Igli Tare

Igli Tare (Albanian pronunciation: [ˈiɡli 'taɾɛ]; born 25 July 1973) is an Albanian retired footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the sporting director at Serie A club Lazio.

Tare joined Partizani Tirana as a 9 year old in 1982, and would later go on to make his debut as a 15 year old in 1988 before leaving Albania in 1992 to emigrate to Germany. He played in the lower leagues of Germany for Südwest Ludwigshafen and VfR Mannheim before joining Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC in 1995, initially playing for their reserve side before making his Bundesliga debut in 1996. He then joined Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2. Bundesliga, where he scored 24 league goals in 63 games in 2 seasons before returning to the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1999, where he netted 4 league goals in 26 appearances in one year and a half at the club.

After falling out of favour at 1. FC Kaiserslautern he joined Serie A side Brescia in January 2001, where he helped the side finish in a respectable 8th place. He remained at Brescia for a further 2 seasons, and he scored a total of 15 league goals in 75 games before joining fellow Serie A side Bologna in 2003. He spent 2 years at the club and scored 11 league goals in 55 games, before joining Lazio in a surprise move in 2005 following Brescia's relegation to Serie B. He was primarily used as a backup player at Lazio and he only scored 4 goals in 54 league games before retiring from being a professional footballer at the age of 34 in 2008.

Igli Tare studied at the Qemal Stafa High School, in Tirana, Albania.

Tare began his professional career in 1996 with Karlsruhe in Germany where he remained until 1997 before moving to Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2. Bundesliga.

In 1999, Tare moved to Kaiserslautern, where he played for a season before being signed by veteran Italian manager Carlo Mazzone. For five seasons, Tare played with Mazzone's Brescia, where he was able to play alongside Roberto Baggio, before again transferring, this time to Bologna where he was reunited with Mazzone once again.

At Bologna, Tare was popular amongst the fans and scored an important goal in the relegation play-off against fierce rivals Parma, however Tare's goal was not enough and they lost the return leg at home, being relegated to Serie B.

Following Bologna's relegation, Tare was loaned out to capital club Lazio scoring just three goals in his first season. Following this loan period, Tare joined the club on a permanent basis.

Tare was not a regular starter under Delio Rossi, but was able to play and score vital goals when others were out with injuries. In late 2007 away to Palermo, Tare scored off a Lorenzo De Silvestri cross, ending a scoring drought which stretched back for almost two years. He backed this goal up with another vital goal in the Coppa Italia against Napoli, which proved to be the winner.

International career

Tare has been capped over 68 times by the Albania national football team and scored 10 goals. As one of the most experienced members of the side, Tare was long time captain of the national team.

Tare's most impressive play was during the match against Russia in the UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifications when Albania won 3–1 and Tare scored the third goal.

In 2007, Tare's international career was effectively ended, after being dropped by manager Otto Barić.

Tare's Lazio contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season. He then accepted a non-playing role at Lazio, becoming the club's team manager. On April 2009 he completed a course in order to obtain abilitation as sporting director, which is his current role at Lazio.

Club

As of end of 2007–08 season

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Matches	Goals
1993–94	KF Partizani	Albania	Albanian Superliga	14	2
1994–95	Waldhof Mannheim	Germany	2. Fußball-Bundesliga	23	5
1995–96	Südwest Ludwigshafen	Germany	Oberliga Südwest	21	5
1996–97	Karlsruher SC	Germany	1. Fußball-Bundesliga	24	4
1997	Karlsruher SC II	Germany	Fußball-Regionalliga Süd	11	0
1997–98	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Germany	2. Fußball-Bundesliga	34	13
1998–99	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Germany	2. Fußball-Bundesliga	23	12
1999–00	1. FC Kaiserslautern	Germany	1. Fußball-Bundesliga	27	5
2000	1. FC Kaiserslautern	Germany	1. Fußball-Bundesliga	8	1
2000–01	Brescia Calcio	Italy	Serie A	17	4
2001–02	Brescia Calcio	Italy	Serie A	25	5
2002–03	Brescia Calcio	Italy	Serie A	33	6
2003–04	Bologna F.C. 1909	Italy	Serie A	28	5
2004–05	Bologna F.C. 1909	Italy	Serie A	27	6
2005–06	Lazio	Italy	Serie A	22	3
2006–07	Lazio	Italy	Serie A	14	0
2007–08	Lazio	Italy	Serie A	18	2

International

As of end of 2007