Amarildo Zela

Amarildo Zela (born 25 August 1972 in Tirana) is an Albanian football manager and retired football player, who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently the head coach of SG Waidhofen/Ybbs.

Amarildo Zela
Personal information
Full name Amarildo Zela
Date of birth (1972-08-25) 25 August 1972
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 SG Waidhofen/Ybbs (Head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Partizani 26 (1)
1993 VfL Osnabrück
1993–1995 Tirana 17 (2)
1995–1996 Neretva Metković 28 (8)
1996 Šibenik 1 (0)
1996–1997 Marsonia 25 (4)
1997–2000 Vukovar '91 28 (10)
2000 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
2001 Hapoel Jerusalem
2001 Partizani 2 (0)
2002 Kamen Ingrad 11 (3)
2002 NK Čakovec
2003–2004 DSV Leoben 28 (3)
2004–2005 Vorwärts Steyr
2005–2006 Blau-Weiß Linz
2006–2009 Vorwärts Steyr
2010–2011 Union Weißkirchen
2011 ASKÖ Leonding
2017 ASV Kleinreifling
2018 SG Grossreifling
2019 FCU Mayr Bau Ertl
National team
1992–1997 Albania 2 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2010 Vorwärts Steyr II (player-manager)
2011–2012 Union Pregarten
2012–2013 WSC Hertha Wels
2014–2015 Vorwärts Steyr II (player-manager)
2016–2017 TuS Kremsmünster
2017–2019 ASKÖ Schwertberg
2019 FC Wels
2020– SG Waidhofen/Ybbs
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played two games for the Albania national football team in 1992 and in 1997.[1]

Club career

Zela has played in 5 different countries through his career, and playing for 14 different teams in the process. He started his footballing career with KF Partizani Tirana before moving to Germany with Oberliga Nord side VfL Osnabrück.[2][3] His first experience abroad was only a short one as he only spent 6 months at the club before moving back to Albania with SK Tirana in January 1994. After a season and a half back in Albania Zela decided to move to Croatia and the 1.HNL for the first time with NK Neretva Metković.[4] Zela then moved to HNK Šibenik the next season where he teamed up with former Partizani teammate Ylli Shehu.[5][6] It took just 6 months before his next move, this time i was to another Croatian club NK Vukovar '91[7][8] During his time with NK Vukovar Zela won promotion twice[9] and teamed up with fellow Albanian Fatmir Vata for the 1999–2000 season after they were promoted to the top division in Croatia. He scored 10 goals that season in the 1.HNL.[10] After 5 seasons and 4 clubs in Croatia, Zela moved to Israel with second-tier side Hapoel Jerusalem F.C..[11][12]

International career

He made his debut for Albania in a May 1992 FIFA World Cup qualification match away against the Republic of Ireland and earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His other international game was a June 1997 World Cup qualification match against Portugal.[13]

Managerial and later career

After 3 championship titles, 110 championship appearances and 101 goals for Vorwärts Steyr, Zela hung up his boots and became manager for the club's reserve team for the 2009–2010 season.[14] However, he returned to the pitch for the upcoming season, signing with Austrian club Union Weißkirchen[15] and then ASKÖ Leonding in the summer 2011 at the age of 38.[16] However, only one month later, he became manager of Union Pregarten.[17]

On 25 September 2012, Zela was appointed manager of WSC Hertha Wels.[18] In the summer 2014, Zela returned SK Vorwärts Steyr, once again as a player-manager for the club's reserve team.[19]

In May 2017, 44-year-old Zela made comeback at the pitch for ASV Kleinreifling.[20] Zela became in charge of Austrian lower league side ASKÖ Steinbach Schwertberg in 2017[21] but left the club in July 2019.[22] He then took the reigns at FC Wels.[23]

In the summer 2020, Zela became the head coach of SG Waidhofen/Ybbs.[24]

Honours
1993, 1995 [25]

References
  1. International caps. Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  2. VfL Osnabrück 1993–94. National-football-teams.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  3. VfL Osnabrück 1993–94. Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  4. NK Neretva Metković 1995–1996. National-football-teams.com (25 August 1972). Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  5. HNK Šibenik 1996–97. National-football-teams.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  6. HNK Šibenik 1996–97. Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  7. NK Vukovar 1997–98. National-football-teams.com (25 August 1972). Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  8. NK Vukovar 1997–98. Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  9. NK Vukovar 1998–99. National-football-teams.com (25 August 1972). Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  10. NK Vukovar 1999-00. National-football-teams.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  11. Hapoel Jerusalem 2000–2001. National-football-teams.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  12. Jerusalem 2000–2001. Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  13. "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  14. Amarildo Zela beendet Karriere beim SK Vorwärts, ligaportal.at, 19 June 2009
  15. Weißkirchen verpflichtet Akif Imamovic und Amarildo Zela, ligaportal.at, 9 July 2010
  16. ASKÖ Leonding: Trainerwechsel nach Meistertitel, ligaportal.at, 5 August 2011
  17. Landesliga Ost: Naarn mischt weiter vorne mit, nachrichten.at, 17 September 2011
  18. Trainerwechsel bei WSC/Hertha, meinbezirk.at, 25 September 2012
  19. 2. Klasse Ost | 1b siegt bei Zela-Comeback, vorwaerts-steyr.at, 2 November 2014
  20. Ex-Teamspieler kickt in der 2. Klasse Ost, tips.at, 16 May 2017
  21. Schwertberg-Coach Amarildo Zela als Wahlvorschlag der Jahrhundert-Elf von SK Vorwärts Steyr - Mein Bezirk (in German)
  22. PAUKENSCHLAG IN FUßBALL-SCHWERTBERG: "Meister-Macher" Zela wird von Franz Schützenberger abgelöst! - Mein Bezirk (in German)
  23. Amarildo Zela übernimmt beim FC Wels - FC Wels (in German)
  24. WAIDHOFEN WECHSELT DEN TRAINER, meinfussball.at, 10 June 2020
  25. Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF
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