Arjan Beqaj

{{Short description|Albanian footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Arjan Beqaj | image = | fullname = Arjan Nexhat Beqaj | height = {{convert|1.88|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|8|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Prizren, SFR Yugoslavia (modern Kosovo) | currentclub = | clubnumber = | position = Goalkeeper | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Liria Prizren | years1 = 1992–1995 | years2 = 1995–1997 | years3 = 1997–2003 | years4 = 2003–2006 | years5 = 2006–2010 | years6 = 2010–2011 | years7 = 2011 | clubs1 = Liria Prizren | clubs2 = Partizani | clubs3 = OFI | clubs4 = Ionikos | clubs5 = Anorthosis Famagusta | clubs6 = Olympiakos Nicosia | clubs7 = Ermis Aradippou | caps1 = | goals1 = | caps2 = 37 | goals2 = 0 | caps3 = 129 | goals3 = 1 | caps4 = 83 | goals4 = 0 | caps5 = 94 | goals5 = 0 | caps6 = 5 | goals6 = 0 | caps7 = 0 | goals7 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 1998–2011 | nationalteam1 = Albania | nationalcaps1 = 43 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | manageryears1 = 2011–2016 | managerclubs1 = Anorthosis (goalkeeping coach) | manageryears2 = 2016–2022 | managerclubs2 = Cyprus (goalkeeping coach) | managerclubs3 = AEK Larnaca FC (goalkeeping coach) | manageryears3 = 2023- | pcupdate = | ntupdate = }}

'''Arjan Beqaj''' (born 25 August 1975 in Prizren) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is now the goalkeeping coach at Anorthosis Famagusta. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented Albania internationally.

In a career spanning 19 years he played for seven clubs in four countries. He is also a former Albanian international, earning 43 caps from 1998 to 2011.

==Club career==

===Early career=== Beqaj began his profession career in Kosovo with local side Liria Prizren in 1992. He then moved to Tirana, Albania at the start of 1995 to attend university, where he was to play for Partizani Tirana. He played in Albania for two and a half years as he left in 1997 to join OFI after being spotted playing for Albania U-21s.<ref name="FSHF">{{cite web|url=http://www.fshf.org/artikull/beqaj-lamtumire-futboll |title=Beqaj, Lamtumire Futboll |date=2011-08-16 |accessdate=2011-08-17 |publisher=FSHF |language=Albanian |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004164027/http://www.fshf.org/artikull/beqaj-lamtumire-futboll |archivedate=2011-10-04 }}</ref>

===Greece=== He spent six seasons at OFI, where he played 129 league games for the Greek side and even scoring a goal in the 2000–01 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuQoWQdbaNM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/xuQoWQdbaNM |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|title=Beqaj Scores|date=|accessdate=2011-08-17|publisher=Youtube|author=(Video)|language=}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Beqaj then signed for Ionikos where he made 83 league appearances in three seasons before ending his nine-year stint in Greece.

===Anorthosis Famagusta=== Beqaj was one of the most important players that helped Anorthosis Famagusta reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in history in the 2008–09 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/en/news/8/main/2008/08/28/837570/anorthosis-a-club-without-a-home-finds-a-place-to-play|title=Anorthosis: A Club Without A Home Finds A Place To Play|publisher=Goal.com|author=Andreas Vassiliades|date=28 August 2008|accessdate=2 October 2018}}</ref>

The team started their campaign in the first qualifying round where they faced Armenia's Pyunik. It was an easy task for Anorthosis who won both matches with Beqaj keeping two clean sheets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303474--anorthosis-vs-pyunik/|title=Anorthosis 1-0 Puynik|publisher=UEFA|date=15 July 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303488--pyunik-vs-anorthosis/|title=Puynik 0-2 Anorthosis|publisher=UEFA|date=23 July 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> In the next round against Rapid Wien, Beqaj kept a clean-sheet in the first leg but was beaten three times in the second leg but nevertheless Anorthosis progressed 4–3 on aggregate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303500--anorthosis-vs-sk-rapid/|title=Anorthosis 3-0 Rapid Wien|publisher=UEFA|date=30 July 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303514--sk-rapid-vs-anorthosis/|title=Rapid Wien 3-1 Anorthosis|publisher=UEFA|date=6 August 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref>

Beqaj was named man of the match in the second leg of third qualifying round against Olympiacos,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303828--olympiacos-vs-anorthosis/|title=Olympiacos 1-0 Anorthosis|publisher=UEFA|date=6 August 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> making several vital saves in a 1–0 narrow loss which was enough to clinch to qualification to group stage after a 3–0 win in the first leg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/303812--anorthosis-vs-olympiacos/|title=Anorthosis 3-0 Olympiacos|publisher=UEFA|date=27 August 2008|access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> By doing so, Anorthosis made history by becoming the first Cypriot team to ever qualify for the Champions League group stages.

==International career== Beqaj was one of the first Kosovo Albanians to be part of the Albania national team, having made his debut on 20 January 1998 in a 4–1 win in the friendly against Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.besoccer.com/match/seleccion-albania/seleccion-turquia/199841430|title=Turkey 1–4 Albania|publisher=Be Soccer|access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> During the next years, he served as Foto Strakosha's understudy, only appearing in friendly matches. After Strakosha's retirement in 2005, Beqaj finally became the main keeper, playing regularly in the team's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. He lost his place in 2011 to the youngster Samir Ujkani.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.panorama.com.al/arjan-beqaj-me-joshi-anorthosis-me-zevendeson-ujkani/#gsc.tab=0|title=Arjan Beqaj: Më joshi Anarthosis, më zëvëndëson Ujkani|publisher=Panorama Sport|date=18 August 2011|access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> His 43rd and last appearance, a 4–0 defeat away to Argentina, was his first and only appearance as captain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tiranatimes.com/argentina-defeats-albania-4-0-in-friendly-_112115/|title=Argentina defeats Albania 4-0 in friendly|publisher=Tirana Times|date=20 June 2011|access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>

==Career statistics== ===Club=== Source:<ref name="Scoresway">{{cite web|url=http://www.scoresway.com/?sport=soccer&page=person&id=39757|title=Arjan Beqaj|publisher=Scoresway|accessdate=2 October 2018}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! colspan=3 | Club performance ! colspan=2 | League ! colspan=2 | Cup

! colspan=2 | Continental ! colspan=2 | Total |- ! Season !! Club !! League ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals

! colspan=2 | Europe ! colspan=2 | Total |- |1994-95||rowspan="3"|Partizani Tirana||rowspan="3"|Superliga||2||0||||||||||2||0 |- |1995-96||18||0||||||||||18||0 |- |1996-97||17||0||||||||||17||0 |- ! colspan=3 | Greece ! colspan=2 | League ! colspan=2 | Greek Cup

! colspan=2 | Europe ! colspan=2 | Total |- |1997-98||rowspan="6"|OFI||rowspan="9"|Alpha Ethniki||4||0||||||||||4||0 |- |1998-99||32||0||||||||||32||0 |- |1999-00||27||0||||||||||27||0 |- |2000-01||28||1||||||||||28||1 |- |2001-02||20||0||||||||||20||0 |- |2002-03||18||0||||||||||20||0 |- |2003-04||rowspan="3"|Ionikos||28||0||||||||||28||0 |- |2004-05||27||0||||||||||27||0 |- |2005-06||28||0||||||||||28||0 |- ! colspan=3 | Cyprus ! colspan=2 | League ! colspan=2 | Cypriot Cup

! colspan=2 | Europe ! colspan=2 | Total |- |2006-07||rowspan="4"|Anorthosis Famagusta||rowspan="6"|First Division||26||0||||||||||26||0 |- |2007-08||27||0||||||5||0||32||0 |- |2008-09||10||0||||||11||0||21||0 |- |2009-10||19||0||||||||||19||0 |- |2010-11||rowspan="1"|Olympiakos Nicosia||5||0||||||||||5||0 |- |2010-11||rowspan="1"|Ermis Aradippou||0||0||||||||||0||0 |- ! rowspan=3 | Total ! colspan=2 | Albania !37||0||||||||||37||0 |- ! colspan=2 | Greece !212||1||||||||||212||1 |- ! colspan=2 | Cyprus !88||0||||||||||88||0 |- ! colspan=3 | Career total !m||n||m||n||m||n||m||n |}

===International=== Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=1666|title=Arjan Beqaj - national football team player|publisher=EU-Football.info|accessdate=2 October 2018}}</ref> {| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan=14|Albania |1998||2||0 |- |1999||2||0 |- |2000||4||0 |- |2001||2||0 |- |2002||3||0 |- |2003||4||0 |- |2004||0||0 |- |2005||0||0 |- |2006||3||0 |- |2007||11||0 |- |2008||5||0 |- |2009||0||0 |- |2010||5||0 |- |2011||2||0 |- !colspan=2|Total!!43!!0 |}

==Honours==

===Club=== ;Partizani Tirana *Albanian Cup: 1996–97

;Anorthosis Famagusta *Cypriot First Division: 2007–08 *Cypriot Cup: 2006–07 *LTV Super Cup: 2007

===Individual=== *Albanian Footballer of the Year: 2008<ref>{{cite web|url=https://telegrafi.com/dhjete-sportistet-me-te-mire-shqiptare-te-vitit-2008/|title=Dhjetë sportistët më të mirë shqiptarë të vitit 2008|trans-title=The ten best Albanian sportspersons of 2008|publisher=Telegrafi.com|language=Albanian|date=25 December 2008|accessdate=2 October 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{NFT player|id=52}} * {{FIFA player|179187}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beqaj, Arjan}} Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Prizren Category:Kosovo Albanians Category:Men's association football goalkeepers Category:Kosovan men's footballers Category:Albanian men's footballers Category:Albania men's international footballers Category:KF Liria Prizren players Category:FK Partizani Tirana players Category:OFI Crete F.C. players Category:Ionikos F.C. players Category:Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Category:Olympiakos Nicosia players Category:Ermis Aradippou FC players Category:Kategoria Superiore players Category:Super League Greece players Category:Cypriot First Division players Category:Albanian expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus