Dodë Tahiri (27 November 1918 – 28 May 1988) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He was the

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in Albania's first ever international match against Yugoslavia in 1946. Dodë Tahiri was also known for his heroic Acts in Germany, executing 2 German soldiers whom allegedly killed Lush Prela ( Bajraktar of Shala Region)

Club career

Born in Pecaj, Dukagjin highlands, Tahiri came to

Lazarevac Lazarevac ( sr-cyr, Лазаревац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. , the town has a total population of 27,635 inhabitants, while the municipal area has a total of 55,146 inhabitants. Its name stems from the name of medieval Ser ...

, Serbia, in 1938 to play for Bashan. Named after his place of birth, he played in Serbia as ''Doda Pecović''. He later played for

FK Šumadija Aranđelovac FK Šumadija Aranđelovac () is a football club based in the town of Aranđelovac, Serbia. It was founded in 1929. The club competed in the East Division of the Yugoslav Second League from 1971–72 to 1979–80 season. On two occasions they h ...

in Serbia during the 1930s and 1950s. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he played with Vllaznia Shkodër in Albania winning two league titles. Then he played with FK Budućnost Titograd in the 1946–47 and 1948–49

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

International career

He made a total of 3 appearances for the Albania national team in 1946 in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

within the

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

, the first against Yugoslavia (2–3 defeat) and the second against Bulgaria (3–1 win).

Honours

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

: 2 ::

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF

References

1918 births 1988 deaths Footballers from Shkodër Men's association football goalkeepers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers KF Vllaznia Shkodër players FK Budućnost Podgorica players FK Šumadija Aranđelovac players Yugoslav First League players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Montenegro Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Yugoslavia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia Albanian football managers 20th-century Albanian sportsmen {{Albania-footy-goalkeeper-stub