Jani Kaçi (born 17 August 1952 in Korçë) is a retired Albanian professional

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 le ...

. He played in goal for

Skënderbeu Korçë , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

in the 70s and 80s as well as the Albania national team, earning himself 6 full senior caps. He is widely considered to be one of Skënderbeu Korçë's best ever goalkeepers.

Playing career

Club

Born in Korçë on 17 August 1952 to an ethnic Eastern Orthodox

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

parents, Kaçi joined his local side

as a 13-year-old where he became a goalkeeper due to his height. He joined the under–19s in 1967, at the age of just 15, and made his senior debut just two years later in an

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

game against Besëlidhja Lezhë. In 1972, he interrupted his studies at the High Agricultural Institute of Korçë to complete his military service, with the home of joining the military side Partizani. He was sent to an artillery unit in Elbasan and forced to join Labinoti Elbasan instead as Partizani was on a tour of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at the time.Jani Kaçi, kolosi i portës korçare që u ndëshkua për fotografinë e… Enver Hoxhës (Bio)
- Panorama He played for Elbasan in 1972, when he was spotted by military commander

Petrit Dume Petrit Dume (20 May 1920 – 5 December 1975) was an Albanian general and politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Life Dume was born in 1920 in Starje, a village in Kolonjë District. During the Second World War (1942–44) he particip ...

in a match against Partizani which Elbasani won 3–0; Dume then insisted in Partizani coach Loro Boriçi bringing him back to the club, which he subsequently joined in January 1973. He returned to Skënderbeu in January 1976 and quit football prematurely in 1985, aged 32, after the communist leaders in Korça harassed him due to his father being from Greek origin. Also, he was accused of tearing apart a photo of communist leader

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

while he was with Partizani.

International

He made his debut for Albania in a November 1976 friendly match against Algeria and earned a total of 6 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was an April 1981

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against West Germany.

Managerial career

He has also managed Skënderbeu Korçë and won the 2006-07 Albanian First Division with the club. In February 2010 he was named as assistant manager under

Mirel Josa Mirel Josa (born 1 June 1963) is an Albanian former football player and current coach of Vllaznia in the Kategoria Superiore. As a player, he played in the Greek Alpha Ethniki for Nea Kavala and Aris, as well as making 27 international appearan ...

at Skënderbeu, a position which he filled until the manager's departure at the end of the 2009–10 season. He has since returned to his post as the goalkeeping coach of Skënderbeu. In recent years he has also been goalkeeping coach of the Albania U-21 national team.

Honours

Managerial

;Skënderbeu Korçë * Albanian First Division (1): 2006-07

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaci, Jani 1952 births Living people Footballers from Korçë Albanian men's footballers Albanian emigrants to Greece Men's association football goalkeepers Albania men's international footballers KF Skënderbeu Korçë players KF Elbasani players FK Partizani Tirana players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian football managers KF Skënderbeu Korçë managers Kategoria Superiore managers