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 The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Tare joined Partizani Tirana as a 9-year-old in 1982, and would later go on to make his debut as a 15-year-old in 1988 before leaving Albania in 1992 to emigrate to Germany. He played in the lower leagues of Germany for Südwest Ludwigshafen and

VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the national title in 194 ...

before joining

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side Karlsruher SC in 1996, initially playing for their reserve side before making his Bundesliga debut in 1996. He then joined

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

, where he scored 24 league goals in 63 games in two seasons before returning to the Bundesliga with

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

in 1999, where he netted four league goals in 26 appearances in one year and a half at the club. After falling out of favour at 1. FC Kaiserslautern he joined

side

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

in January 2001, where he helped the side finish in a respectable 8th place. He remained at Brescia for a further two seasons, and he scored a total of 15 league goals in 75 games before joining fellow Serie A side

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

in 2003. He spent two years at the club and scored 11 league goals in 55 games, before joining

in a surprise move in 2005 following Brescia's relegation to Serie B. He was primarily used as a backup player at Lazio and he only scored four goals in 54 league games before retiring as a player at the age of 34 in 2008.

Early life

Igli Tare studied at the

Qemal Stafa High School The Qemal Stafa High School is a high school, located in Tirana, Albania. Founded in 1925 by Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu, as the ''Lyceum of Tirana'', it has many notable alumni, of whom 75 died in World War II and 14 were awarded the title People ...

, 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 ...

, Albania.

Club career

Tare began his professional career in 1996 with Karlsruher SC in Germany where he remained until 1997 before moving to

in the

. In 1999, Tare moved to

, where he played for a season before being signed by veteran Italian manager

Carlo Mazzone Carlo "Carletto" Mazzone (born 19 March 1937 in Rome) is an Italian retired professional association footballer and manager, who played as a centre-back. Playing career Mazzone played several seasons for A.S. Roma, as well as for SPAL and Ascoli ...

. For five seasons, Tare played with Mazzone's

, where he was able to play alongside Roberto Baggio, before again transferring, this time to

where he was reunited with Mazzone once again. At Bologna, Tare was popular amongst the fans and scored an important goal in the relegation play-off against fierce rivals

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, however Tare's goal was not enough and they lost the return leg at home, being relegated to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. Following Bologna's relegation, Tare was loaned out to capital club

scoring just three goals in his first season. Following this loan period, Tare joined the club on a permanent basis. Tare was not a regular starter under

Delio Rossi Delio Rossi (born 26 January 1960) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. He was most recently in charge as head coach of Serie B club Ascoli. Playing career Rossi was born in Rimini. His playing career ...

, but was able to play and score vital goals when others were out with injuries. In late 2007 away to Palermo, Tare scored off a Lorenzo De Silvestri cross, ending a scoring drought which stretched back for almost two years. He backed this goal up with another vital goal in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, which proved to be the winner.

International career

Tare was capped 68 times by the Albania national team and scored ten goals. As one of the most experienced members of the side, Tare was long time captain of the national team. Tare's most impressive performance for his national side came during his nation's match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifiers, when he helped Albania to a 3–1 victory, scoring his team's third goal. In 2007, Tare's international career was effectively ended, after being dropped by manager Otto Barić.

Style of play

A tall, physical, and combative forward, Tare usually played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

or as a striker, and was mainly known for his ability in the air, as well his work-rate, professionalism, solid technique, and capacity to link-up with teammates, despite not being a significantly elegant or prolific player.

Post-playing career

Tare's Lazio contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season. He then accepted a non-playing role at

, becoming the club's team manager. In April 2009 he completed a course in order to receive his qualification to be sporting director, which is his current role at Lazio.

Personal life

Igli Tare is a well known supporter of Albanian related issues. He was a supporter of the Albanian cause and the Kosovo Liberation Army during the

Kosovo war The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

. He helped the Albanian refugees who had been expelled during the

with money and accommodation in Albania. In the 2005–06

season in the game

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

against

, there were numerous provocations between Igli Tare and

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian professional football player and manager. During his career as a footballer, he played as a defender or midfielder. He won ...

. In the half-time break, Tare slapped Mihajlović with two fists. Tare said Mihajlović had provoked him the entire First Half and then he had responded accordingly. Igli Tare later told the Albanian media that he did not regret anything. The rivalry between Tare and Mihajlović took another level in 2016. During 2015–16

season, Lazio's President Claudio Lotito wanted Mihajlović as a coach for Lazio. Lazio's president had been working for weeks to get Mihajlovic. There is a good friendship between Lotito and Mihajlović and his return to Formello has been on the agenda for years. However Tare refused to accept Siniša Mihajlović as the new coach for Lazio and at the end prevented the move. His brother Auron Tare, is a famous Albanian journalist and his brother Agron Tare is director at the Port of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

. His son Etienne (born 2003) followed on his footsteps, becoming a striker too and now being part of the Lazio Primavera (Under-19 team) squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tare goal.''

Honours

;Individual *Career Award: 2018

References

External links

Official Lazio profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tare, Igli 1973 births Living people Footballers from Vlorë Albanian footballers Association football forwards Albania international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers FK Partizani Tirana players VfR Mannheim players Karlsruher SC II players Karlsruher SC players Fortuna Düsseldorf players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Brescia Calcio players Bologna F.C. 1909 players S.S. Lazio players Kategoria Superiore players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Serie A players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Qemal Stafa High School alumni Albanian nationalists