Erjon Bogdani

Erjon Bogdani was  birn on the 14th April, 1977 in Tirana. He is a former footballer from Albania. He played football for the following teams Partizani Tirana in Albania, Gençlerbirliği in Turkey, NK Zagreb in Croatia and in Italy for Reggina, Salernitana, Verona, Siena, Chievo, Livorno and Cesena and played the role of a striker in the teams. He was also a member of the Albanian national team. 

source of picture: www.zimbio.com

Early Club years

Bogdani was found by local club side Partizani Tirana when he was 10 in a school team competition that held in Tirana, it was in the game that he scored 11 goals in four games. The youngster joined Partizani Tirana's academy, and there he played through the various age groups and finally signing his first professional deal with the club in the year 1994.

Career in Partizani Tirana

Bogdani played his first game for his club, Partizani Tirana in the Albanian Superliga in the 1993/94 season, it was in that season that he played 7 matches in the second half of the season. The next season he scored his first goal  for the team in a campaign that saw him play 13 matches and score 2 goals. The 1997/98 seasom seemed to be his most successful season he had in Albanian football as he bagged 13 goals in 15 matches before the winter break.

This attracted the attention of several foreign clubs, but Bogdani decided to move to Turkey with Gençlerbirliği in the Süper Lig where he played for the second half of the 1997–98 season.

Career in NK Zagreb

Bogdani later made a move to Zagreb and played there for 1. HNL club NK Zagreb. He scored 15 goals in 26 games. In his first season at the club, 1998/99 with NK Zagreb he made only 14 appearances and scored 9 goals. In the 1999/2000 season, he bagged 6 goals in 12 matches. Bogdani was shifted to Italy at the winter break after the first half of Croatian First League season.

Career in Italy

In January 2000, Bogdani made a move to Reggina and played his first game in the Serie A on 6th February against Bologna.

Career in Hellas Verona

In 2004/05 season, Bogdani was contracted by Verona and was the top goal getter for Verona in the Serie B with 17 goals, 3 goals behindhand top-scorer Gionatha Spinesi and 2 goals behindhand Diego Milito of Genoa and Francesco Tavano. The 2004/05 season was his personal best season.

Career in Chievo Verona

In summer of the year 2005, Bogdani returned to Italy's top-flight, but this time it was for A.C. Siena. He played for the club for just one season and a half, before he went to Chievo in January 2007. In Chievo, he played his first game for the club on the 14th January 2007 in a game that was played against Catania. He bagged 5 goals in 19 games, but never avoided relegation. He was sent out on a loan contract to Livorno at the starting part of the 2007/08 Serie A campaign but the club still never avoided relegation and that pained him a lot. In the 2008/09 as well as 2009/10 seasons he was a part of Chievo, and there he scored 11 goals in 58 matches before making a move to Cesena.

Career in Cesena

In the 2010/11 campaign, Bogdani made a move to A.C Cesena and played his first match for the club on 28th August 2010 against A.S. Roma and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. He scored his first goal for the club in a match against Milan and assisted the second goal of the match and that got them 2-0 win against Milan. He was named man of the match after the game and also he was the man of the match in the game against U.S. Lecce. In 49 matches that he played, he managed to score 8 goals. He got his first goal of the year 2011 on the 19th January in a game that they played against Inter Milan and they lost the game by 3-2. He got the equalizing goal of the game that made it 1-1 in the game that was played against Lecce in the 90+2nd minute on the 30th January of 2011.

Career in Siena

Bogdani stopped playing for Cesena on the final day of the winder transfer window and made a move to his new club on  a two year contract. He played his first game for the Tuscans on the 22nd February 2012 in a home game that was played against Liverpool and the game ended 1-0 in favour of his club. He got his first goal for his new club on the 26th February in a league game that they played and won with 4-1 against Palermo. And he got another goal for the club in the match aginst Cagliari and also the game played against Cesena, which is his former club. He finished the season with 4 goals after appearing in 11 matches for his club. He made his first appearance for the team in the following season on the 26th August in the game that was played against Torino. He scored his first goal of the season on the 31st October in a match that was played against Cagliari Siena, which they lost with 4-2, he also scored the second goal of the match that was played against Sampdoria in the 20th January 2013. 

International Career

Bogdani was part of the Under-21 albanian national team and he scored his first goal for the country in the first match that he played for them in a 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier that was played against Portugal on the 9th October 1996. He got a red card in the game and was sent off the pitch just 4 minutes after scoring his first goal for his country in the first match he is playing for the country. His country went to lose the match 4-2. In total, he played 7 games for his country in the Under-21 level and the goal he got in his first game for the country was his only goal. 

Bogdani got his first call to play for the senior team of his country in the year 1996 for a friendly match that was played against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica. He played his first international game when he was 19 on the 24th April in 2006. The game ended 0-0 draw and he came into the game in the 86th minute of the game in replacement of Ardian Behari

Honours and awards

Partizani

• Albanian Cup (1): 1996–97

Reggina

• Serie A Promotion (1): 2001–02

Individual

• Serie A Man of the Match with Cesena (6)

• Serie A Team of the Week with Cesena (4): 2010

• Albanian Footballer of the Year (1): 2005

• Albanian Fan's Footballer of the Year (3): 2002, 2005, 2007