Ervin Bulku

Ervin Bulku (; born 3 March 1981) is an Albanian former professional footballer and current assistant coach of the Albania national team. After nearly a decade with Tirana, he continued his career abroad with Kryvbas in Ukraine, Hajduk Split in Croatia, AZAL in Azerbaijan, and Sepahan in Iran, where he won the 2012–13 Hazfi Cup. He made 21 appearances in the National Championship as Tirana retained the league title. He also featured in the 2000 Albanian Supercup, appearing during the final five minutes against Teuta on 13 January 2001, as Tirana won 1–0 to secure the trophy. In the 2001 Albanian Supercup, he started against Vllaznia on 15 September 2001 and played 55 minutes before being substituted with Tirana trailing 1–0, as the match ended in a 2–1 defeat. On 26 October 2001, he scored his first National Championship goal in a 2–1 victory over Lushnja, giving Tirana the lead in the 22nd minute after his shot deflected off a defender into the net. He made 22 league appearances as Tirana won the championship title. He scored again against the same opponents in Round 20 on 22 January 2005, converting an 81st-minute penalty to secure a 1–0 away victory. In the 2006 Albanian Supercup on 19 August 2006, Bulku played the full 90 minutes as Tirana defeated Elbasani 2–0 to win the trophy.

Bulku also featured regularly in European competitions against teams such as Dinamo Tbilisi, Ferencváros, CSKA Sofia and Kayserispor.

In his final season with Tirana, Bulku made 30 appearances and scored once in the 2006–07 Kategoria Superiore as the club won the league title. He scored his first goal for the club on 22 March 2009 in a 1–0 win over Kharkiv, before adding another two weeks later in a 2–1 victory against Zorya Luhansk. He finished the campaign with 25 league appearances as Kryvbas improved to 12th place. He made his debut on 16 September 2010, starting and playing 81 minutes in a 3–1 defeat to AEK Athens in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League group stage. He made his league debut three days later, playing 83 minutes in a 1–0 away victory over Rijeka. He established himself as a regular member of the first team during the 2010–11 season, making 15 league appearances, mostly as a starter, as Hajduk finished runners-up.

He made his second Europa League group-stage appearance on 30 September 2010 in a 1–0 victory over Anderlecht. On 4 November 2010, Bulku played the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 home defeat to Zenit Saint Petersburg, his third appearance in the competition. He made four appearances in the UEFA Europa League. He made his debut on 7 August 2011 in a 3–0 league victory over Simurq. He scored his first goal for the club three matches later, in a 3–1 win against Neftchi Baku on 27 August 2011. Bulku established himself as a regular starter throughout the 2011–12 season, making 22 league appearances and scoring three goals.

Sepahan On 21 July 2012, Bulku signed a one-year contract with Iranian champions Sepahan, joining fellow Albanian player Xhevahir Sukaj, who had arrived at the club earlier that year.

He made his debut on 29 August 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home victory over Fajr Sepasi. In the 2012–13 Hazfi Cup, Bulku scored in the quarter-final against Sanat Naft on 9 January 2013, helping Sepahan to a 2–0 victory and a place in the semi-finals. Sepahan went on to win the competition, giving Bulku his first major honour outside Albania. In his first season, Bulku made 21 league appearances and scored once, while also featuring in five AFC Champions League matches.

Return to Tirana On 5 June 2014, Tirana announced the signing of Bulku as a free agent, marking his return to the club after seven years abroad. The transfer was made official nine days later, when he signed a two-year contract. He joined the squad managed by Gugash Magani on 1 July following the opening of the summer transfer window.

He made his first appearance of the season on 24 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over Apolonia Fier in the opening league match at Qemal Stafa Stadium. He scored his only goal of the season on matchday three, netting a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1–1 away draw against Vllaznia Shkodër in a match marred by crowd trouble that resulted in arrests and stadium bans.

Bulku finished his first season back at Tirana with 32 appearances in all competitions and one goal.

He started the first three matches of the 2015–16 season, but an injury caused him to lose his place in the starting lineup. He finished the campaign with four league appearances.

Bulku was part of the Albania senior team from 2002, making his debut under assistant coach Mirel Josa on 13 March 2002 against Mexico, playing the full 90-minutes in a 2–0 defeat. He made two further appearances in late March and the following month under head coach Sulejman Demollari.

He was not called up again until 2006, when coach Otto Barić included him in the squad for a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Netherlands on 11 October, remaining an unused substitute in the 2–1 defeat. His next appearance came on 7 February 2007 in a friendly against Macedonia, replacing captain Altin Lala at half-time in a 1–0 defeat. During the remainder of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Bulku became a regular member of the squad, making five further appearances—three as a substitute and two as a starter—as Albania recorded three draws and two defeats in the group, finishing third from bottom for the first time in its history in the European qualifiers.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign under coach Arie Haan, Bulku initially began as a secondary option in midfield, but soon established himself as a regular starter, featuring in three matches in which Albania kept clean sheets, including a 3–0 victory and two 0–0 draws, one of which came against Portugal featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, the eventual winner of the 2008 Ballon d'Or, despite Albania playing with 10 men. Following a 3–0 defeat to Denmark on 1 April 2009, a managerial change brought Josip Kuže to the helm, under whom Bulku played almost every available minute in the remaining three qualifiers, missing only one minute in total. In these final matches, Albania suffered defeats against Portugal and Sweden and earned a 1–1 draw against group leaders Denmark, ultimately finishing fifth in the six-team group.

During the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Bulku began as an ever-present starter, featuring for the full 90 minutes in four of the first five matches as Albania recorded two 1–0 wins and two 1–1 draws, while also playing less than an hour in a 2–0 loss, before later making another full 90-minute appearance in a further 2–0 defeat. He scored his first senior goal on 9 February 2011 in a friendly against Slovenia, equalising in the 62nd minute before Albania eventually lost 2–1. In the remaining fixtures of the qualification campaign, he made two additional appearances in September 2011—one as a starter and one as a substitute—in two 2–1 defeats that mathematically eliminated Albania from qualification contention, prompting coach Josip Kuže to adopt a more experimental approach with squad rotation and younger players, after which Bulku was not called up for the final matches of the campaign in October 2011.

Bulku retained his place as a regular starter for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign under coach Gianni De Biasi, starting nine of Albania's ten group matches. During the opening four fixtures in autumn 2012, he was ever-present in defensive midfield alongside new arrival Burim Kukeli, as Albania recorded two wins and two defeats. During the second half of the campaign in 2013, Bulku formed a new defensive-midfield partnership with another new arrival, Migjen Basha, and provided assists in both matches against Norway, setting up Hamdi Salihi for the only goal in a 1–0 away victory on 22 March, before assisting Valdet Rama in the reverse fixture on 7 June after a long pass from inside Albania's own half shortly before half-time. Bulku was also regarded as physically strong and a reliable defensive presence in midfield. In April 2013, Albania achieved a historic rise in the FIFA World Rankings, climbing 16 places to 48th position, their highest ranking at the time. In the remaining fixtures, Bulku was mostly a starter during the autumn of 2013, as Albania recorded three consecutive defeats and a goalless draw, dropping to second from bottom in the group.

Ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, De Biasi's ongoing squad overhaul had already introduced several new defensive midfield options, including players who switched allegiance from the Swiss U21 side as well as experienced and emerging options, creating strong competition for places and resulting in Bulku being included in the match protocol for only one fixture as an unused substitute midway through the campaign, despite continuing to receive regular call-ups. Albania ultimately finished as runners-up in the group and qualified for the first time in their history for a major tournament, while Bulku later participated in the UEFA Euro 2016 finals as part of De Biasi's coaching staff.

Managerial career After limited involvement as a player for the Albania national team during the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Bulku was appointed assistant manager to Gianni De Biasi, becoming the third assistant coach alongside Paolo Tramezzani and Erjon Bogdani. He made his debut in the role on 17 November 2015 in a match against Georgia. Bulku continued in the assistant manager role during Albania's first appearance at a major international tournament, the UEFA Euro 2016. Albania finished third in Group A with three points and a −2 goal difference, and were eliminated after ranking last among the third-placed teams.

On 23 March 2019, following the dismissal of Albania national team head coach Christian Panucci after a 2–0 home defeat to Turkey on the opening matchday of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, Bulku was appointed caretaker manager, with Sulejman Mema serving as his assistant for the following match against Andorra two days later. The match was played away and Albania won 3–0, with two of the goals scored in the second half by substitutes Bekim Balaj and Amir Abrashi.

Career statistics

Club

Albania's squads score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bulku's goal.

+ International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competitionForDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition U-18 27 September 1999 Stadium Forssa, Forssa, Finland 4 1–1 3–1 2000 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualifying U-21 31 August 2001 Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania 7 3–0 3–0 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Senior 9 February 2011 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania 33 1–1 1–2 Friendly

Honours Tirana Albanian Superliga: 1998–1999, 1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, 2004–2005, 2006–2007 Albanian Cup: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06 Albanian Supercup: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Sepahan Hazfi Cup: 2012–13