Rudi Vata

Rudi Vata (born 13 February 1969 in Shkodër) is a former Albanian footballer who played as a defender, and had also a short stint as a manager of Albanian team KS Vllaznia Shkoder.

Early life

Vata was born in the northern city of Shkodër and joined local side Vllaznia Shkodër at a young age, making his first team debut in 1988. Whilst travelling with the Albania U-21 team in France he sought political asylum in 1991.^[1]

Football career

Vata's career in Western football began in France in 1991, when the KS Dinamo Tirana player claimed political asylum following an international match.^[2][3] He played for Le Mans Union Club 72 and Tours FC, before playing for Celtic between January 1993 and 1995-96. He became the first Albanian to win an honour in a major European country when he won the 1995 Scottish FA Cup with Celtic.

Vata went on to play for Apollon Limassol (1996–1998), Energie Cottbus (1998–2001), Rot-Weiß Ahlen (January–June 2002) and SK Tirana (2002–2003). This was followed by a spell in Japan, from where he signed for St Johnstone F.C. in 2004. He retired from football in 2005 after a brief stint with KF Partizani Tirana.^[4] He was capped 58 times and scored 5 goals for the Albanian national team.

Since retiring from the professional game, Vata has become a sports agent, specialising in Eastern European football, and facilitating the transfer of players such as Garry O'Connor and Aiden McGeady.^[5]

Club statistics

^[6]

National team statistics

Personal life

Vata is married to Anne Frances from Wishaw, Lanarkshire in Scotland, whom he met during his time playing at Celtic. They have two sons together, both of whom were born in Scotland.

References

External links

• Vata at Celtic FC - Football-Heroes.net
• Rudi Vata at National-Football-Teams.com

Albania squad – 2000 Rothmans International Tournament
1 Grima 2 Beqaj 3 Driza 4 Çipi 5 Vata (c) 6 Dabulla 7 Dibra 8 Liçi 9 Devolli 10 Jupi 11 Rrica 12 Muka 13 Murati 14 Dalipi 15 Bozgo 16 Sinani 17 Zajmi 18 Dobi Coach: Zhega