The Taçi Oil Cup (Albanian: Trofeu Taçi Oil) was an annual friendly

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 ...

competition held in Albania. The competition took place in Tiranë between 2008 and 2010. The tournament was organized by Albanian businessman

Rezart Taçi Rezart Taçi (born in Tirana) 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 Ioni ...

in cooperation with UNICEF from 2008 to 2010.

Editions

2008

In the inaugural match, Tirana faced then-

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

winners Milan. Tirana won the match thanks to the screamers of Xhafaj and

Muzaka The Muzaka were an Albanian noble family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe (southern Albania) in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mention Muzaka ...

, while the consolation goal for Milan came from Ronaldinho in the last moments of the match. The profits from the tickets went for charity.

2009

In the second edition, Albania national team faced Milan. The ''Rossoneri'' took a double-advantage thanks to the goals of Ronaldinho and

Shevchenko Shevchenko (alternative spellings Schevchenko, Ševčenko, Shevcenko, Szewczenko, Chevchenko; ua , Шевченко), a family name of Ukrainian origin. It is derived from the Ukrainian word ''shvets'' ( uk, швець), " cobbler/shoemaker", and ...

, but Albania fired back by overturning the results with the strikers of Vila,

and Salihi in a period of 12 minutes. Milan, however, equalized in the 87th minute with the goal of Inzaghi. Then Milan claimed their 1st trophy by winning 5–4 in penalty shootouts, with Albania's

Elvin Beqiri Elvin Beqiri (born 27 September 1980) is a former Albanian footballer, who spent the mayority of his career playing Vllaznia Shkodër. Beqiri was also an international footballer, having 47 caps for the Albania national team. His former teams in ...

missing the decisive penalty.

2010

On 10 January, it was reported that Gramozi Ersekë (Rezart Taçi's city club) will face Spanish giants

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

ten days later, thus leaving Milan for the first time outside the competition. Before the start of the match, a one minute of silence was held in the honour of

Panajot Pano Panajot Thoma Pano ( el, Παναγιώτης Θωμάς Πάνου, Panayiotis Thomas Panou; 7 March 1939 – 19 January 2010) was an Albanian football player. He started his career as a goalkeeper in the 17 Nëntori Tirana youth academy, but ...

, who just died two days earlier. Xhafaj opened the score after only two minutes by heading a Marko dos Santos' cross, beating

Dudek Dudek is a surname of Slavic-language origin (meaning "hoopoe"). The Czech/Slovak feminine form is Dudková. People * Alyson Dudek (born 1990), American speed skater * Anne Dudek (born 1975), American actress * Dariusz Dudek (born 1975), Pol ...

. However, Real bounced back and scored a header via

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

, and then Benzema netted the winner nine minutes before the final whistle, making Real Madrid the third team to win the trophy.

Titles by club

Participation by club

Top goalscorers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taçi Oil Cup International association football competitions hosted by Albania Recurring sporting events established in 2008 2008 establishments in Albania