Alban Meha

Alban Meha was born on the 26th April 1986. He is a footballer from Albania. He is currently playing for SC Paderborn in 2.Bundesliga of Germany. He is also a member of the Albanian national team. He is known for his ability of scoring far-rage goals, and is being compared with free kick specialist, Juninho.

source of picture: www.koba-sports.com

Early Life Career

Meha was born in Titova Mitrovica, SFR Yugoslavia. Because of the military and political fight that was going on in Yugoslavia, his family relocated to Germany and settled in Ostfildern.

In his youth age, Meha became a part of the local football team in the region, TV Kemnat 1890 and SV Esslingen. When he turned 9, he joined the Stuttgarter kickers and stayed in the junior team of the club for 10 years. When he turned 19, he signed up officially for the senior team of the club. 

Club Career

In July 2005, Meha joined Stuttgarter Kickers. He stayed on the reserve team of the club and never played any game for first team of the club. On December 2005, at the time of the winter break, Meha made a move to VfL Kirchheim.

He played three seasons football for the club, playing the total of 82 matches for the club and scoring 16 goals for the club. He then was transferred to SV Eintracht Trier 05. 

Meha played a season with Eintracht Trier. He played the total of 33 matches for the team and scored 15 goals for them. He assisted the club in winning the Rhineland Cup and assisted them in securing the second position in the Fußball-Regionalliga West. He then was transferred to SC Paderborn 07.

Meha joined the 2.Bundesliga club, Paderborn and made quick impact in the team. He played 30 matches in the first season and scored 5 goals for the club. 4 of his goals were scored from a direct free kick and one from a long distance. He made 10 assists for the club in that season, and that helped the club to reach the 5th position in the league table.

On the 13th August 2012, the coach of the club, declared him to be a crucial player of the team. He started the season very well by scoring from the penalty spot in the first match he played for the club that season against Hertha BSC and scoring a direct free kick in a match that was played against VfL Bochum, which was the second game of the season. He scored two consecutive goals in the beginning part of the second half of the season against FC Ingolstadt in the 87th minute of the game and Erzgebirge Aue on the 10th and 15th of February respectively. He played the total of 26 matches for the club  and scored 6 goals for the club. His team finished in the 12th position of the league. 

On the 18th October 2013, he bagged his first goal of the season for the club. Meha scored the last goal of the match in the 54th minute of the game that was played against FSV Frankfurt. The match finished 4-2 in favor of his club. Meha is currently the second highest goal scorer in the league together with Edmond Kapllani, his patriot with 9 goals so far. 

International Career

In the summer of the year 2012, Meha expressed his wish ti play for the national team of Albania and he has been in contact with the national coach of the country, Giannia De Biasi. On the 26th of August,, it nwas announced that Meha got an invitation to play for the national team of the country, Albania in a matched that was played against Cyprus, which was for FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers. He led the midfield of the national team on the 7th August 2012 to a 3-1 victory in the match that was played against Cyprus. He assisted the first goal that was scored by Armando Sadiku for the country, Albania. He is seen as a replacement for Ervin Skela who is retired for his play making abilities on the pitch and strong set piece skills. He assisted the goal that was scored in a lost match that was played against Iceland on the 7th of September 2012. He scored his first goal for the national team of his country in the match that was played against Lithuania, which finished 4-1 in favor of Albanian national team on the 26th March 2013.