Astrit Ziu (born 8 July 1946) is an Albanian retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and made six appearances for the Albania national team.

Club career

Ziu started his career at hometown club

Tomori Berat KF Tomori is an Albanian football club based in the city of Berat. The club's home ground is the Tomori Stadium and they currently participate in the Kategoria e Parë. History The sport of football was introduced to the city of Berat in the ea ...

, before joining the military and thus army team

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani, or FK Partizani for short, is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's curr ...

in 1966. With Partizani he won a league title and 3 domestic cups. He also had a season on loan with Luftëtari.Intervista/ Flet për “Telegraf” Astrit Ziu, ish-mengjërashi “absolut” që luajti në çdo sektor të fushës me Tomorin, Partizanin (Bio)
- Telegraf He has played at leftback for club and country but also in any other position except between the goalposts.Astrit Ziu, ai që “çmendi” Partizanin
- Panorama

International career

Ziu made his debut for

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

on 13 December 1970 in a

UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying The qualifying round for the 1972 European Football Championship consisted of 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group winner progressed to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basi ...

match against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, in which he scored Albania's only goal in the 1–2 loss. He went on to make six appearances, scoring one goal, before making his last appearance on 21 June 1972 in a

1974 FIFA World Cup qualification 99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 16 spots in the final tournament. West Germany, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. The ...

match against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, which finished as a 0–1 loss.

Career statistics

International

International goals

Personal life

Ziu has a son and a daughter and he has lived 12 years in Barcelona, Spain, before returning to Albania. After his playing career he worked as a sports instructor in the army and for the military press. He also was chief at Partizani and works as a coach for UD Vista Alegre Castelldefels during his years in Spain.

Honours

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

: 1 ::

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF *

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War s ...

: 3 ::

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

References

External links

* * * 1946 births Living people Sportspeople from Berat Association football fullbacks Association football utility players Albanian footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Albania international footballers KF Tomori players FK Partizani Tirana players KF Luftëtari players Kategoria Superiore players {{Albania-footy-defender-stub