Armir Grimaj (born 16 June 1974) 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

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 Albania women's national team.

Club career

Born 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 ...

, he played the majority of his career for hometown club Vllaznia and had a spell abroad with

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

in the

Greek Super League 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 ...

International career

He made his debut for

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 ...

in a February 1998 Malta Tournament match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and earned a total of 4 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a February 2000 Malta Tournament match against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

International statistics

Managerial career

On 22 April 2016, he was appointed at the helm of the women's national team, replacing the departed

Altin Rraklli Altin Rraklli (born 17 July 1970) is an Albanian football coach and former player who played as a forward. Most of his professional career was spent in Germany, where he played for five clubs in both major levels of football, mainly SC Freib ...

Personal life

On 22 September 2018, Grimaj was arrested as part of a criminal group named "Bajri" with the accusation of

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Footballers from Shkodër Albanian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Albania men's international footballers KF Vllaznia Shkodër players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players FC Dinamo City players FK Partizani Tirana players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian football managers KF Vllaznia Shkodër managers Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria Superiore managers Albania women's national football team Association football managers by women's national team {{Albania-footy-goalkeeper-stub