Xhevair Kapllani

Xhevahir Kapllani (; born 21 June 1974) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and later became a football manager.

He spent his entire playing career in top-flight football, mainly in the Albanian Superliga, representing hometown club Teuta, with whom he won the 1993–94 Albanian Superliga title and the Albanian Cup in 1994–95 and 2004–05, as well as capital clubs Dinamo Tirana and Partizani, Lushnja, Luftëtari, Erzeni, and Besa, and also had a spell abroad in the Macedonian First Football League with Bashkimi. He is noted for a run of 824 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal for Teuta between 2 October 1993 and 5 February 1994, which contributed to the club’s 1993–94 league title-winning season.

Internationally, Kapllani represented Albania U21 and also made five appearances for the Albania senior team between 1993 and 1996. In the 1994–95 Albanian Superliga season, he made 29 appearances as Teuta finished again in second place, while also winning the 1994–95 Albanian Cup. On 14 September 1995, he made his debut in a major European competition in the first leg of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round against 1994–95 UEFA Cup winners, Italian side Parma, keeping a clean sheet until the 75th minute before conceding twice to Gianfranco Zola in a 2–0 home defeat at Qemal Stafa Stadium. He also played the full 90 minutes in the second leg away on 28 September 1995, but Teuta were again defeated 2–0, losing 4–0 on aggregate and being eliminated from the competition. In the 1995–96 Albanian Superliga season, he made 33 appearances as the club once again finished as runners-up, before leaving in the summer of 1996 with a total of 116 league appearances.

2003–04: Bashkimi (abroad) and Besa Kavajë In the summer of 2003, he moved abroad for the first time by joining Bashkimi in the 2003–04 Macedonian First Football League, where he had a brief spell and made only 5 appearances in the first half of the season. In the 2005–06 Albanian Superliga season, he played 35 of 36 league matches and kept 10 clean sheets, although Teuta finished 8th and entered the relegation play-off against Skënderbeu, where Kapllani played the full match as Teuta secured a 1–0 victory, enough to retain their top-flight status.

In the 2006–07 Albanian Superliga season, he made 26 league appearances, conceding 26 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets, as Teuta finished as runners-up with 67 points. In his final season, 2007–08, he made his third UEFA Cup appearance by playing both legs of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup first qualifying round against Croatian side Slaven Belupo, as Teuta suffered a 6–2 first-leg defeat before earning a 2–2 draw in the return match, losing 8–4 on aggregate. In the 2007–08 Albanian Superliga season, he made 22 league appearances and kept 5 clean sheets as Teuta recorded only 6 wins and 5 draws by March 2008.

He retired at the end of the 2007–08 season, having made around 120 appearances during his third spell with Teuta, which took his overall tally with the club to around 260 appearances in all competitions, while also reaching exactly 400 top-flight league appearances in his professional career.

He made his senior debut for the Albania on 17 February 1993 in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland, a 1–2 home defeat. He also played in another qualification group match in a 3–1 away defeat to Lithuania on 14 April 1993. He earned a total of 5 caps and his final international was in April 1996, a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw.

Managerial career Kapllani began his managerial career in 2010 as head coach of Sukthi in the Albanian third tier, Kategoria e Dytë. In his second season in charge, he came close to achieving direct promotion to Kategoria e Parë, but the team failed to secure the required win against Tërbuni, resulting in qualification for the promotion play-off instead. In the promotion play-off, Sukthi lost 3–0 away to Himara, missing promotion. Kapllani also served as assistant coach at Teuta in 2016.

Personal life He is the elder brother of fellow footballer Edmond Kapllani, who played as a striker in Germany and for the Albania national team. He is also the father of footballer Dejvid Kapllani, who played for Teuta during the 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore title-winning season.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Teuta Albanian Superliga: 1993–94 Albanian Cup: 1994–95 and 2004–05