Altin Lala

Altin Lala

Personal information
Date of birth	18 November 1975
Place of birth	Tiranë, Albania
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Youth career
1984–1991	Dinamo Tirana
1991–1992	SpVgg Hosenfeld
1992–1993	Borussia Fulda
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1998	Borussia Fulda	56	(6)
1998–2012	Hannover 96	296	(9)
2012	Bayern Munich II	3	(0)
Total		355	(15)
National team
1998–2011	Albania	79	(3)
Teams managed
2014–	Albania (assistant)
2014–	Albania U19
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Altin Lala (born 18 November 1975 in Tiranë) is an Albanian former footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent his entire career in Germany and also played for the Albania national football team.

Early life

Lala was born in the capital of Albania, Tiranë, to Dodë and Pashke Lala who are both originally from Pukë. He grew up in the Tirana e Re neighbourhood of the capital with his parents, brother and sister, where he played football on the streets like most of the children in the area. His father wanted him to focus on his education ahead of sport, but eventually did sign up Lala to local side Dinamo Tirana.

He travelled to Germany at the age of 15 with the Albanian U-16 side in 1991, where they were staying at their training camp near the Port of Hamburg. However, Lala along with many of his teammates decided against returning to Albania and instead he sought asylum in Germany. He eventually settled at a refugee camp in Fulda, where he joined local side Borussia Fulda's youth team. As he could not speak anything other than Albanian, he relied on hand signals to communicate with the players and coaches, but after two years in the youth team he was promoted to the senior side.

Club career

Borussia Fulda

The defensive midfielder began his football career as a youth at SK Tirana before moving to Germany with the third flight side Borussia Fulda in January 1994.

Hannover 96

On 21 July 1998, he joined newly promoted 2. Bundesliga team Hannover 96; making his debut on 30 July 1998, in a 1–0 victory over Karlsruher SC. Here, he helped the club win the promotion to the Bundesliga in 2001–02 and since has played over 149 Bundesliga games, becoming the longest-serving player within their squad. In all his time at Hannover 96, Lala has only scored one Bundesliga goal.

In 2004, he became team captain and remained so until the 2007–08 season, being popular both within the team and with fans (who have nicknamed him "The Battle Dwarf" (German: Kampfzwerg) due to his combative style of play).^[1]

In the 2007–08 season, he made 28 league appearances without scoring a goal. Lala did not make a great start to the 2008–09 season, he only managed to start in five of the opening games and to come on as a substitute in some of the other games. Hannover 96 did not make a good start either as they only managed ten wins this season.

Bayern Munich II

Despite planning his retirement once his contract with Hannover ran out in the summer of 2012, Bayern Munich II were in talks with Lala in March about joining the club on a free transfer in the summer. The idea was proposed by Lala's former teammate Michael Tarnat, a youth scout at Bayern Munich. Lala made three appearances for Bayern's reserve team before being forced to retire due to injury in October 2012.

International career

He has also enjoyed a long international career, making 79 appearances for his country since 1998, the second highest in Albania's international history, being overtaken only by Lorik Cana in 2014. He has also scored three goals for his country.^[2] His first international goal came in March 2003 in a European Qualifying match against Russia in the 79th minute. The match ended 3–1 for Albania and became one of Albania's greatest ever achievements in football. His second goal came just three months later in the 22nd minute of a thrilling 3–2 loss to Switzerland. Lala was the captain of his country's national team, ever since Igli Tare was no longer capped by former manager Otto Baric.

Managerial career

On 3 March 2014, Lala was presented as assistant coach of Albania national football team by head coach Gianni De Biasi, replacing previous assistant Angelo Pereni.^[3] On 12 August 2014, Lala was named as the Albania national under-19 football team coach, after the previous coach Foto Strakosha left to work for Olympiakos.^[4]

Career statistics

Club career

As of 5 May 2012

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Matches	Goals
1996–97	Borussia Fulda	Germany	Oberliga Hessen	23	2
1997–98				33	4
1998–99	Hannover 96		2. Bundesliga	24	3
1999–00				29	1
2000–01				31	3
2001–02				31	1
2002–03			Bundesliga	32	0
2003–04				12	0
2004–05				32	0
2005–06				29	0
2006–07				17	1
2007–08				27	0
2008–09				12	0
2009–10				4	0
2010–11				10	0
2011–12				6	0
Total				352	15

National team statistics

Caps and goals

Albania national team[5][6]
Year	Apps	Goals
1998	7	0
1999	6	0
2000	3	0
2001	6	0
2002	5	0
2003	5	2
2004	7	0
2005	9	0
2006	6	1
2007	9	0
2008	6	0
2009	1	0
2010	2	0
2011	7	0
Total	79	3

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	29 March 2003	Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkoder, Albania	Russia	2 – 1	3–1	Euro 2004 qualifying[7]
2.	11 June 2003	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Switzerland	1 – 1	2–3	Euro 2004 qualifying[8]
3.	16 August 2006	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	3 – 0	3–0	Friendly[9]

Honours

Hannover 96

• 2. Bundesliga: 2001–02

References

1. "Altin Lala" (in German). hannover96online.de. 17 July 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
2. Hoxha, Florent; Mamrud, Roberto (12 June 2014). "Goalscoring for Albania National Team". rsssf.com. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
3. "De Biasi: Januzaj ka zgjedhur Anglinë". aSport.al (in Albanian). 3 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
4. "Altin Lala merr drejtimin e kombëtares U-19, Strakosha largohet". fshf.org (in Albanian). 12 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
5. "Altin Lala". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
6. "Altin Lala". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
7. "Match Euro Qualifying : Albania vs. Russia". footballdatabase.eu. 29 March 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
8. "Match Euro Qualifying : Switzerland vs. Albania". footballdatabase.eu. 11 June 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
9. "Match Friendlies : San Marino vs. Albania". footballdatabase.eu. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2012.

External links

• Altin Lala – FIFA competition record
• Altin Lala profile at Soccerway
• Altin Lala at National-Football-Teams.com