Edmond Rugova (born 20 July 1957) is a

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former football player. Rugova formerly coached the

Kosovo national football team The Kosovo national football team (; ) represents Kosovo in men's international association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for football in Kosovo, and is under the jurisdictio ...

, a post he held since his appointment by the

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...

in the summer of 2006 until his departure in July 2009.

Playing career

Club

Before he became the coach of the Kosovo national football team, Edmond Rugova was a famous football player in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

playing for

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina (, ), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Pristina, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. It is the most successful domestic club. History The club was founded ...

during the 1980s as part of the so-called "Golden Generation" of Kosovar football players that included

Fadil Vokrri Fadil Avdullah Vokrri (23 July 1960 – 9 June 2018) was a Kosovan football administrator and formerly Yugoslav player. Arguably one of the greatest Kosovan footballers, he was the president of the Football Federation of Kosovo from 16 Februar ...

Agim Cana Agim Cana (born 29 September 1956) is a Kosovan former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Yugoslavia national football team, Yugoslavia internationally at youth level. Personal life Cana w ...

Fadil Muriqi Fadil Muriqi (Serbo-Croatian: Fadilj Murići / Фадиљ Мурићи; born 17 November 1959) is a former Yugoslav footballer of Kosovar Albanian descent who is best known for his time with Prishtina during the 1980s as part of the "Golden Ge ...

and others. In his early career he also represented RHMK Kosovo (1977, loan) and KF Liria Prizren (1975–1979). For FC Prishtina (1979–1985), he played 98 league matches and scored 29 goals. He left tension-filled Kosovo for the US and joined

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

in 1985, then also had a spell with

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

outfit Kansas City Comets.

International

Ruguvoa played for the Yugoslavia national under-20 football team.

Managerial career

Edmond Rugova's first international match as coach of the

was the international friendly against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

to be played on 15 June 2007, in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. While Kosovo was not allowed to UEFA nor FIFA, it was hard to play regular games in the early years. Edmond Rugova is currently a coach for the Sporting Kansas City Juniors.

Personal life

His son

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Rugova working his way up the ladder
- Top drawer soccer was born in Kansas City and plays for FC Pristina.

References

External links

Kosovo national football team info
by the Football Federation of Kosovo 1957 births Living people Kosovo Albanians Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Kosovan men's footballers KF Liria Prizren players FC KEK-u players FC Prishtina players New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Kosovan football managers Kosovo national football team managers Place of birth missing (living people) {{Kosovo-footy-bio-stub