Erjon Bogdani

Erjon Bogdani (born 14 April 1977) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player.

He is nicknamed "Bogu" or "Er-Bomber".

Bogdani made his professional debut with Partizani Tirana in the Albanian Superliga, playing seven games in the second half of the 1993–94 season.

The following season, he scored his first goal in a campaign which saw him play 13 games and score 2 goals.

Regarded as one of the most successful Albanian players of all time, Bogdani began his career at Partizani Tirana in 1994 where he debuted at the age of 16.

The young Bogdani then joined Partizani Tirana's academy, where he played through the different age groups and eventually signed his first professional contract with the club in 1994.

Bogdani has 74 caps for Albania national team, making his debut in 1996 and scoring his first goal three years later.

The 1997–98 campaign would prove to be his most successful in Albanian football as he scored 13 goals in just 15 games before the winter break.

His performance at Partizani Tirana attracted the attention of several foreign clubs.

Bogdani decided to move to Turkey at Gençlerbirliği in the Süper Lig playing for the second half of the 1997–98 season in 11 games and scoring 1 goal.

He left the club in January 1998 to sign with Gençlerbirliği.

That summer, Bogdani moved in Croatia to play for Zagreb, before traveling to Italy where he enjoyed the best years of his career.

Bogdani played in the following years in Serie A and B, representing Reggina, Salernitana, Verona, Siena, Chievo, Livorno and Cesena.

In his first season with NK Zagreb, the 1998–99, he played 14 games scoring 9 goals.

In the next season 1999–2000 first-half, he scored 6 goals in 12 games.

With the first half of the 1999–2000 Prva HNL season over, Bogdani was transferred to Italy at the winter break, joining Reggina on a three-year contract in January 2000.

He made his Serie A debut on 6 February 2000 against Bologna.

Overall in his first season at Reggina he played 10 Serie A games and scored 1 goal.

In the 2000–01 season he played 19 matches scoring 1 goal and Reggina were relegated in the Serie B.

In the 2001–02 Serie B season, Bogdani managed to score 7 goals in 31 games helping Reggina rank in the 3rd place to win promotion in the Serie A. He played overall 11 games and scored 1 goal in the 2002–03 Serie A.

In the 2003–04 season, he was loaned to Salernitana in the Serie B.

In the 2004–05 season, Bogdani was signed by Verona.

Under coach Massimo Ficcadenti Bogdani played all 38 matches where he participated as a starter completing 33 full 90-minutes and was the team top-scorer in the Serie B with 17 goals scored.

He was ranked 4th in the entire goalscorers classification with 3 goals behind top-scorer Gionatha Spinesi and 2 goals behind Diego Milito and Francesco Tavano.

The 2004–05 season had the highest number of goals scored in a single season.

In the summer of 2005, Bogdani made his return to Italy's top-flight, but for A.C. Siena.

He made it his debut on 28 August 2005 against Cagliari playing a full 90-minute match, which finished in a 2–1 victory.

Bogdani scored his first goal on 21 September 2005 against Ascoli, in a match finished in the 1–1 draw where his goal was the first of the match, scored in the 45th minute.

In the 2005–06 season he registered in total 34 league appearances where he scored in total 11 goals.

On 28 January 2006 Bogdani scored a hat trick of 3 goals against Palermo where the match finished in the 1–3 away victory.

He started another season with Siena as he played in the first match against Chievo on 10 September 2006, where the match finished in a victory 1–2.

He played until the end of the 2006–07 season's first half, where he made 15 appearances and scored 2 goals.

Bogdani later moved to Croatia with Josip Kuže's (also future coach of Bogdani at the Albania national team in 2009) crucial help joining the Prva HNL club NK Zagreb.

With 18 goals, he is Albania's all-time top goalscorer, overtaking his former teammate Alban Bushi in 2011 by netting his 15th goal.

He holds numerous Albanian records, including most goals as substitute and oldest goalscoring in history, and has been dubbed as the best striker to play for the Red and Black.

He became a free agent in May 2013 after his contract with Siena ran out, and retired from the sport in February 2014.

Following his retirement, Bogdani was initially appointed by Albanian Football Association as a youth talents scouter, starting the job in September 2014.

He began his managerial career by being named Gianni De Biasi assistant in August 2015.

In December 2016, he was named manager of Albania under-19 team.

Bogdani was discovered by local side Partizani Tirana at the age of 10 in a school team competition held in Tirana, where he scored 11 goals in just four games.