Naim Kryeziu

Naim Kryeziu (4 January 1918 – 20 March 2010) was an Albanian football player famous in Italy in the 1940s and 1950s.

Naim Kryeziu
Kryeziu on a 2002 stamp of Albania
Personal information
Date of birth (1918-01-04)4 January 1918
Place of birth Gjakova, Kosovo
Date of death 20 March 2010(2010-03-20) (aged 92)
Place of death Rome, Italy
Position(s) Right winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1933–1939 Tirana
1939–1947 AS Roma 122 (22)
1947–1952 Napoli 168 (39)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Gjakova, Republic of Kosovo, Kryeziu was a particularly quick right winger able to run 100 m in 11 seconds.[1] He left his town in Kosovo as a youngster to join his brother in Tirana, making his footballing debut in the domestic top flight at the age of 15.[2] Following the 1939 Italian invasion of Albania, he was noted by an Italian sports professor who suggested him to AS Roma. As he was considered an Italian following the annexation of Albania, he was allowed to enrol in the Rome ISEF (Italian sports university) whilst also playing for AS Roma, where he won an Italian title in 1941–42.[2] He played for the giallorossi until 1948, when he joined A.C. Napoli; he finally retired in 1953.

Later career

He later started an coaching career, serving also as AS Roma head coach for a short time during the 1963–64 season as a replacement for Alfredo Foni. He then became a scout for AS Roma, for which he discovered a young Giuseppe Giannini when played in a local club Frattocchie Marino.[2]

Kryeziu died in Rome at the age of 92 in 2010. He was the last living player of the first historical AS Roma scudetto. AS Roma, who was scheduled to play an evening game against Udinese on that day, played the game with black armbands to honour him.[3]

References
  1. "Naim Krieziu" (in Italian). ASR Talenti. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  2. "Intervista a Naim Krieziu" (in Italian). AS Roma Ultras. 11 February 2001. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  3. "Morto Naim Krieziu: con i suoi gol la Roma vinse il primo scudetto" (in Italian). Il Messaggero. 20 March 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.


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