Lorik Cana

Lorik Cana was born on the 27th July 1983. He is a footballer from Albania. He plays the role of a centre back for his club, S.S. Lazio in the Serie A. he is a member and the captain of the Albanian national team. He is also good in the function of a midfielder or a defensive midfielder. 

source of picture: wedontknowfootball.wordpress.com

Early Club Career

Cana’s father’s football experience prompted the inspiration to take the sport up. In the year 1997, he joined the local team in his area, Dardania Lausanne, which was an amateur football club that was founded by the people of the country inb the region of Lausanne, he was coached by his father. He was in the team until the year 2000. He signed with the French giant club, Paris Saint-Germain. 

Career in Paris Saint-Germain

He got an invitation from Arsenal when he was 16 for trial, but he could not attend the trial because he was not given the British VISA. At PSG, he consumed three years working through the rank of the football club. Cana finally made it to the first team of the club in the year 2003 and he was among the main players of the team. During the 2003/04 season, he played 32 matches for the club and scored a goal for them and the team was the winner of Coupe de France and came out second on the table of the Ligue 1. And that was one of the most successful seasons he has haad in his career. This happened again in the next season, where he made 32 appearances for the club and scored only one goal for the club. In his first game for the team, Cana was declared the man of the match for the club. 

Career in Marseille

Meanwhile, at the starting of the 2005/06 season, the coach of the club, PSG was changed and the player was not favored. This made him to make a move to the southern part of the country to join the most successful club in the history of French football, Marseille. Since he joined the club, he was in the first eleven of the club and he was the player that bagged the winning goal of the match that was played between his new club, Marseille and his former club, PSG. He was made the captain of the club after the former captain of the team; Habib Beve left the club to Newcastle United in England in the summer of the year 2007. Cana left the club to Sunderland in England in the year 2009. He achieved his childhood dream by playing for the French giants. The season after the year he left the club, the former club, Marseille won the French Ligue 1 and became the champions of the country once again. 

Career in Sunderland

Cana made a move to Sunderland on a four-year deal for a fee of £5 million on the 24th July 2009.  He was made the captain of the team by the manager of the team, Steve Bruce, even though the same coach made it clear later that the captain of the team was yet to be appointed. On the 15th August that same year, Cana played his first game for his new club in a match that finished 1-0 against Bolton. And that made his first player from Albania to play in the English Premier League. He was made the captin of the team on the 3rd September of the 2009/10 season. 

Career in Galatasaray

Cana made a move to Galatasaray on the 8th July 2010 on a fee of €4.5 million. He entered a four-year deal with the new club that is worth €2 million for each of the seasons, including that match bonuses. His stay in the club was spoilt because of the injury of the back he got at the middle of the first season he stayed there. Because the team was going through so many crises in the entire season, Cana was unable to make a good impact in the reformation of the team, though he was still appreciated by the fans of the club because of his resilience on the field of play. 

Career in Lazio

On the 3rd July 2011, Cana made a move to Lazio, in Italian Serie A. and that was the 5th signing by the club in that season, with the signing of the following players before him; Miroslav Klose, Djibril Cissé, Senad Lulić and Abdoulay Konko. E was used in exchange rights of the goalkeeper of the club Fernando Muslera making a switch to galatasaray and payng additional €6.75 million to Montevideo Wanderers to buy another 50% registration rights of Muslera, made 50% rights of Muslera that Lazio traded as well as the full rights of Cana that Lazio bought also cost around €6.75 million at that period. He scored his first goal for his new club on the 10th December 2011 in a match that ended 3-2 against Lecce, after he came into the match as a replacement for Giuseppe Biava. After going through many injuries in that season, the club announced that the player would stay out of the team for 6 week due to injuries he sustained from the training. After he had recovered from the injury, he began to recover with football form. With the club always being troubled with suspension and injuries, Cana took his ooportunity to stay in the midfield of the club. This led to the best result he has ever had when in the 2011/12 season, he scored a goal from 25 yards in a game played against Atalanta and that kept the title chase of the club alive. 

International Career

Cane was eligible to play for both his country and the French national team because he has the passports for the two countries. Cana has been involved with the activities of the Albanian national team since the early part of the year 2003, after he got an invitation from the National Football Association of the country. He accepted the invitation and played his first international football for his country when he was 19 on the 11th June 2003, in a match that played against Switzerland for the UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifiers in Group 10. Since the October 201, he has been the captain of the national team after the former captain of the team, Ervin Skela retire from international football. He also known for his nervous behavior in the pitch, he was sent off the picth by the referee of the match, Mike Riley in the 87th minute of the match that played against Netherlands, after squabble with Wesley Sniejder and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

Personal Life

Cana is the son of the retired footballer of Albania, Agim Cana. His father’s profession brought the family to Kosovo, but due to the was in the province, his family had to re;locate to Laussane and he stayed there for 9 years. Agim Cana is a UNO ambassador against poverty. 

Honours

Club

Paris Saint-Germain

• Coupe de France: 2004

Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 2012–13

Individual

• Albanian Footballer of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2006

• Albanian Fan's Footballer of the Year (1): 2009.