Foto Strakosha
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Fotaq Strakosha | ||
Date of birth | 29 March 1965 | ||
Place of birth | Memaliaj,Albania | ||
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Lazio Youth(goalkeeping coach) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1985–1988 | Minatori Tepelenë | ||
1988–1990 | Dinamo Tirana | 38 | (0) |
1991 | PAS Giannina | 3 | (0) |
1991–1993 | Ethnikos Piraeus | 33 | (0) |
1993–1997 | Olympiacos | 39 | (0) |
1997–1999 | Panionios | 56 | (0) |
1999–2002 | Ionikos | 75 | (0) |
2002–2003 | Kallithea | 14 | (0) |
2003 | Kalamata | 18 | (0) |
2003–2004 | Ethinikos Asteras | 13 | (0) |
2004 | Proodeftiki | 13 | (0) |
2004–2005 | Panionios | 5 | (0) |
Total | 307 | (0) | |
International career | |||
1990–2005 | Albania[1] | 73 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2011–2014 | Albania U19 | ||
2014–2017 | Olympiacos(goalkeeping coach) | ||
2017– | Lazio Youth(goalkeeping coach) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Fotaq "Foto" Strakosha(born 29 March 1965) is an Albanian retiredgoalkeeperand currentgoalkeeping coachofLazio Youth.[2]
Strakosha is regarded as one of Albania's most popular and greatest goalkeepers. In his 20-years playing career he played with 11 different clubs, initially in Albania before moving in Greece in 1991 to spend the majority of his career there until hisretirementin 2005. He captained the Albania national team for a number of years before his retirement in 2005. He became the most ever capped Albanian player having 73 caps to his name for the Albania national team from 1990 to 2005.
Club career
[edit]Strakosha started his senior career for Minatori (nowKF Memaliaj) in 1985 beforing moving to Albanian giantsDinamo Tirana.[3]In his first season at Dinamo he wonAlbanian CupandAlbanian Supercupeventually. The next season was even more successful as he won all three competitionsAlbanian Superliga,Albanian CupandAlbanian Supercup.After another half-season with Dinamo, he moved to Greece playing initially forPAS Gianninafor the remainder of the 1990–91 season. Then he moved immediately inPiraeus,playing for both teamsEthnikos Piraeusfor 2 years andOlympiacosfor other 4 years. During his time at Olympiacos he was always at top 3 best teams inGreece top-flightwinning the title in his last season1996–97.Then he signed for fellow top-flight sidePanionioswhere he would play for 2 seasons, becoming a starter and winning theGreek Cupin his first season. He left Panionios to spend another 3 years and a half at top-flight joiningIonikosto play for 3 years before moving toKallitheato spend the first half of the 2002–03 season. Then he moved for a year at Greece second top-flight playing forKalamatafor the remainder of the 2002–03 season and first half of the 2003–04 season forEthnikos Asteras.He was returned in top-flight joiningProodeftikifor the remainder of the 2003–04 season prior moving once more at Panionios in the next season to end his playing career.[4]
International career
[edit]Strakosha wasAlbania's national teamgoalkeeper from 1990 to 2005. He made his debut on 30 May 1990 and retired on 13 October 2005.
Strakosha was first called up in theAlbania national teamby coach Agron Sulaj for aEuro 1992qualifier againstIcelandin May 1990.
On the day of his first international game, he was already 25 years and 62 days old. The reason for such a late debut on the international stage was a surplus of qualified keepers in the Albanian international squads like the veteran Perlat Musta and the very promising youngsterBlendi Nallbani[5][6]
Due to Albania's staunch communist rule, despite his talent, Strakosha was playing in his country's domestic league as every single player in the international squad.[7]
In his debut, Albania lost the game inReykjavík2–0 which added to their miserable run of 19 games without a single win.[8]The game itself was not to be a special one for the rookie goalkeeper as he conceded 2 goals, which kept him aside for the following games.
Strakosha had to wait more than a year for his next shot at international football, with the departure of Agron Sulaj as the national manager and the introduction of Bejkush Birce.
This game was played after the fall ofCommunism in Albaniawhich meant that from there on, players would be allowed to play abroad for the first time in 45 years. A notable impact like this, struck directly to the national team since nine players – notablySulejman DemollariandEdmond Abazi– would be playing in foreign leagues, the majority choosing neighbourGreece,the same way Strakosha did.
His second international cap would be coincidentally in a friendly against these cross-border rivals which ended in a 2–0 win after strikerSokol Kushtascored twice.[9]
Strakosha's career would follow up to the point to become Albania's most capped player, and achieving an extense career under theEagle'sgoalposts.
Personal life
[edit]Strakosha was born inMemaliaj,southernAlbania.His sonThomasplays as agoalkeeperfor AEK Athens FC and theAlbania national football team.[10]His sonDhimitriplayed as astrikerin the lower leagues ofAlbaniaandGreece.
Managerial career
[edit]After his retirement, he became a goalkeeping coach. Until2007he was the Olympiakos goalkeeping coach, when he signed for the Cypriot championsAPOEL FC.In 2011, he became the coach ofAlbania national under-19 football team.[11]He left Albania U19 on 12 August 2014 to work forOlympiacos[12]asgoalkeeping coach.[13]He left Olympiacos and moved atLazio Youthto work again as goalkeeping coach; he rejoined his sonThomaswho was part ofLazio's senior team.[14]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe[a] | Other[b] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Minatori Tepelenë | 1985–86 | — | — | |||||||||
1986–87 | — | — | ||||||||||
1987–88 | Albanian First Division | — | — | |||||||||
Total | — | — | ||||||||||
Dinamo Tirana | 1988–89 | Albanian Superliga | — | — | ||||||||
1989–90 | 31 | 0 | — | 1[15] | 0 | 32 | 0 | |||||
1990–91 | 7 | 0 | 2[16][17] | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||||
Total | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||||
PAS Giannina | 1990–91 | Alpha Ethniki | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
Ethnikos Piraeus | 1991–92 | Alpha Ethniki | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
1992–93 | Beta Ethniki | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||||
Total | 33 | 0 | — | — | — | 33 | 0 | |||||
Olympiacos | 1993–94 | Alpha Ethniki | 8 | 0 | — | 3[18][19][20] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
1994–95 | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||||
1995–96 | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||||
1996–97 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[21][22] | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
Total | 39 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | ||||
Panionios | 1997–98 | Alpha Ethniki | 32 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
1998–99 | 24 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||||
Total | 56 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 62 | 0 | ||||
Ionikos | 1999–2000 | Alpha Ethniki | 32 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | ||
2000–01 | 25 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||||
2001–02 | 18 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||||
Total | 75 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 77 | 0 | ||||
Kallithea | 2002–03 | Alpha Ethniki | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
Kalamata | 2002–03 | Beta Ethniki | 18 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
Ethnikos Asteras | 2003–04 | Beta Ethniki | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
Proodeftiki | 2003–04 | Alpha Ethniki | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
Panionios | 2004–05 | Alpha Ethniki | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
Career total | 307 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 323 | 0 |
- ^Including continental competitions, such asUEFA Champions LeagueandUEFA Europa League
- ^Including other competitions, such asAlbanian Supercup
International
[edit]National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Albania | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
1991 | 2 | 0 | |
1992 | 4 | 0 | |
1993 | 2 | 0 | |
1994 | 4 | 0 | |
1995 | 6 | 0 | |
1996 | 2 | 0 | |
1997 | 6 | 0 | |
1998 | 6 | 0 | |
1999 | 7 | 0 | |
2000 | 5 | 0 | |
2001 | 6 | 0 | |
2002 | 2 | 0 | |
2003 | 11 | 0 | |
2004 | 8 | 0 | |
2005 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 73 | 0 |
Honours
[edit]Dinamo Tirana
Olympiacos
Panionios
References
[edit]- ^"Fotaq" Foto "Strakosha – International Appearances".rssf.com. 23 February 2005.Retrieved11 June2008.
- ^Always Next Year.WSC Books Limited. 2001. p. 31.ISBN978-0-9540134-2-4.
Still, in this depressing state of affairs, the example of Foto Strakosha offers a ray of hope. An Albanian of ethnic Greek origin, Strakosha was among the first to cross the border in 1991, where he soon emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in the Greek league.
- ^"SPECIALE NGA UVIL ZAJMI/ Nga Kategoria e Dytë në Kombëtare, kur Strakosha e Sadiku thyenin një… tabu"(in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 27 October 2023.Retrieved27 October2023.
- ^abc"Foto Strakosha".National Football Teams.Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann.Retrieved22 December2017.
- ^Albanian 1987
- ^Albania 1989
- ^Albania 1990 (clubs)
- ^Iceland 2–0 Albania
- ^Greece 0–2 Albania
- ^"Foto Strakosha: Krenar për djalin tim".Archived fromthe originalon 3 December 2013.Retrieved30 November2013.
- ^"F.Strakosha trajneri U19"[F.Strakosha coach of U19] (in Albanian).FSHF.2011. Archived fromthe originalon 1 August 2017.Retrieved22 December2017.
- ^"Altin Lala merr drejtimin e kombëtares U-19, Strakosha largohet".fshf.org(in Albanian). 12 August 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 15 August 2014.Retrieved22 December2017.
- ^"Strakosha në stafin e Olimpiakos, Lala bëhët trajner i kombëtares U19"[Strakosha in Olympiakos staff, Lala named coach of the national U19 team] (in Albanian).Gazeta Shekulli.12 August 2014.Retrieved22 December2017.
- ^"Foto Strakosha largohet nga Olimpiakos, tani do të stërvit djalin te Lazio"[Foto Strakosha leaves Olympiacos, now will train his son at Lazio] (in Albanian). Albeu.com. 18 March 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 12 April 2020.Retrieved22 December2017.
- ^"Albania - List of Super Cup Finals - 1989".RSSSF.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Champions League 1990/91 - History - Marseille-Dinamo Tirana Lineups".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Champions League 1990/91 - History - Dinamo Tirana-Marseille Lineups".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Europa League 1993/94 - History - Botev Plovdiv-Olympiacos".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Europa League 1993/94 - History - Olympiacos-Botev Plovdiv".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Europa League 1993/94 - History - Tenerife-Olympiacos".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Europa League 1996/97 - History - Ferencváros-Olympiacos".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"UEFA Europa League 1996/97 - History - Olympiacos-Ferencváros".UEFA.com.Retrieved29 December2017.
- ^"Foto Strakosha - national football team player".EU-Football.info.Retrieved22 December2017.
External links
[edit]- Foto Strakoshaat National-Football-Teams.com
- 1965 births
- Living people
- People from Memaliaj
- Sportspeople from Gjirokastër County
- People from Tepelenë
- Albanian emigrants to Greece
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- Albanian men's footballers
- Albania men's international footballers
- FK Tepelena players
- FC Dinamo City players
- PAS Giannina F.C. players
- Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players
- Olympiacos F.C. players
- Panionios F.C. players
- Ionikos F.C. players
- Athens Kallithea F.C. players
- Kalamata F.C. players
- Ethnikos Asteras F.C. players
- Proodeftiki F.C. players
- Albanian expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
- Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
- Albanian football managers
- Association football goalkeeping coaches