Kliton Bozgo

{{short description|Albanian footballer and manager (born 1971)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Kliton Bozgo

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|12|5|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Gjirokastër, Albania

| height = 1.70 m

| position = Striker

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Tomori Berat

| years1 = 1989–1992

| years2 = 1992–1993

| years3 = 1993–1995

| years4 = 1995–1998

| years5 = 1998–2000

| years6 = 2000–2004

| years7 = 2004–2005

| years8 = 2005

| years9 = 2006

| years10 = 2006–2007

| years11 = 2007

| years12 = 2007–2008

| years13 = 2008–2012

| years14 = 2015

| clubs1 = Tomori

| clubs2 = Dubrava

| clubs3 = Maribor

| clubs4 = Olimpija

| clubs5 = Maribor

| clubs6 = Admira Wacker

| clubs7 = Maribor

| clubs8 = Drava Ptuj

| clubs9 = Hartberg

| clubs10 = St. Andrä

| clubs11 = SV Flavia Solva

| clubs12 = Mura 05

| clubs13 = FC Gamlitz

| clubs14 = SV Sachsenburg

| caps1 = 70

| caps2 =

| caps3 = 40

| caps4 = 74

| caps5 = 60

| caps6 = 132

| caps7 = 28

| caps8 = 5

| caps9 = 9

| caps10 = 13

| caps11 = 13

| caps12 = 21

| caps13 = 75

| caps14 = 3

| goals1 = 47

| goals2 =

| goals3 = 21

| goals4 = 31

| goals5 = 39

| goals6 = 21

| goals7 = 18

| goals8 = 0

| goals9 = 7

| goals10 = 4

| goals11 = 4

| goals12 = 2

| goals13 = 12

| goals14 = 0

| nationalyears1 = 1993–1997

| nationalteam1 = Albania

| nationalcaps1 = 12

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| manageryears1 = 2009–2010 | managerclubs1 = FC Gamlitz

| manageryears2 = 2011 | managerclubs2 = FC Gamlitz

| manageryears3 = 2011–2012 | managerclubs3 = FC Gamlitz

| manageryears4 = 2013 | managerclubs4 = Aluminij (caretaker)

| manageryears5 = 2016–2018 | managerclubs5 = SV Kaindorf

| manageryears6 = 2018–2019 | managerclubs6 = USV Ragnitz

| manageryears7 = 2019 | managerclubs7 = SV Strass

| manageryears8 = 2020–2021 | managerclubs8 = USV Ragnitz

| manageryears9 = 2023–2024 | managerclubs9 = USV Ragnitz

| manageryears10 = 2024– | managerclubs10 = SV Strass

}}

Kliton Bozgo (born 5 December 1971) is a retired Albanian footballer.

Club career

During his career, Bozgo had played for both Slovenian giants Olimpija and Maribor. He made a big impact in the Slovenian First League, especially with Maribor, where he is still regarded as one of the best forwards to have ever played for the club.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} Overall, he scored a total of 110 goals for Maribor.{{cite web |title=10 Kliton Bozgo |url=https://www.nkmaribor.com/club/statistics/player/abbebbf5-1e0b-44cf-bec8-ec78198bc8f8?goal=1 |publisher=NK Maribor |access-date=15 December 2024 |language=sl}}

He was the top scorer of the Slovenian First League twice, in 1999–2000 (24 goals) and 2004–05 (18 goals). In the 1999–2000 season, he reached the UEFA Champions League group stages with Maribor. In total, he has played 207 matches in the Slovenian First League, scoring 109 goals in the process.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzs.si/tekmovanja/default.asp?action=igralecstat&id_igralca=22938 |title=Kliton Bozgo|publisher=Football Association of Slovenia|language=sl|access-date=15 December 2024}}

International career

Bozgo made his debut for Albania in a February 1993 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland, and earned a total of twelve caps for the national team, scoring no goals. His final international was in February 2000 against Malta.{{cite web |title=Kliton Bozgo, international football player |url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=2469 |website=eu-football.info |access-date=15 December 2024}}

Managerial career

While playing for Mura 05, Bozgo also took over the position of assistant coach to Edin Osmanović. In 2013, he joined Osmanović again, this time as assistant coach at Aluminij. At the end of the season, Aluminij were relegated and Osmanović was replaced by Ante Šimundža who had been Bozgo's teammate at Maribor in the 1999–2000 season and who decided to keep Bozgo at the club as assistant manager. After only three months with the club, Šimundža was hired as the new head coach at Maribor in September 2013, and Aluminij made Bozgo an interim head coach. On 10 October 2013, the club announced Robert Pevnik as the new head coach, and Bozgo stayed on as his assistant until the end of the season.{{Cite web|url=https://snportal.si/slovenska-tekmovanja/2-liga/aluminij-bo-vodil-pevnik/|title=Aluminij bo vodil Pevnik|date=10 October 2013|first=Peter|last=Dominko|website=Slovenski nogometni portal|access-date=15 December 2024}} In 2015, he joined SV Sachsenburg as player-manager, and in January 2016, he started a new chapter with SV Kaindorf in the Austrian Gebietsliga.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ligaportal.at/stmk/gebietsliga/gebietsliga-west/41500-ex-maribor-goalgetter-neuer-trainer-in-kaindorf|title = Ex-Maribor-Goalgetter neuer Trainer in Kaindorf| date=5 December 2015 }} In April 2018, the club replaced him with Gernot Krinner.[https://www.meinbezirk.at/leibnitz/c-sport/trainerwechsel-beim-sv-kaindorf-an-der-sulm_a2549888 Trainerwechsel beim SV Kaindorf an der Sulm] – Mein Bezirk {{in lang|de}}