Vasillaq Zëri (4 August 1952 – 25 January 2019) was 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 ...

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 ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

origin, who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Born 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 ...

, Zëri started his career with hometown club Shkëndija and was part of the 'Golden Age' of

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 r ...

between 1974 and 1988, where under the guidance of Skënder Jareci the club dominated Albanian football, winning five

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

and three

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 ...

s. Known for his dribbling skills and being able to play the ball with both feet, Zëri formed a successful offensive partnership with

Ilir Përnaska Ilir Jonuz Përnaska (born 7 May 1951) is an Albanian former footballer who played as a striker for Dinamo Tirana between 1967 and 1981, as well as the Albania national team. He is one of Dinamo's most famous players who is known for being one ...

and

Shyqyri Ballgjini Shyqyri Ballgjini (born 14 March 1954) is a former Albanian footballer, who spent the most of his career, except one season, playing with Dinamo Tirana, as well as Albania national football team, Albania. During his career, Ballgjini has scored ...

, which is considered to be the best offensive trio in Dinamo's history. Zëri impressed

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

during Dinamo's

1980–81 European Cup The 1980–81 European Cup was the 26th season of the European Cup football club tournament, and was won for a third time by Liverpool, who beat six-time champions Real Madrid in the final. In the 11 seasons up to and including this one, there wer ...

clash with the Dutch giants and the latter insisted on buying him but they were told Albanian players were not allowed to move abroad.

International career

He made his debut for

on 3 November 1976 in the 3–0 friendly win versus

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and earned a total of 6 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a September 1982 European Championship qualification match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

International statistics

Personal life

Zëri later worked for the Albanian Football Association. He was married to Vilma and they had two children, Julian and Inna.

Death

He died in January 2019 after a long illness.

Honours

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

: 4 ::

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF *

: 3 ::

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Vasillaq Zëri, etaloni i teknikës që “loton” për Dinamon
- Time

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeri, Vasillaq 1952 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Albania men's international footballers KF Shkëndija Tiranë players FC Dinamo City players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian football managers FC Dinamo City managers Albania national under-21 football team managers