Skënder Jareci


Skënder Jareci was an Albanian former football manager and player.
Jareci represented Teuta Durrës and Dinamo Tirana during his playing career and also won 8 caps for Albanian national team. He is the tenth all-time top goalscorer in the history of Albanian Superliga with 122 goals.

Playing career

Club

In 1950, Jareci joined the newly established Dinamo Tirana club, whom he won 7 championships and 6 cups, establishing himself as one of the best Albanian strikers of his generation. In the 1951 and 1952 seasons, Jareci played an important role as Dinamo won 25 consecutive matches in league, setting the record in Albania and ranked just 4th tied with Celtic in Europe's longest domestic winning streaks. He was Albania's player of the year three times, in 1952, 1957 and 1958.

International

Jareci made his international debut on 6 November 1949 in a friendly versus Poland, entering in the second half as the match ended in a 2–1 loss. His first and only international goal came later on 29 November 1952 in the 3–2 home win over Czechoslovakia. He earned his last cap six years later by playing in the 1–1 draw against East Germany.

International statistics

Source:

Managerial career

Jareci's managerial career reached its peak during his spell with Dinamo Tirana, in which he established himself as one the greatest Albanian managers of all time. He also promoted youth talents such as Faruk Sejdini and Ilir Përnaska, with the latter becoming a one-club man and scoring more than 100 goals. With Vllaznia, he won the 1964–65 Albanian Cup.

Personal life

Jareci was born in Durrës in 1931 to parents from Debar who had moved to Durrës in 1920 to escape conflict with neighboring Yugoslavs. His father had established himself as successful trader in Durrës, but was arrested and killed by the Albanian communists in the late 1940s once they had taken control of the country.
His brother Namik Jareci was also a professional footballer who played alongside Skënder at Dinamo Tirana for several years. Skënder was married to musician Jozefilda, who derives from a family in Mirditë District. They had two daughters, Ilva and Ina.
He died after a long illness in 1984.

Honours

Club