Devi Muka (born 21 December 1976) 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 lea ...

who spent the majority of his career playing for

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

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 ...

as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Early career and Croatia

Born in

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

, Muka started his career in 1993 with hometown club,

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 played for them until 1997 when he transferred to Partizani Tirana. He had played 77 league games at Flamurtari Vlorë and had scored 9 goals before leaving. At Partizani Tirana he made 28 appearances and scored 8 goals, and he subsequently moved to play for SK Tirana. In his first season with SK Tirana he played 23 times and scored 9 goals. He then moved to NK Varteks in Croatia, and after 3 years and 66 league games Muka moved back to Albania. He scored 4 goals during his time in Croatia.

Return to Albania

Muka returned to Albania in 2002 with SK Tirana. He played 23 games and scored 3 goals during the campaign, he scored against former club NK Varteks in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

.Muka suffered an injury during the 2007–08 season that limited him to just 3 league games all season. In the 2008–09 season Muka did not play until October. He made his season debut on 19 October 2008 against bitter rivals, Dinamo Tirana when he came on for goalscorer Migen Memelli in the 72nd minute. Overall during the 2008–09 season he played 14 games and scored 3 goals, all 3 of them were scored at home at the

Selman Stërmasi stadium The Selman Stërmasi Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tirana, Albania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Tirana. The stadium holds 9,500 people (all seated). It is named after Selman Stërma ...

. Muka once again lifted the trophy at the end of the season following a 2–1 win over title rivals Vllaznia Shkodër.

International career

Muka made his Albania National Team debut in a friendly against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

on 19 August 1998. He came on for goalscorer Alban Bushi in the 76th minute of the game. The match resulted in a 3–2 loss for Albania. Muka was 21 when he made his debut. Muka's first and only international goal came on 4 September 1999

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Qualifying match against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He came off the bench on the 78th minute replacing Igli Tare. His goal came in the 91st minute of the game which secured a point for

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 ...

. He was recalled to the squad when

Otto Baric Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

took charge of

after having a year gap with no international involvement. Muka last played 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 ...

on 17 October 2007 in a

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

Qualifying match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He replaced Altin Haxhi at half time. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after Ervin Skela missed from the penalty spot on the 90th minute. In total Muka made 40 appearances for the Albania National Team and scored one goal from 1998 to 2007.

Managerial career

Muka was immediately named as manager of

following the departure of Nevil Dede after just two games in charge. The attacking midfielder was still eligible to play for the club and this meant that he became the first

Player Manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make change ...

in the 2009-10 Albanian Superliga. Muka signed his first managerial contract on the day of Dede's departure on 9 February 2010.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.''

Notes

References

External links

Profile at playerhistory.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muka, Devis 1976 births Living people Footballers from Vlorë Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Flamurtari FC players FK Partizani Tirana players KF Tirana players NK Varaždin (1931–2015) players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian football managers KF Tirana managers Kategoria Superiore managers