili Refik Halili is the chairman and main sponsor of KF Tirana. Since 2003, Halili had been one of the sponsors of the club. His duty as Chairman of KF Tirana started on May 29, 2008. He is a businessman and founder and owner of one of Albania's leading ...

Skënderbeu

On 3 January 2017, Daja was hired as the new coach of

Skënderbeu , 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 ...

hours after the departure of

Andrea Agostinelli Andrea Agostinelli (born 20 April 1957) is an Italian football coach and former professional footballer. He played as midfielder. Coaching career In April 2013, he was hired by Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; l ...

, who was released from the club. He was introduced the next day, declaring that if the team didn't win the league, it would be a big failure. In the summer of 2017, Daja guided the team in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds, being the mastermind as Skënderbeu achieved

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

for the second time ever and also become the first Albanian club to pass four rounds. They easily won in the first qualifying round versus amateur side Sant Julià, progressing to the next round 6–0 on aggregate. In the second round, Skënderbeu managed a 1–1 draw versus Kairat at

Almaty Central Stadium The Central Stadium ( kk, "Алматы орталық стадионы", ''Almaty ortalyq stadıony'' or "Орталық стадион", ''Ortalyq stadıon''; Ortalyq Stadıony) is a multi-purpose stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan and the largest s ...

for the first leg; despite being down in the first ten minutes after a Gerard Gohou, the team pushed for an equalizer and got it thanks to a Bakary Nimaga tap-in. In the second leg, Daja's team won 2–0 to progress to next round 3–1 on aggregate; his decision to play

Sebino Plaku Sebino Plaku (born 20 May 1985) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Football Superleague of Kosovo club SC Gjilani. Club career Early career Plaku joined the Partizani academy as a teenager and was eventually pr ...

for

James Adeniyi Segun James Adeniyi (born 20 December 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Tuzlaspor in the TFF First League. Club career Early career Adeniyi was born in Lagos, Nigeria into a Muslim family, and was raised in ...

resulted a success as the striker scored the second goal with a lob. In the first match of third round versus

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive ind ...

, Skënderbeu lost 2–1 after a late goal scored by the opposition, only one minute after Skënderbeu's equalizer. In the second match, Daja's side won with the same score, which led the match to penalty shootouts where his side was more precise as they won 4–2 to reach the play-off for the third time in history. In the play-off round, the team played

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

; they earned a 1–1 draw at

Stadion Maksimir Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 leagu ...

despite being on lead until the injury time, before holding on to a goalless draw in the returning leg to group stage on away goal rule. On 9 May 2018, Skënderbeu was confirmed as

champion following a 4–2 win at Lushnja and Kukësi's 3–2 away defeat to

Teuta Teuta (Illyrian languages, 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 ...

. Later on 27 May, he led to team to the Albanian Cup success, by defeating 1–0 Laçi in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

for their first ever Albanian Cup title. Skënderbeu thus completed the domestic double for the first time in history. Daja also become the first manager since

Sulejman Mema Sulejman Haxhi Mema (born 17 November 1955) is a former player and manager of Tirana Youth. He has also been head of refereeing at the Football Association of Albania. International career He made his debut for Albania in an April 1983 Europe ...

in 1999 to achieve this feat. On 19 June 2018, after

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

upheld

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

's decision to exclude Skënderbeu from UEFA competitions for the next 10 years, Daja announced his departure from the club.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

: 1 ::

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF

Manager

;Skënderbeu *

: 2017–18 *

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 ...

: 2017–18 ;Balkani *

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daja, Ilir 1966 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian footballers Association football midfielders FK Dinamo Tirana players Albanian football managers KF Elbasani managers FK Dinamo Tirana managers Besa Kavajë managers KF Tirana managers KF Skënderbeu Korçë managers Flamurtari Vlorë managers Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria Superiore managers