Blendi Nallbani

Blendi Nallbani (born 30 May 1971 in Tiranë) is a retired Albanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Nallbani was a member of the Albania national team prior to his international retirement in 2002.

Blendi Nallbani
Personal information
Full name Blendi Nallbani
Date of birth (1971-05-30) 30 May 1971
Place of birth Tiranë, Albania
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1990 Partizani 39 (0)
1990–1991 17 Nëntori Tirana 24 (0)
1991 Gloria Bistrița
1992–1993 Tirana 24 (0)
1993–1994 Partizani 4 (0)
1994–2001 Tirana 163 (0)
2001–2004 Partizani 83 (0)
2004–2011 Tirana 116 (1)
Total 453 (1)
International career‡
1987 Albania U18 1 (0)
1990 Albania U21 3 (0)
1989–2002 Albania 18 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 May 2011
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 May 2002

Nicknamed Tata, he is the second youngest player to play for the national team only aged 17 at Wembley.[1] He also holds many records, such as joint most Albanian Superliga winner and the player with the most matches in Albanian Superliga.[2]

Club career

After the fall of communism, he was able to move abroad to play in Romania, but then moved back to Albania for good. He initially played for Partizani Tirana and then, as soon as moving between clubs was allowed in Albania, he moved to his current team KF Tirana for a transfer fee of $1,000,000 where has won multiple Championships, Cups, and Supercups. That was the most expensive transfer in the Albanian Football History at that time and made front-page news of all major newspapers. In 2001 he returned to Partizani.

Tirana

Nallbani moved back to Tirana for a fourth stint in the summer of 2004 after four seasons at rival club Partizani Tirana. He joined goalkeepers Isli Hidi and Nigerian Ndubuisi Egbo at the club.[3]

International career

International debut

At only seventeen years old, Nallbani was the second youngest ever player to play for the Albania national team. He conceded five goals to a strong English side in his premiere at Wembley Stadium. However, had it not been for his strong performance, Albania would have suffered an even greater defeat. After the game, the English media praised Nallbani's performance as one of the greatest performances and Peter Shilton was himself amazed by the performance of the young Albanian.

"He (Shilton) was 21 when he first pulled on an England jersey and that helped to produce a fascinating statistic when England met Albania in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley in 1989. Blendi Nallbani, the goalkeeper at the other end, was only 17 and hadn't been born when Shilts made his debut."[4]

At 17 years old, Nallbani was also the youngest goalkeeper to play in an England match.[5]

After that famous English game and another one against Spain, Nallbani received offers from other famed European Clubs (Barcelona, Juventus, Anderlecht, and some Romanian and Turkish clubs). However, due to the "communist Albania," he was not allowed to play for teams outside the country or his family would be persecuted and possibly jailed.

In the year, 1990, he was selected in the Under-21 Best European Selection and was supposed to play a charity game against the Africa/Asia Under-21. However, he was not able to attend this game for the same reasons that he was not allowed to play for a European Club at that time.

Nallbani earned a total of 18 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was an April 2002 friendly match against Andorra.[6]

Relations with the media

Nallbani is known in Albania as being a bubbly and extravagant person who likes to make jokes with the Albanian media. During the 2008–2009 season in a heated derby match against his former team, Partizani Tirana Nallbani was booked for handling the ball outside of his area, which angered the Partizani players and fans as they thought that the keeper deserved a sending off for the offence. After the match ended, Nallbani tried to explain in the changing rooms that he did not handle the ball outside his area saying

"I swear on my daughter, I didn't touch the ball with my hand."

Nallbani is the father of two children, both of them boys.[7] The referee Elvis Peza had also not booked Nallbani for a foul in the 55th minute on Partizani's Brazilian striker Paulo Marcel Pereira Merabet. This prompted an investigation from the FSHF (Albanian FA) into Peza's performance during the match which received a lot of media coverage in Albania as Nallbani was involved in two key decisions during the match. Former player and now head of Refereeing in Albania Ilir Shulku quickly jumped to Peza's defence and put him off the hook.[8]

Personal life

Nallbani is married and has two children, both of which are boys, Marvin and Dejvi. One of his children has followed in his father's footsteps as a footballer. His son born in 1992, Marvin Nallbani, is also a footballer and played for some time at KF Tirana with his father. Unlike his father he plays outfield, mostly in midfield and has been training with the Tirana senior squad since the age of 8.

As of 2018, he is head of the omnisports club Studenti.[9]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[10][11][12]

Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Partizani Tirana 1987–88 Albanian Superliga 18000——180
1988–89 15000——150
1989–90 5000——50
1990–91 1000——10
Total 39000——390
Tirana 1990–91 Albanian Superliga 24000——240
Gloria Bistriţa 1991–92 Liga I 0000——00
Tirana 1991–92 Albanian Superliga 8000——80
1992–93 16000——260
Total 24000——240
Partizani Tirana 1993–94 Albanian Superliga 4000——40
Tirana 1994–95 Albanian Superliga 14000——140
1995–96 31000——310
1996–97 18000——180
1998–99 23000——230
1999–2000 25000——250
2000–01 26010——270
2001–02 26000—00260
Total 16301000001640
Partizani Tirana 2001–02 Albanian Superliga 25000——250
2002–03 240002[lower-alpha 1]0—260
2003–04 34050——390
2004–05 00002[lower-alpha 1]00020
Total 830504000920
Tirana 2004–05 Albanian Superliga 8000——80
2005–06 160004[lower-alpha 2]000200
2006–07 110004[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 3]0160
2007–08 21000—00210
2008–09 29070——360
2009–10 281302[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0341
2010–11 30002[lower-alpha 4]0—50
Total 1161100120201381
Career total 4531160160204871
  1. All appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  2. All appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance in Albanian Supercup
  4. All appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

Source:[12]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Albania 198920
199130
199310
199530
199640
199710
200240
Total180

Honours
1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000[13]

References
  1. Europe's youngest international debutants – UEFA
  2. "Blendi Nallbani: U martova i ri se më thonin: Merre o "Tatë", se pastaj do ngelesh thatë" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. "KF Tirana 2004–05". Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  4. TheFA.com – Shilton is number one
  5. TheFA.com – Match Statistics
  6. "Blendi Nallbani – national football team player". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  7. “Qafsha gocën s’e preka topin me dorë”(in Albanian)
  8. Shulku u del në mbrojtje gjyqtarëve(in Albanian)
  9. Blendi Nallbani: Futbolli shqiptar ka progres, këtu ka meritë edhe Presidenti i FSHF-së, Armand Duka – Telegraf (in Albanian)
  10. Blendi Nallbani at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  11. "Football : Bledin Nallbani". Football Database. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  12. "Blendi Nallbani". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  13. Albania – Championship Winning Teams – RSSSF
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