Mirel Josa (born 1 June 1963) is an Albanian

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 a former player. As a player, he played in the Greek

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

for Nea Kavala and

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

, as well as making 27 international appearances for the

Albania national football team The Albania national football team () represents Albania in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Albanian Football Federation (FSHF), the governing body for football in Albania. It is a member of UEFA in Eur ...

between 1984 and 1992.

Playing career

Club

Josa started his club career with his boyhood club 17 Nëntori where he would play for ten years, winning three league titles alongside fellow internationals and Albanian legends Arbën Minga, Shkëlqim Muça and Agustin Kola. He will be long remembered by the fans for his last-minute goal against the Romanian side Dinamo București in the 1986–87 edition of

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

, which brought his team in the best 16 of the competition, where they got eliminated by

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Later, Josa left the country for the first time and moved abroad, signing a one-year contract with Greek side

. He played only one season with the club, then moved to

AO Kavala Kavala Football Club (, ) is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Kavala, Greece. They compete in the Super League Greece 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is the ...

. He ended his playing career with Greek lower league side ILTEX Lykoi,

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis (, ) or Alexandroupoli (, ) is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,75 ...

and Neapoli.Profil, Mirel Josa / Nga Shpresa e mrekullive, te titulli i artë…
– Sports Ekspres

International

In his youth years Josa distinguished himself both as a defensive and attacking midfielder. During the

1982 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1982 Final Tournament was held in Finland. It also served as the European qualification for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition was won by Scotland, their first tournament win at any inte ...

, played in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, Josa managed to score a goal against Netherlands, in a 1–3 loss, which disqualified Netherlands, where

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

was present. During the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship his goal made Albania draw against West Germany in

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, and was a determining factor in qualifying Albania in the quarter-finals of the championship, eliminating West Germany, Turkey, and Austria. After that game Josa was awarded the ''Master of Sports'' title. He made his senior debut 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 ...

in an October 1984

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

match away at

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and earned a total of 27 caps, scoring 1 goal. In the national team during the qualifiers of Mexico 1986 campaign he scored the first goal in the famous December 1984 home win over

. His final international was an April 1992 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Managerial career

Vllaznia

On 26 October 2010, Josa become the new coach of Vllaznia, replacing the Montenegrin coach Mojas Radonjić who was sacked following a run of negative results. He returned for the first time in the club since 2008. He was presented to the media in the very same day.

Skënderbeu

On 4 August 2012, Josa was unveiled as the new coach of Skënderbeu ahead of 2012–13 season. On 18 May 2016, after winning the club's six consecutive league title and his fourth personal, Josa become the most successful coach in the history of Albanian football.

Tirana

Josa was appointed the new coach of

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 ...

on 2 November 2016 only a day following the sacking of Ilir Daja. It was his second return to Tirana, the first since 2006. During the presentation, club president

Refik Halili Refik Halili is the chairman and main sponsor of KF Tirana. Since 2003, Halili had been one of the sponsors of the club. His duty as Chairman of KF Tirana started on May 29, 2008. He is a businessman and founder and owner of one of Albania's lead ...

stated that he sacrificed Daja for the returning of Josa. On 27 May 2017, Tirana suffered relegation for the first time in history after not going more than a goalless in the last matchday against Vllaznia in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

, which saw the club finish the season in 9th place which relegated them. Four days later, Tirana won the

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 ...

for the 16th in history, beating Skënderbeu 3–1 in the final. On 15 June, Josa left the club after terminating the contract by mutual consent.

Personal life

Josa is the son-in-law of Shyqyri Rreli, former

coach.

Honours

Player

;Tirana * Albanian National Championship (4): 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

(3): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86

Manager

;Tirana *

Kategoria Superiore 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 ...

(1): 2003–04 *

(1): 2016–17 ;Skënderbeu *

(4): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 * Albanian Supercup (2):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

;Prishtina *

Kosovar Cup The Kosovar Cup () is the major football national cup tournament in Kosovo. It was established in 1991, and is organized by the Football Federation of Kosovo. Prishtina are the current holders, who won their second Kosovar Cup against Gjilani at ...

(1): 2017–18 ;Vllaznia *

(1): 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Josa, Mirel 1963 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's international footballers KF Tirana players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian football managers KF Tirana managers KS Lushnja managers KF Skënderbeu Korçë managers KF Vllaznia Shkodër managers KF Elbasani managers KF Teuta managers Shkumbini Peqin managers FK Kukësi managers FC Prishtina managers KF Laçi managers KF Vëllaznimi Gjakovë managers Kategoria Superiore managers Albanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Kosovo Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo 20th-century Albanian sportsmen