Hysen Zmijani

Hysen Zmijani (born 29 April 1963) is an Albanian retired professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Hysen Zmijani
Personal information
Date of birth (1963-04-29) 29 April 1963
Place of birth Shkodër, Albania
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Youth career
1979-1982 Vllaznia Shkodër
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1991 Vllaznia Shkodër 67+ (6)
1991–1993 GFC Ajaccio 40 (2)
1993–1995 Al Nassr 44 (10)
1995–1996 FC St. Pauli 7 (0)
1996–1997 Al Nassr
International career
1983–1984 Albania U21
1984–1995 Albania 36 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Zmijani has been regarded by many football pundits in Albania as Vllaznia Shkodër's greatest right-back in history.[1] He was born in Shkodër into a family of athletes; his uncle Sadetin Zmijani was the captain of Vllaznia in 60', while his other uncle was a boxer and his son was a cycler.[1]

Zmijani made his senior debut for Vllaznia in September 1981 against Tomori Berat[2] and helped the club to win the championship[3] in a team which boasted fellow international players Ferid Rragami, Fatbardh Jera, Hysen Dedja, Luan Vukatana and Astrit Hafizi. In 1985, Zmijani was the winner of questionary "10 best athletes in Albania" made by newspaper Sporti Popullor.[1] In the 1986–87 season, he won another individual award, as he was part of questionary "10 best athletes in Shkodër" and at the end of the season helped the team to win the Albanian Cup, defeating Flamurtari Vlorë 4–3 on aggregate.[4]

First Albanian abroad after communism

Later in his career, Zmijani played professionally in France, Saudi Arabia and Germany for Gazélec Ajaccio, Al Nassr and FC St. Pauli.[3]

Zmijani signed for Gazélec Ajaccio in the 1991; following the match against France, he was contacted by a journalist which proposed him to the club which was playing in Ligue 2 at that time.[1] He signed the contract after arriving in Albania, with the contract containing a friendly match between his new club and Vllaznia, a friendly which gave many players to opportunity for a new life away from Albania following the fall of communism.[1][5] He was the first Albanian player who officially signed a contract with a foreign club after the fall of communism.[2]

Zmijani signed with Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia in the 1993–94 season.[1] In his first season, he helped the club to win the championship after defeating Al-Riyadh SC 3–1 in the final.[6] The team repeated the success in the next season, this time winning in the final versus Al-Nassr.[7]

International career

Zmijani was a part of Albania under-21 squad in their historic era in which they managed to qualify in an UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time in history.[1] He played in every qualifying match as Albania finished Group 6 in first place ahead of West Germany, Turkey and Austria.

He made his senior debut for Albania in an October 1984 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Belgium and earned a total of 36 caps, scoring two goals. His final international was a November 1995 European Championship qualification match against Wales.[8] He appeared in 18 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.[9]

Personal life

Zmijani's idol and greatest inspiration was former Argentine footballer Diego Maradona.[1]

Honours

Vllaznia Shkodër

References
  1. Eduard Ilnica (17 December 2017). "Nga Vllaznia në Francë e Arabi, Hysen Zmijani rrëfen karrierën e tij" [From Vllaznia to France and Arabia, Hysen Zmijani confesses his career] (in Albanian). Konica.al. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. Hysen Zmijani: Futbollin sot, e urdhëron biznesi, jo profesionalizmi! - Telegraf (in Albanian)
  3. "Hysen Zmijani". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. "Albania - List of Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. "Exodus of Albanian nationals". Parliamentary Assembly. 27 January 1992. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. "Saudi Arabia 1993/94". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  7. "Saudi Arabia 1994/95". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  8. "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  9. Hysen Zmijani – FIFA competition record (archived)
  10. Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF
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