Devi Muka (born 21 December 1976 in

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

) 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 retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who has spent the majority of his career playing for KF Tirana in the Albanian Superliga as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Early career and Croatia

Muka started his career in 1993 with hometown club, Flamurtari Vlorë. He played for them until 1997 when he transferred to Partizani Tirana. He had played 77 league games at Flamurtari Vlorë and had scored 9 goals before leaving. At Partizani Tirana he made 28 appearances and scored 8 goals, and he subsequently moved to play for SK Tirana. In his first season with SK Tirana he played 23 times and scored 9 goals. He then moved to NK Varteks in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and after 3 years and 66 league games Muka moved back to Albania. He scored 4 goals during his time in Croatia.

Return to Albania

Muka returned to Albania in 2002 with SK Tirana. He played 23 games and scored 3 goals during the campaign, he scored against former club NK Varteks in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. Muka suffered an injury during the 2007–08 season that limited him to just 3 league games all season. In the 2008–09 season Muka did not play until October. He made his season debut on 19 October 2008 against bitter rivals,

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 ...

when he came on for goalscorer

Migen Memelli Migen Memelli (born 25 April 1980) is an Albanian professional football coach and a former player. Regarded as one of the best strikers of Albanian football, he was known for his goalscoring ability, and has twice been the top goalscorer in th ...

in the 72nd minute. Overall during the 2008–09 season he played 14 games and scored 3 goals, all 3 of them were scored at home at the

Selman Stërmasi stadium The Selman Stërmasi Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Selman Stërmasi) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tirana, Albania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Tirana. The stadium holds 9,500 people (all seated). It ...

. Muka once again lifted the trophy at the end of the season following a 2–1 win over title rivals Vllaznia Shkodër.

International career

Muka made his Albania National Team debut in a friendly against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

on 19 August 1998. He came on for goalscorer Alban Bushi in the 76th minute of the game. The match resulted in a 3–2 loss for Albania. Muka was 21 when he made his debut. Muka's first and only international goal came on 4 September 1999

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Qualifying match against Latvia. He came off the bench on the 78th minute replacing

Igli Tare Igli Tare (; born 25 July 1973) is an Albanian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the sporting director at Serie A club Lazio. Tare joined Partizani Tirana as a 9-year-old in 1982, and would later go on to make ...

. His goal came in the 91st minute of the game which secured a point for

. He was recalled to the squad when Otto Baric took charge of

after having a year gap with no international involvement. Muka last played for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

on 17 October 2007 in a

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

Qualifying match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. He replaced

Altin Haxhi Altin Haxhi (born 17 June 1975) is an Albanian retired association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Club career Haxhi's former clubs include Shqiponja Gjirokastër, Panachaiki F.C., Panachaiki, P ...

at half time. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after Ervin Skela missed from the penalty spot on the 90th minute. In total Muka made 40 appearances for the Albania National Team and scored one goal from 1998 to 2007.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.''

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial career

Muka was immediately named as manager of KF Tirana following the departure of Nevil Dede after just two games in charge. The attacking midfielder was still eligible to play for the club and this meant that he became the first

Player Manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in the 2009-10 Albanian Superliga. Muka signed his first managerial contract on the day of Dede's departure on 9 February 2010.Devi Muka, trajneri i Tiranës

Notes

References

External links

Profile at playerhistory.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muka, Devis 1976 births Living people Footballers from Vlorë Albanian footballers Association football midfielders Albania international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Flamurtari Vlorë players FK Partizani Tirana players KF Tirana players NK Varaždin players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian football managers KF Tirana managers Kategoria Superiore managers