Zhega, great champion of the field and the bench!

Medin Zhega (31 January 1946 – 12 June 2012) or Din Zhega as he was affectionately called, was a football personality both as a player and as a coach. Din Zhega in terms of values as a player, he was no less than Borici, Pano, Bizi, Resmja, so he undoubtedly has his place in the Pantheon of the greatest Albanian players, but also of coaches as one of the most strategists in this role. In full sense, a Star of Albanian football!

Din Zhega was born in Shkodër on January 31, 1946, in the city where the game of “Top-kambe” was born and where many names later emerged who became football stars. After completing high school in his hometown, he continued his higher studies at the University of Tirana, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, in the Department of Chemistry.
He also completed his higher education at the Institute of Physical Culture and Sports “Vojo Kushi” (today the Sports Academy).

From his teenage years, he stood out for his skills and the premises to become a great player, as he would later turn out. He made his debut at the age of 16 with the Vllaznia team in the 1962-1963 season.
In the 1964-1965 season, Zhega transferred to Dinamo where he played until 1970, the year when he returned to his hometown team Vllaznia.
He ended his career with Vllaznia in 1979. Zhega stood out for his high technique, headers and goal-scoring ability.

His last match was recorded as being on September 9, 1979.
He won the championship title 5 times, three times with Vllaznia: 1971–72, 1973–74, 1977–78; and 2 times with Dinamo 1966–1967
As well as the Republic Cup three times: with Vllaznia in 1972 and 1979; with Dinamo in 1965

While he was declared champion as a coach with Vllaznia in 1981.
Din Zhega won the title as the best scorer of the Championship in the 1966–1967 season with 19 goals.

He was declared the best player of the year in Albania in 1967.
He made his debut with the national team “Kombetarja” at the age of 19 in May 1965, against Switzerland in a qualifying match for the World Cup- England 1966.

Zhega’s last match with the national team will be in June 1971, played against West Germany for the European Championship. In total, he has played 11 matches with the Red and Black jerseys, scoring three goals.

Two years after hanging up her boots as a footballer, Din Zhega graduated from the coaching school in Austria in 1981 and subsequently completed a series of coaching qualifications abroad.

In the years 1984-1986, he worked as an assistant coach of the national and Olympic Albanian teams. In the years 1992-1996, he was a deputy of the Socialist Party in the Albanian Parliament.
In the years 1999-2001, he was the coach of the Albanian National Team -Kombetarja.

Under the guidance of Master Zhega, Albanian National Team, in 2001, won the “Rothmans” tournament in Malta.
Din Zhega holds the high title of “Merited Master of Sports”.

After being dismissed from the position of coach of the Albanian National Team, a position he held until 2001, he was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the Albanian Football Association.

He held this position again until 2010. In 2009, during the broadcast of the spectacle in honor of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the multi-sports club “Vllaznia”, he was honored with the title of “Honorary Citizen” of the city of Shkodra.

On May 5, 2011, during a family trip and stay in Toronto, Canada, he suffered an accident and he remained in a coma for a year until he died on June 12, 2012 in Tirana.

New York: February 23, 2026
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