Kristi Vangjeli
Encyclopedia
Kristi Vangjeli is an Albanian
football defender, currently playing for FC Chornomorets Odessa
in the Ukrainian Premier League
and the Albanian national team
. Prior to Chornomorets, Vangjeli played for Aris Thessaloniki FC
in the Greek Super League. His preferred position is right back, but he can also play on the left as he has done for both club and country on a number of times, as well as defensive midfielder.
Vangjeli began playing football at the age of just 5 with local side Skënderbeu Korçë under the guidance of coach Benin Beta. As he lived near the Skënderbeu training ground, he would watch the first team players train which gave him the further ambition to succeed in the game. He stayed at Skënderbeu for 5 years until the age of 10, where he had been playing with his older brother Pavli.
Move to Greece
In 1997 his parents sent his brother Pavli on a 2 month trial with PAOK F.C., and when the club signed Pavli, his family then moved to Thessaloniki
in Greece
along with Kristi. As his brother was already at the club, his father did not want Kristi to try out for the PAOK team as well, as there was discrimination at the fact that they were Albanian, which the father felt could ruin Pavli's chances at the club.
Agios Georgios
Kristi had to wait for his chance, which was given to him while he was playing football at his school, a coach from a small local team was watching the young Albanian playing from outside the gates. As Kristi did not know Greek well at the time, he did not understand him very well but he understood that he was a football coach and that he would like for Kristi to train with his team, Agios Georgios F.C. After his first training session he joined the club and played for them the very next day. After 2 years at the club, he was promoted to the first team and began to train with them at the age of just 15. As he was tall, fast and lively he was playing as a forward at the time, which was noted in a friendly game by the coach of the Aris
second team. In that friendly Vangjeli scored 2 goals for the 5th tier side and was immediately offered a trial at Aris
.
Aris
Without Agios Georgios knowing, Kristi went on trial at Aris at the end of the season, which was a successful one, leading to a 2,000,000 Drachma move to Aris. It was at Aris B that he changed his position from a forward, firstly as a defensive midfielder. At the age of 17 he was promoted to the Aris first team and in his first friendly for the senior team he was played at right fullback by Ole Skouboe
due to injuries, in which he excelled and was offered his first professional contract just one month later.
side Aris
and since then made over 100 appearances.
in the Ukrainian Premier League
on 30 August 2011, signing a three year contract.
|-
|2003-04||rowspan="9"|Aris FC
||rowspan="2"|Superleague Greece||6||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||7||0
|-
|2004-05||9||0||4||0||colspan="2"|–||13||0
|-
|2005-06||Football League||17||0||0||0||1||0||18||0
|-
|2006-07||rowspan="6"|Superleague Greece||18||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||19||0
|-
|2007-08||17||0||2||0||3||0||22||0
|-
|2008-09||8||0||0||0||2||0||10||0
|-
|2009-10||11||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||12||0
|-
|2010-11||19||0||1||0||8||0||28||0
|-
|2011-12||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||1||0
|-
|2011-12||Chornomorets
||Ukrainian Premier League
||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
106||0||10||0||14||0||130||0
0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
106||0||10||0||14||0||130||0
s side against Greece in a 1-1 draw, which he played just 2 days before his 19th birthday.
since 2007 and has so far 19 caps.
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
football defender, currently playing for FC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Chornomorets Odesa is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Odessa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. During the reconstruction , the team played in the 4,610 Spartak Stadium...
in the Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
and the Albanian national team
Albania national football team
The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania...
. Prior to Chornomorets, Vangjeli played for Aris Thessaloniki FC
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
in the Greek Super League. His preferred position is right back, but he can also play on the left as he has done for both club and country on a number of times, as well as defensive midfielder.
Early career
SkënderbeuVangjeli began playing football at the age of just 5 with local side Skënderbeu Korçë under the guidance of coach Benin Beta. As he lived near the Skënderbeu training ground, he would watch the first team players train which gave him the further ambition to succeed in the game. He stayed at Skënderbeu for 5 years until the age of 10, where he had been playing with his older brother Pavli.
Move to Greece
In 1997 his parents sent his brother Pavli on a 2 month trial with PAOK F.C., and when the club signed Pavli, his family then moved to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
along with Kristi. As his brother was already at the club, his father did not want Kristi to try out for the PAOK team as well, as there was discrimination at the fact that they were Albanian, which the father felt could ruin Pavli's chances at the club.
Agios Georgios
Kristi had to wait for his chance, which was given to him while he was playing football at his school, a coach from a small local team was watching the young Albanian playing from outside the gates. As Kristi did not know Greek well at the time, he did not understand him very well but he understood that he was a football coach and that he would like for Kristi to train with his team, Agios Georgios F.C. After his first training session he joined the club and played for them the very next day. After 2 years at the club, he was promoted to the first team and began to train with them at the age of just 15. As he was tall, fast and lively he was playing as a forward at the time, which was noted in a friendly game by the coach of the Aris
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
second team. In that friendly Vangjeli scored 2 goals for the 5th tier side and was immediately offered a trial at Aris
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
.
Aris
Without Agios Georgios knowing, Kristi went on trial at Aris at the end of the season, which was a successful one, leading to a 2,000,000 Drachma move to Aris. It was at Aris B that he changed his position from a forward, firstly as a defensive midfielder. At the age of 17 he was promoted to the Aris first team and in his first friendly for the senior team he was played at right fullback by Ole Skouboe
Ole Skouboe
Ole Skouboe is a Danish former footballer and manager. He worked as a journalist at Nordjyske Medier 1993-2010.-References:*****...
due to injuries, in which he excelled and was offered his first professional contract just one month later.
Aris
Vangjeli is a defender who can play at either right back or left back. In 2003, Vangjeli signed for the GreekGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
side Aris
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
and since then made over 100 appearances.
Chornomorets
After eight years at Aris, Vangjeli made a €300,000 move to Chornomorets OdessaFC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Chornomorets Odesa is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Odessa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. During the reconstruction , the team played in the 4,610 Spartak Stadium...
in the Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
on 30 August 2011, signing a three year contract.
Career statistics
(correct as of 6 September 2011)|-
|2003-04||rowspan="9"|Aris FC
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
||rowspan="2"|Superleague Greece||6||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||7||0
|-
|2004-05||9||0||4||0||colspan="2"|–||13||0
|-
|2005-06||Football League||17||0||0||0||1||0||18||0
|-
|2006-07||rowspan="6"|Superleague Greece||18||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||19||0
|-
|2007-08||17||0||2||0||3||0||22||0
|-
|2008-09||8||0||0||0||2||0||10||0
|-
|2009-10||11||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||12||0
|-
|2010-11||19||0||1||0||8||0||28||0
|-
|2011-12||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||1||0
|-
|2011-12||Chornomorets
FC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Chornomorets Odesa is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Odessa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. During the reconstruction , the team played in the 4,610 Spartak Stadium...
||Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
106||0||10||0||14||0||130||0
0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
106||0||10||0||14||0||130||0
Albania U-21
Vangjeli's first international call up came in 2004 under Hasan Lika, following the players promotion to the Aris senior team. He made his debut for Albania U-21Albania national under-21 football team
The Albania national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania...
s side against Greece in a 1-1 draw, which he played just 2 days before his 19th birthday.
Albania
Vangjeli has been playing for AlbaniaAlbania national football team
The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania...
since 2007 and has so far 19 caps.
Honours
Aris FC- Greek Cup Finalist (3): 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10
- Football League Promotion (1): 2005-06