Foto Strakosha

Fotaq "Foto" Strakosha (; born 29 March 1965) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is currently a goalkeeping coach with Lazio Youth.

Strakosha is regarded as one of Albania's most popular goalkeepers. During his 20-year playing career, he represented 11 different clubs, starting in Albania before moving to Greece in 1991, where he spent the majority of his career until his retirement in 2005.

Strakosha began his senior career with Minatori Tepelenë in 1985 before moving Dinamo Tirana. In his first season with Dinamo, he won the Albanian Cup and the Albanian Supercup. The following season proved even more successful, as he won all three domestic competitions: the Albanian Superliga, the Albanian Cup, and the Albanian Supercup. After spending another half-season at Dinamo, Strakosha moved to Greece, joining PAS Giannina for the remainder of the 1990–91 season. He later played in Piraeus for Ethnikos Piraeus for two years before joining Olympiacos, where he spent four seasons. During his time at Olympiacos, the club consistently finished among the top teams in the Greek top-flight, winning the league title in the 1996–97 season. He then signed for Panionios, where he played for two seasons, becoming the club's first-choice goalkeeper and winning the Greek Cup in his first season. Strakosha later joined Ionikos, spending three and a half seasons there, before moving to Kallithea for the first half of the 2002–03 season. He continued in the Greek second division with Kalamata and later Ethnikos Asteras. He returned to the top flight with Proodeftiki for the remainder of the 2003–04 season, before rejoining Panionios for the 2004–05 season, which marked the end of his playing career.

At international level, Strakosha captained the Albania national team for several years. He earned 73 caps between 1990 and 2005, becoming Albania's most capped player at the time of his retirement.

Early life Fotaq Strakosha was born on 29 March 1965 in Memaliaj, He spent his childhood and completed his early education in his hometown Memaliaj, near Tepelenë, an area known for its coal mines, where he also worked for a short period. In his hometown, he began playing football at a young age, initially through school and local sporting activities. During this period, he established himself as the team's first-choice goalkeeper and was identified as a promising young goalkeeper earning a regular place in the first team by early age. The transfer was eventually completed after assurances were given by state authorities that Strakosha would not face restrictions related to his background, allowing him to continue his career at a higher competitive level. His move to Dinamo marked a significant step, transitioning from a non-elite club in the lower divisions to one of Albania's most successful teams of the era. In the first round of the competition, Strakosha featured against Dinamo București in September 1989. He kept a clean sheet in the first leg, a 1–0 home victory for Dinamo Tirana, but conceded two goals in the return leg, a 2–0 away defeat, which resulted in Dinamo's elimination from the tournament on aggregate.

In the 1990–91 European Cup First round, Strakosha played both legs against Marseille. Dinamo Tirana lost the first leg 5–1 away, and although Strakosha kept a clean sheet in the second leg at home in a goalless draw, the team was eliminated.

He made his debut for the club during the latter part of the 1990–91 season, marking his first experience outside Albania. In one of his early appearances, Strakosha featured in a match against Panathinaikos, during which he saved a penalty, despite PAS Giannina's defeat. In his first league stages, Strakosha established himself as a regular starter, keeping four clean sheets in his first nine league appearances and conceding only five goals. Olympiacos finished in third place in the final league standings.

Strakosha also featured in European competition during the season, making three appearances in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup. The club recorded two wins against Botev Plovdiv and one loss against Tenerife across two rounds of the tournament.

In the 1995–96 Alpha Ethniki season, Strakosha played 12 matches, Olympiacos finished in third place in the final league standings. Strakosha featured also in the 1995–96 Greek Cup. keeping clean sheets in both fixtures as Olympiacos recorded two victories. He also appeared in both legs of the first round of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup against Ferencváros, with Olympiacos being eliminated 5–3 on aggregate.

Despite his involvement at the beginning of the season, these proved to be his only appearances during the 1996–97 campaign. For a variety of reasons, he was unable to establish himself further in the team.

Following his debut, he went on to establish himself as the team's first-choice goalkeeper, recording two clean sheets in the matches that followed. Throughout the season, the club faced administrative and financial difficulties; Panionios however ended 11th in ranking table. defeating Panathinaikos 1–0 in the final played on 29 April 1998 at the Karaiskakis Stadium, with Strakosha starting and being decisive throughout the match.

In the following season, Strakosha made 24 appearances, keeping five clean sheets in the 1998–99 Alpha Ethniki, as the club finished 15th in the league.

Strakosha described his spell at Panionios as one of the most significant periods of his career, citing the strong sense of trust and respect he experienced at the club. During his time in Nea Smyrni, he developed a close personal connection with the area, choosing to settle there permanently, a bond he has continued to highlight long after his playing career.

Ionikos In the summer of 1999, Strakosha moved to Ionikos.

Later the same month, Strakosha made his league debut in the 1999–2000 Alpha Ethniki in a 1–1 away draw against Panachaiki.

He subsequently established himself as Ionikos’ first-choice goalkeeper during the season, providing stability at the back as the club enjoyed a solid campaign in the Greek top division.

In the following 2000–01 Alpha Ethniki season, Strakosha made 25 league appearances, keeping five clean sheets during the campaign. Ionikos finished the season in sixth place in the league standings, achieving one of the club's strongest league performances at the time.

Kallithea Strakosha had considered retiring from professional football, but however, he decided to continue his playing career following encouragement from Hans-Peter Briegel, head coach of the Albania national team at the time.

Later career 2003–04 season In the summer of 2003, Strakosha joined second-division side Ethnikos Asteras, where he spent six months and made 13 league appearances. He spent six months at the club during the second half of the 2003–04 season, making 12 league appearances in the 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki and keeping two clean sheets.

Strakosha had initially considered retiring earlier, but continued until the end of the season due to a combination of factors, including an agreement with the club president and the need for additional goalkeeping cover following the absence of first-choice goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobný.

He concluded his professional playing career at Panionios, a club he had strong ties with.

He made his senior debut under coach Bejkush Birçe on 30 May 1990 in a UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying match against Iceland, where Albania lost the match 2–0 in Reykjavík; he was 25 years old at the time.

Following his move abroad to Greece in early 1991, Strakosha earned additional caps from 1991 onwards, appearing regularly in the starting line-up. During this period, he recorded two clean sheets in international matches against Greece.

In mid-1993, following his transfer to Olympiacos, Strakosha established himself as Albania's first-choice goalkeeper. He was an almost ever-present member of the national team during the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 7, playing nearly every minute of the qualification process and missing a total of only eight minutes throughout the entire campaign.

Strakosha delivered notable performances in both matches against Moldova; on 29 March 1995, he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory and was substituted in the final eight minutes, marking the only time he was replaced during the qualifying campaign. In the return fixture on 7 June 1995, he captained Albania for the first time and played the full match in a 3–2 away victory.

In addition Albania earned two further points during the campaign, recording 1–1 draws against Bulgaria and Wales and finished the group stage level on points with Wales but placed last on head-to-head records.

During the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9, Strakosha played seven full matches for Albania and kept one clean sheet, in a 1–0 victory over Northern Ireland, which was Albania's only win in the qualifying group. including a goalless draw against Greece early in the qualification process. Following the match, he briefly announced his intention to retire from international football amid criticism directed at him, but the decision was temporary and he continued his international career thereafter. Albania recorded four draws overall and concluded the campaign with a 2–1 home victory over Georgia, finishing second from bottom in the group standings; this marked the first time Albania avoided last place in a European Championship qualifying campaign.

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9, Strakosha played seven full matches for Albania and kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Greece, which was Albania's only win in the qualifying group. On 6 June 2001, he made his 50th international appearance in the penultimate match of the qualification group against Germany ended in a 0–2 loss.

In Albania's final match of the group on 5 September 2001 against England, Strakosha was appointed team captain by newly appointed head coach Sulejman Demollari.

Strakosha was confirmed team captain during the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, initially under head coach Giuseppe Dossena and later under Hans-Peter Briegel. During these qualifying campaigns, Strakosha surpassed Rudi Vata to become the Albanian national team player with the most international appearances at the time. Albania recorded an improved campaign compared to previous editions, remaining unbeaten at home and securing two wins and two draws to collect eight points.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2 campaign marked Strakosha's final international season. It began on 4 September 2004 with a historic 1–0 home victory over Greece, the reigning European champions at the time; that same night, a tragic incident occurred in Greece when an Albanian immigrant supporter celebrating the win was attacked and killed by local hooligans.

Strakosha also kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 away win against Kazakhstan and played a total of five matches during the campaign, as his final international appearance came on 9 February 2005 in a 2–0 loss to Ukraine.

By the end of his international career, Strakosha had earned a total of 73 caps for Albania, maintaining his position as the player with the most appearances for the national team at the time.

Strakosha also holds the unique records for the most appearances by an Albanian player in UEFA European Championship qualifying matches, a record he shares with Altin Lala, with 29 appearances each, and for the most consecutive years of appearances, playing in every year from 1990 to 2005, a total of 16 consecutive years. Strakosha married Adelina at the age of 26 and the couple have two sons. His youngest son Thomas is a professional footballer and plays as a goalkeeper for AEK Athens and the Albania national football team. His eldest son Dhimitri played as a striker in the lower leagues of Albania and Greece.

Managerial career After retiring, Strakosha initially oversaw some goalkeeping coaching duties at Panionios, but due to other commitments, his wife assisted in managing responsibilities.

He left Albania U19 on 12 August 2014 to work for Olympiacos for a second spell as goalkeeping coach.

He left Olympiacos and moved at Lazio Youth to work again as goalkeeping coach, rejoining his son Thomas who was part of Lazio's senior team.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dinamo Tirana Albanian Superliga: 1989–90 Albanian Cup: 1988–89, 1989–90 Albanian Supercup: 1989, 1990

Olympiacos Super League Greece: 1996–97

Panionios Greek Cup: 1997–98