Naim Kryeziu (4 January 1918 – 20 March 2010) was an

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

football player famous in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Club career

Born in

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

Republic of Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Europ ...

, Kryeziu was a particularly quick right winger able to run 100 m in 11 seconds. He left his town in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

as a youngster to join his brother 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 ...

, making his footballing debut in the domestic top flight at the age of 15. Following the 1939 Italian invasion of Albania, he was noted by an Italian sports professor who suggested him to

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its ...

. As he was considered an Italian following the annexation of Albania, he was allowed to enrol in the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

''ISEF'' (Italian sports university) whilst also playing for AS Roma, where he won an Italian title in 1941–42. He played for the ''giallorossi'' until 1948, when he joined A.C. Napoli; he finally retired in 1953.

Later career

He later started an coaching career, serving also as AS Roma head coach for a short time during the 1963–64 season as a replacement for

Alfredo Foni Alfredo Foni (; 20 January 1911 – 28 January 1985) was an Italian footballer in the 1930s and later on a coach, who played as a defender. He is one of only four players to have won both an Olympic gold medal and the FIFA World Cup with the I ...

. He then became a scout for AS Roma, for which he discovered a young

Giuseppe Giannini Giuseppe Giannini (; born 20 August 1964) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his 15-year playing career with A.S. Roma, and was regarded by supporters as a club symbol, before his ...

when played in a local club Frattocchie Marino. Kryeziu died in

at the age of 92 in 2010. He was the last living player of the first historical AS Roma ''scudetto''. AS Roma, who was scheduled to play an evening game against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

on that day, played the game with black armbands to honour him.

References

External links

Profile at Enciclopediadelcalcio
1918 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Gjakova Association football wingers Yugoslav footballers KF Tirana players A.S. Roma players S.S.C. Napoli players Serie A players Serie B players Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Italy A.S. Roma managers Expatriate football managers in Italy Yugoslav expatriates in Albania {{Albania-footy-midfielder-stub