Sulejman Demollari
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography
Sulejman Demollari (born 15 May 1964 in Tirana) also known as Sul Demollari is an Albanian former football player and coach.
Playing career
Early life
Demollari was born in Albania's capital Tirana, where he completed his primary education. He studied at the Qemal Stafa High School, in Tirana, Albania.[1] From a young age he was part of 'KF Vojo Kushi', which was a sports institution. Despite still being in school, Demollari had impressed many football specialists and was quickly picked to play for Dinamo Tirana's youth team where he managed to become one of the best players on the team. At the age of just 15 he was called up to play for Dinamo's senior team, alongside fellow midfield legends such as Ilir Përnaska, Shyqyri Ballgjini and Muhedin Targaj.
Club
Demollari played his entire career in Albania for Dinamo Tirana, alongside fellow internationals Genc Ibro, Eduard Abazi and Agim Canaj, winning two league titles.[2][3][4]
Following the fall of communism, Demollari was among the first players to pursue a career abroad, signing for Romanian side Dinamo București in 1991.[5] He was wanted at Dinamo by coach Florin Halagian who saw him in a Albania U21 – West Germany U21 1–1, also he played against them and made a good impression while he was at Dinamo Tirana in the 2–1 loss on aggregate in the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup.[4][6][7] Demollari made his Divizia A debut on 25 August 1991 in a 6–0 victory against Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored two goals and gave an assist, being nicknamed "Dobrin of Albania" by the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper.[5][7][8] In his first season spent at the club, Demollari scored 18 goals in 30 league games, being the team's second top scorer after Gábor Gerstenmájer, helping Dinamo win the title undefeated, also he became the first foreign player to score in the Eternal derby against Steaua București when he scored the only goal of a 1–0 victory.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Demollari appeared in a total of 100 Divizia A matches in which he scored 36 goals and received only one yellow card, also he is considered one of the best foreign footballers that played in Romania.[4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]
Demollari spent the last years of his career, having short spells in Greece with Panionios and in Hungary with Győr.[8][13] He played a total of 25 games, scoring three goals in European competitions, including appearing in Dinamo București's 2–1 victory on aggregate against Luis Figo's Sporting Lisabona in the 1991–92 UEFA Cup.[6][11][13]
International
Sulejman Demollari was part of Albania U21's generation that finished the qualification group on the 1st position in front of West Germany U21 at the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where in the quarter-finals they were eliminated by Italy U21 after a double 1–0 loss.[4]
Demollari played 45 matches and scored one goal at international level for Albania, making his debut on 27 April 1983 under coach Shyqyri Rreli in a Euro 1984 qualification match which ended with a 1–0 loss against Northern Ireland.[14][15] He played six games at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, including a 2–0 victory against Belgium.[14] Demollari went on to play six games at the Euro 1988 qualifiers, six games at the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, five at the Euro 1992 qualifiers, nine matches in which he scored his only goal for the national team in a 3–1 loss against Lithuania at the 1994 World Cup qualifiers and nine games at the Euro 1996 qualifiers.[14] From his 45 caps, only three were friendlies, in 41 he was in the starting 11 and he was captain in 18 matches.[14]
International goals
- Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Demollari goal.[14]
| # | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 April 1993 | Žalgirio stadionas, Vilnius, Lithuania | 33 | Template:Country data LIT | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1994 World Cup qualifiers |
Managerial career
In 2001, Demollari started his coaching career at Albania's national team having a total of 9 games (1 victory, 3 draws, 5 losses), including two at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.[12][16] He also coached the club at which he began his playing career, Dinamo Tirana.[12]
From 2011 until 2012 Demollari worked as a scout for Dinamo București, bringing Elis Bakaj at the club.[17][18][9]
Honours
Club
Dinamo Tirana
- Kategoria Superiore: 1985–86, 1989–90[19]
- Kupa e Shqipërisë: 1985–86, 1989–90[19]
- Superkupa së Shqipërisë: 1990[20]
Dinamo București
Individual
- Sporti Popullor player of the season (6) – 1983, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994[3][4]
- Mjeshtër i Merituar i Sportit (Deserved Master of Sport)
- Nderi i Sportit Shqiptar (Honour of Albanian Sport)[21]
- Captain of Albania Senior, U-21 and youth national teams[4]
References
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External links
- Template:NFT coach
- Template:Soccerway coach
- Template:EU-Football.info manager
- Template:EU-Football.info player
Template:FK Dinamo Tirana managers Template:Albania national football team managers
- Pages with script errors
- 1964 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Tirana
- Albanian men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Albania men's under-21 international footballers
- Albania men's international footballers
- FC Dinamo City players
- FC Dinamo București players
- Panionios F.C. players
- Győri ETO FC players
- Albanian expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
- Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
- Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
- Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
- Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary
- Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary
- Liga I players
- Super League Greece players
- Nemzeti Bajnokság I players
- Albanian football managers
- Albania national football team managers
- KS Lushnja managers
- Shkumbini Peqin managers
- FC Dinamo City managers
- Qemal Stafa High School alumni
- 20th-century Albanian sportsmen