Blendi Nallbani (born 30 May 1971) is a retired Albanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Nallbani was a member of the Albania national team prior to his international retirement in 2002.
Nicknamed Tata, he was the second youngest player to play for the national team only aged 17 at Wembley.Europe's youngest international debutants – UEFA He also holds many records, such as joint most Albanian Superliga winner and the player with the most matches in Albanian Superliga.
Club career After the fall of communism, he was able to move abroad to play in Romania, but then moved back to Albania for good. He initially played for Partizani Tirana and then, as soon as moving between clubs was allowed in Albania, he moved to his current team KF Tirana for a transfer fee of USD1,000,000 where has won multiple championships, cups, and supercups. That was the most expensive transfer in the Albanian football history at that time and made front-page news of all major newspapers. In 2001 he returned to Partizani.
Tirana Nallbani moved back to Tirana for a fourth stint in the summer of 2004 after four seasons at rival club Partizani Tirana. He joined goalkeepers Isli Hidi and Nigerian Ndubuisi Egbo at the club.
International career International debut At only seventeen years old, Nallbani was the second youngest ever player to play for the Albania national team. He conceded five goals to a strong English side in his premiere at Wembley Stadium. However, had it not been for his strong performance, Albania would have suffered an even greater defeat. After the game, the English media praised Nallbani's performance as one of the greatest performances and Peter Shilton was himself amazed by the performance of the young Albanian.
"He (Shilton) was 21 when he first pulled on an England jersey and that helped to produce a fascinating statistic when England met Albania in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley in 1989. Blendi Nallbani, the goalkeeper at the other end, was only 17 and hadn't been born when Shilts made his debut."TheFA.com – Shilton is number one
At 17 years old, Nallbani was also the youngest goalkeeper to play in an England match.TheFA.com – Match Statistics
After that famous English game and another one against Spain, Nallbani received offers from other famed European Clubs (Barcelona, Juventus, Anderlecht, and some Romanian and Turkish clubs). However, due to the "communist Albania," he was not allowed to play for teams outside the country or his family would be persecuted and possibly jailed.
In the year, 1990, he was selected in the Under-21 Best European Selection and was supposed to play a charity game against the Africa/Asia Under-21. However, he was not able to attend this game for the same reasons that he was not allowed to play for a European Club at that time.
Nallbani earned a total of 18 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was an April 2002 friendly match against Andorra.
Relations with the media Nallbani is known in Albania as being a bubbly and extravagant person who likes to make jokes with the Albanian media. During the 2008–2009 season in a heated derby match against his former team, Partizani Tirana Nallbani was booked for handling the ball outside of his area, which angered the Partizani players and fans as they thought that the keeper deserved a sending off for the offence. After the match ended, Nallbani tried to explain in the changing rooms that he did not handle the ball outside his area saying
"I swear on my daughter, I didn't touch the ball with my hand."
Nallbani is the father of two children, both of them boys.“Qafsha gocën s’e preka topin me dorë”(in Albanian) The referee Elvis Peza had also not booked Nallbani for a foul in the 55th minute on Partizani's Brazilian striker Paulo Marcel Pereira Merabet. This prompted an investigation from the FSHF (Albanian FA) into Peza's performance during the match which received a lot of media coverage in Albania as Nallbani was involved in two key decisions during the match. Former player and now head of Refereeing in Albania Ilir Shulku quickly jumped to Peza's defence and put him off the hook.Shulku u del në mbrojtje gjyqtarëve(in Albanian)
Personal life Nallbani is married and has two children, both of which are boys, Marvin and Dejvi. One of his children has followed in his father's footsteps as a footballer. His son born in 1992, Marvin Nallbani, is also a footballer and played for some time at KF Tirana with his father. Unlike his father he plays outfield, mostly in midfield and has been training with the Tirana senior squad since the age of 8.
As of 2018, he is head of the omnisports club Studenti.Blendi Nallbani: Futbolli shqiptar ka progres, këtu ka meritë edhe Presidenti i FSHF-së, Armand Duka – Telegraf
Career statistics Club Source: + Club statisticsClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsPartizani Tirana1987–88Albanian Superliga18000——1801988–8915000——1501989–905000——501990–911000——10Total39000——390Tirana1990–91Albanian Superliga24000——240Gloria Bistriţa1991–92Liga I0000——00Tirana1991–92Albanian Superliga8000——801992–9316000——260Total24000——240Partizani Tirana1993–94Albanian Superliga4000——40Tirana1994–95Albanian Superliga14000——1401995–9631000——3101996–9718000——1801998–9923000——2301999–200025000——2502000–0126010——2702001–0226000—00260Total16301000001640Partizani Tirana2001–02Albanian Superliga25000——2502002–03240002All appearance(s) in UEFA Cup0—2602003–0434050——3902004–050000200020Total830504000920Tirana2004–05Albanian Superliga8000——802005–06160004All appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League0002002006–0711000401Appearance in Albanian Supercup01602007–0821000—002102008–0929070——3602009–102813020103412010–1130002All appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League0—50Total1161100120201381Career total4531160160204871
International Source: + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsAlbania198920199130199310199530199640199710200240Total180
Honours Albanian Superliga: 5 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000Albania – Championship Winning Teams – RSSSF
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