Mirel Josa (born 1 June 1963) 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 former

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 ...

player and current coach of Vllaznia in 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 ...

. As a player, he played in the Greek

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

for Nea Kavala and

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

, as well as making 27 international appearances for the

Albania national football team The Albania national football team ( sq, Kombëtarja e futbollit të Shqipërisë) represents Albania in men's international football, and is governed by the Albanian Football Association, the governing body for football in Albania. Albania co ...

between 1984 and 1992.

Playing career

Club

Josa started his club career with his boyhood club

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 ...

where he would play for ten years, winning three league titles alongside fellow internationals and Albanian legends Arbën Minga,

Shkëlqim Muça Shkëlqim Muça (born 19 March 1960) is an Albanian football coach and former player. Playing career Club He created the attacking trio Muça- Minga-Kola at Nëntori Tirana that was probably the best and most prolific attacking trio in the Al ...

and Agustin Kola. He will be long remembered by the fans for his last-minute goal against the Romanian side

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 Yekaterinbu ...

in the 1986–87 edition of

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, which brought his team in the best 16 of the competition, where they got eliminated by

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. Later, Josa left the country for the first time and moved abroad, signing a one-year contract with Greek side

. He played only one season with the club, then moved to AO Kavala. He ended his playing career with Greek lower league side

ILTEX Lykoi ILTEX Lykoi ( el, ΗΛΤΕΞ Λύκοι) was a football club based in Kalochori, Thessaloniki, Greece. The team was owned by the Greek businessman Kostas Iliadis. Iliadis was the owner of a group of companies that consisted of Iltex Lykoi, Knitt ...

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

and Neapoli.Profil, Mirel Josa / Nga Shpresa e mrekullive, te titulli i artë…
– Sports Ekspres

International

In his youth years Josa distinguished himself both as a defensive and attacking midfielder. During the

1982 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1982 Final Tournament was held in Finland. It also served as the European qualification for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition was won by Scotland, their first tournament win at any inter ...

, played in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, Josa managed to score a goal against Netherlands, in a 1–3 loss, which disqualified Netherlands, where

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

was present. During the

1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 4th staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1982–84) and had 30 entrants. Albania, Iceland and Wales competed in the competition for the firs ...

his goal made Albania draw against West Germany in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, and was a determining factor in qualifying Albania in the quarter-finals of the championship, eliminating West Germany, Turkey, and Austria. After that game Josa was awarded the ''Master of Sports'' title. He made his senior debut for

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 away at

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 27 caps, scoring 1 goal. In the national team during the qualifiers of

Mexico 1986 The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

campaign he scored the first goal in the famous December 1984 home win over

. His final international was an April 1992 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Managerial career

Vllaznia

On 26 October 2010, Josa become the new coach of Vllaznia, replacing the Montenegrin coach Mojas Radonjić who was sacked following a run of negative results. He returned for the first time in the club since 2008. He was presented to the media in the very same day.

Skënderbeu

On 4 August 2012, Josa was unveiled 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 ...

ahead of 2012–13 season. On 18 May 2016, after winning the club's six consecutive league title and his fourth personal, Josa become the most successful coach in the history of Albanian football.

Tirana

Josa was appointed the new coach of

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 ...

on 2 November 2016 only a day following the sacking of

Ilir Daja Ilir Daja (born 20 October 1966 in Tirana) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of the Ballkani. Club career Daja spent his youth career with 17 Nëntori, before playing for Dinamo Tirana for te ...

. It was his second return to Tirana, the first since 2006. During the presentation, 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 ...

stated that he sacrificed Daja for the returning of Josa. On 27 May 2017, Tirana suffered relegation for the first time in history after not going more than a goalless in the last matchday against Vllaznia 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 ...

, which saw the club finish the season in 9th place which relegated them. Four days later, Tirana won 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 ...

for the 16th in history, beating Skënderbeu 3–1 in the final. On 15 June, Josa left the club after terminating the contract by mutual consent.

Personal life

Josa is the son-in-law of Shyqyri Rreli, former

coach.

Honours

Player

;Tirana * Albanian National Championship (4): 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

(3): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86

Manager

;Tirana *

(1): 2003–04 *

(1): 2016–17 ;Skënderbeu *

(4):

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, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

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 ...

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Prishtina *

Kosovar Cup The Kosovar Cup ( sq, Digitalb Kupa e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons, is the major football national cup tournament in Kosovo. It was established in 1991, and is organized by the Football Federation of Kosovo. Llapi are the current holders, w ...

(1): 2017–18 ;Vllaznia *

(1): 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Josa, Mirel 1963 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian footballers Association football midfielders Albania international footballers KF Tirana players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian football managers KF Tirana managers KS Lushnja managers KF Skënderbeu Korçë managers KF Vllaznia Shkodër managers KF Elbasani managers KF Teuta Durrës managers Shkumbini Peqin managers FK Kukësi managers FC Prishtina managers Kategoria Superiore managers Albanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Kosovo Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo