 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arben Minga | ||
| Date of birth | 16 March 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Tirana,Albania | ||
| Date of death | 31 January 2007(2007-01-31) (aged 47) | ||
| Place of death | Windsor, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1974–1975 | 17 Nëntori Tirana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1975–1991 | 17 Nëntori Tirana | 332 | (133) |
| 1991–1992 | FC Brașov | 17 | (1) |
| 1992–1993 | Dacia Unirea Brăila | 25 | (3) |
| 1993–1994 | Acvila Giurgiu | ||
| 1994–1996 | Tirana | 55 | (3) |
| International career | |||
| Albania U21 | |||
| 1980–1989 | Albania | 28 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Arben Minga (16 March 1959 – 31 January 2007) was anAlbanian professionalfootballer, who played as astriker and later in his final years as acentre-back.
He was known asBeni i modh (Big Ben).[1]
Born inTirana, Albania, Minga began his career withKF Tirana, then known as17 Nëntori, at the age of 15.[1] He was well established in the senior squad by the 1977–78 season, making his competitive debut on 20 November 1977 in the match againstShkëndija Tiranë,[1] while his first goal for the club came later on 2 April 1978 in the 3–1 win overLuftëtari Gjirokastër.[1]
In the following years, Minga was also named team captain.[1] In the 1980' Minga would be part of Tirana's golden generation along with players such asAgustin Kola,Mirel Josa,Sulejman Mema,Shkëlqim Muça,Bedri Omuri andMillan Baçi, winning four championships and three cups.[2] He also received offers from Dinamo and Partizani to join them, and also friends and colleagues tried to convince him.[1] Dinamo also offered him a very lucrative house which Minga turned down, saying: Thank you for evaluating me, but I cannot leave 17 Nëntori.[1]
Minga was on top of his game during the1985–86 season, netting 16 goals and helping Tirana to a third-place finish.[3] One of his more notable games was the opening championship match against rivals ofPartizani Tirana on 22 September where he scored a hat-trick to give Tirana a 7–3 win, the largest ever win against them.[4]
In the early 1990s, Minga moved abroad to play inRomania in the 1992–1994. With Brăila he played in (and lost) the1993 Romanian Cup Final.[5] He came back to Tirana at the start of1994–95 season, aged 35, also playing as a defender.[1] Minga excelled in playing in his new role in the final two years, helping Tirana to win the championship both times.[6]
In April 2020, Minga was voted by the fans as KF Tirana Player of the Century as part of their celebrations for the club's 100th anniversary.[7]
Minga had a successful youth international career, winningBalkan Youth Championship twice in 1978 and 1981.[8]
Minga has been capped 28 times byAlbania senior squad,[9] earning his first cap on 3 September 1980 in the 2–0 home win versusFinland valid for the1982 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.[10] He played 20 games in European competitions and 12FIFA World Cup qualification matches[11] He played and scored in the famous December 1984 home win overBelgium and his final international was a March 1989 European Championship qualification match againstEngland.[12]
After returning to Albania in 1994, and despite still a professional footballer, Minga begun working as a representative ofGillette in Albania.[13] The business eventually collapsed due to the1997 Albanian civil unrest.[13] Following that, Minga worked for a short time as a security employee atTirana International Airport Nënë Tereza.[13]
Minga subsequently went toCanada with his wifeNora Goxha, a former professionalbasketballer, where they raised two sons, Grid and Jon.[14] It was there that he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Minga died on 31 January 2007 inWindsor, Ontario[13] ofpancreatic cancer. Players in the 18th round of the2006–07 Albanian Superliga games wore black armbands in his memory.
His friend and fellow footballerMirel Josa remembered that he had his Tirana debut in 1981 because Minga was suspended. Josa discovered he had no boots to play in, but recalled that "Beni gave me his boots and said 'put them on and be careful because they never stop running'."[15]
Shyqyri Rreli, his coach at KF Tirana called Minga: "The best captain and leader I ever had."[15] Team-mateMillan Baçi added: "His shot was like a bullet."[15] Meanwhile, his former colleague on the national side,Skënder Gega, labelled him "the hardest forward to defend against and the best person to have in your team". His one-time youth coachFatmir Frashëri said: "I never heard him say 'I'm tired'. He would always be the first in for training and would give everything he had in every game."[15]
A street inTirana is named after him.[16] Minga has also won several accolades and awards, such as "Merited Master of Sport", Honor of the city of Tirana" and "Honor of Albanian Sport".[6]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 22 December 1984 | Qemal Stafa Stadium,Tirana,Albania |  Belgium | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 18 January 1989 | Qemal Stafa Stadium,Tirana,Albania |  Greece | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
KF Tirana
Dacia Unirea Brăila
Albania U21