Bledar Kola (born 1 August 1972) is an Albanian retired football player and later manager.
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Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | (1972-08-01) 1 August 1972 (age 50) | ||
Place of birth | Mirditë, Albania | ||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
Besëlidhja | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1988–1989 | Besëlidhja | ||
1989–1990 | Partizani | 35 | (6) |
1990–1991 | Elbasani | 21 | (1) |
1991–1994 | Panargiakos | 77 | (13) |
1994–1996 | Apollon Smyrnis | 63 | (10) |
1996–2000 | Panathinaikos | 106 | (10) |
2001–2002 | AEK Athens | 11 | (0) |
2002–2003 | Kallithea | 16 | (1) |
2003–2004 | Apollon Smyrnis | 19 | (2) |
Total | 348 | (43) | |
National team | |||
1990–2001 | Albania | 39 | (6) |
Teams managed | |||
2008–2012 | AEK Athens(youth) | ||
2010 | AEK Athens (caretaker) | ||
2012 | Apollon Smyrnis | ||
2013 | Omonia (assistant) | ||
2014 | Panargiakos | ||
2014–2016 | Panionios (assistant) | ||
2016–2018 | Panathinaikos (assistant) | ||
2018–2019 | AEK Athens (assistant) | ||
2020 | APOEL (assistant) | ||
2021 | Universitatea Craiova (assistant) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Kola comes from Mirditë, but grew up in the city of Lezhë. He was an exemplary student. He started his career at Besëlidhja Lezhë, and then moved to Partizani Tirana. Later he moved to Greece where his playing career took off.
Kola spent most of his career playing for various clubs in the Greek Super League, including Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrnis, Panargiakos and AEK Athens .[1] In January 2003, Kola was sacked by Kallithea after failing a doping test.[2]
He made his debut for Albania in a December 1990 European Championship qualification match away against Spain and earned a total of 39 caps, scoring 6 goals.[3] His final international was a March 2001 FIFA World Cup qualification against England in Tirana.[4]
Albania national team | ||
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Year | Apps | Goals |
1990 | 1 | 0 |
1991 | 1 | 0 |
1992 | 1 | 0 |
1993 | 0 | 0 |
1994 | 4 | 0 |
1995 | 3 | 0 |
1996 | 4 | 0 |
1997 | 5 | 2 |
1998 | 7 | 2 |
1999 | 6 | 1 |
2000 | 5 | 0 |
2001 | 2 | 1 |
Total | 39 | 6 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 2 April 1997 | Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
2 | 2 April 1997 | Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain | ![]() | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
3 | 10 February 1999 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
4 | 10 February 1999 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | ![]() | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
5 | 9 October 1999 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
6 | 24 March 2001 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
Kola took temporary charge at AEK Athens in August 2010 and was named full-time manager of Apollon Smyrni in July 2012.[5] He also coached Panargiakos and was assistant at Panathinaikos and later to AEK manager Marinos Ouzounidis until they were both dismissed in 2019.[6]
Bledar Kola managerial positions | |||||||||||
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