Elvis Sina (born 14 November 1978) is an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n former soccer-player. He has successfully played for

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

in the

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

, and for the Albania national team. He began his career as a midfielder, but as the years passed he was utilized in defence firstly as

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and later as a

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Sina is the most-capped player in the history of Tirana with more than 470 appearances in all competitions.

Club career

Sina began his professional career with

in 1996 and by the age of 19 he became a key first team player, helping his side win the

6 times,

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...

4 times and

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Prior to 2000, Supercup final was not played when the champion team won the Double. However, after the ...

5 times. He left the club in 2006 in favour of signing with other top flight side Elbasani. With his new side Sina played 25 league matches and scored one goal, the second of a 2–0 win versus

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

. He only spent one season at Elbasani before heading back to Tirana for the 2007–08 season. On 7 May 2008, Tirana lost the 2008 Albanian Cup Final match to Vllaznia Shkodër with Sina playing only in the first half. After the end of the match, Sina along with two teammates were suspended by the club with the suspicion of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

which subsequently lead to his second departure from the club. On 9 June 2008, Sina moved to Tirana's fierce local rivals

Dinamo Tirana Football Club Dinamo City, commonly referred to as Dinamo City and colloquially known as Dinamo, is an Albanian professional football club based out of Tirana. They compete in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Founded i ...

in the summer of 2008 where he won the Albanian Supercup in his only season at the club before once again returning to Tirana for his third stint in 2009. Sina returned for a second time at Tirana in August 2009 by signing as a free agent. He played 27 league matches in his return season, which was cut-short in April 2010 when Sina suffered a nose injury and was forced to remain sidelined for the rest of the season. In July 2012, ahead of the 2012–13 season, manager

Julián Rubio Julián Rubio Sánchez (born 28 January 1952) is a Spanish former football midfielder and manager. He appeared in 134 La Liga matches over six seasons (14 goals), mainly in representation of Sevilla. His professional career was closely associat ...

decided to strip Sina of captaincy in favour of goalkeeper

Ilion Lika Ilion Lika (born 17 May 1980) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his 25-year career span, Lika played more than 500 matches on club level. He began his professional career in 1999 with Dinamo Tirana ...

. On 8 April 2014, Sina announced that he will retired at the end of 2013–14 season at the age of 35. In the last match of the season against

Besa Kavajë Besa or BESA may refer to: Arts & entertainment * ''Besa'' (newspaper), a newspaper published in Albania * ''Besa'' (TV series), a Serbian-British television series produced by Adrenalin and Red Planet Pictures * ''The Besa'', a novel by Albanian ...

, Sina was set to play the last match of his career, but this did not happen because Besa Kavajë didn't appear to play, forcing FSHF to award Tirana with a 3–0 victory. However, for Sina, a farewell ceremony was held to celebrate his career, which was organised by Tirana. In his last season, Sina played 15 matches as his side assured mathematically survival on 3 May 2014, during the 2–2 away draw against Flamurtari Vlorë, where Sina was an unused substitute.

International career

Sina made his debut for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in a 1–1 draw against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

on 12 October 2002 whilst playing for KF Tirana. He came on as a late substitute for Ervin Fakaj in the 89th minute of the game. His next international game was only 4 days away against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

. Sina once again came on as a substitute but this time it was on the 60th minute mark, he replaced

Fatmir Vata Fatmir Vata (born 20 September 1971) is an Albanian former professional Association football, footballer who played primarily as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He began his footballing career with local side KS Burreli ...

when the score was 4–1 to the Russians, Sina's presence on the field was shown as Russia did not manage to score again after he had entered the field. The defender earned his next cap in a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on 29 May 2005. It was his first game under the guidance of new coach

Hans-Peter Briegel Hans-Peter Briegel (born 11 October 1955) is a German former professional football player and manager who played as a defender or midfielder. One of the most popular German players in his days, Briegel's original sport was athletics, being su ...

. He came on replacing midfielder

Klodian Duro Klodian Duro (; born 21 December 1977) is an Albanian retired professional football and current coach of Gjilani of the Superliga e Kosoves. He was a versatile midfielder who usually played in an attacking role. His brother Albert Duro was al ...

in the 78th minute of the game. Sina's next appearance was a

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

qualifier against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 8 June 2005. Just like his first cap this one was earned through a cameo appearance as he came on in the 92nd minute for midfielder

Redi Jupi Redi Bashkim Jupi (born 31 May 1974) is an Albanian retired footballer. He played in the central midfield for KS Dinamo Tirana and has 19 caps for the Albania national team since his debut in 1995. Jupi is currently the manager of Albania U21 ...

. Sina's last national team cap to date was a friendly in Tirana against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

on 17 August 2005. Besides being his last cap, it was also his first start for the national team and the first time he had ever won an international game. He started the match in midfield and came off after an impressive game in the 90th minute for Kosovan born

Armend Dallku Armend Sabit Dallku (born 16 June 1983) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player who is a current manager of Vushtrria. He represented Albania at under-21 and full international level, collecting 64 international senior ca ...

Director career

On 9 September 2015, Sina was named the new director of

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

following the departure of Ardian Mema, another club legend.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

Honours

;Tirana *

:(6) 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 *

:(6) 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 *

:(8)

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

;Dinamo Tirana *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sina, Elvis 1978 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's international footballers KF Tirana players KF Elbasani players FC Dinamo City players Kategoria Superiore players