Taulant Kuqi
{{short description|Albanian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Taulant Kuqi
| fullname = Taulant Kuqi
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1985|11|11}}
| birth_place = Vlorë, Albania
| height = 1.82 m
| position = Midfielder
| currentclub = Oriku
| clubnumber = 20
| youthyears1 = 2002–2006
| youthclubs1 = Flamurtari Vlorë
| years1 = 2006–2017 | clubs1 = Flamurtari | caps1 = 255 | goals1 = 4
| years2 = 2017–2018 | clubs2 = Kamza | caps2 = 31 | goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2018– | clubs3 = Oriku | caps3 = 33 | goals3 = 3
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 =
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| pcupdate = 13 December 2019
| ntupdate =
}}
Taulant Kuqi (born 11 November 1985 in Vlorë) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Oriku in the Albanian First Division.{{cite web|url=http://footballdatabase.eu/football.joueurs.taulant.kuqi.50349.en.html |title=Football : Taulant Kuqi |publisher=footballdatabase.eu|access-date=7 February 2016}}
Club career
A Flamurtari Vlorë product, Kuqi debuted during 2005–06 season and since then played more than 250 league appearances, notably winning the Albanian Cup twice. On 22 July 2012, Kuqi agreed a contract extension, signing until June 2013.{{cite news|url=http://www.panorama.com.al/sport/lena-te-ruhet-grupi-fitojme-trofe-kuqi-rinovon-edhe-per-nje-sezon/|title=Lena: Të ruhet grupi, fitojmë trofe. Kuqi rinovon edhe një sezon me Flamurtarin|trans-title=Lena: The group should be saved, we will win trophies. Kuqi extends for another season with Flamurtari|publisher=Panorama Sport|language=Albanian|author=Ermal Sika|date=22 July 2012|access-date=16 November 2017}}
He left the club after 15 years in June 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.panorama.com.al/3-largime-nga-flamurtari-halilaj-drejt-rikthimit-te-kukesi/|title=3 largime nga Flamurtari, Halilaj drejt rikthimit te Kukësi|trans-title=3 departures from Flamurtari, Halilaj towards return to Kukësi|publisher=Panorama.com.al|language=Albanian|date=28 June 2017|access-date=16 November 2017}}
After two months of negotiations, on 1 September 2017, Kuqi agreed personal terms and joined newly promoted side Kazma.{{cite news|url=http://sportekspres.com/kuqi-kamza-mbyllet-gjithcka-mbrojtesi-del-ne-stervitje/|title=Kuqi-Kamza mbyllet gjithçka, mbrojtësi del në stërvitje|trans-title=Kuqi-Kamza everything ends, the defender stars training|publisher=Sport Ekspres|language=Albanian|date=1 September 2017|access-date=16 November 2017}} Prior to that, he had a failed move to Albanian First Division's Bylis Ballsh.{{cite news|url=http://sportekspres.com/taulant-kuqi-u-nis-per-ballsh-por-perfundon-ne-superiore/|title=Taulant Kuqi u nis për Ballsh, por kthehet në Superiore|trans-title=Taulant Kuqi took off for Ballsh, but returns in Superliga|publisher=Sport Ekspres|language=Albanian|date=29 August 2017|access-date=16 November 2017}} He was a regular starter in the team during the 2017–18 season in which Kamza escaped relegation by only winning in the final match, with Kuqi collecting 2313 minutes from 31 appearances.{{cite web|url=https://konica.al/2018/05/vllaznia-bie-nga-superiorja-mbijeton-kamza-partizani-pa-europe-video/|title=Vllaznia bie nga Superiorja, mbijeton Kamza, Partizani pa Evropë (Video)|trans-title=Vllaznia relegated from Superliga, Kamza survives, Partizani without Europe (Video)|publisher=Konica.al|language=Albanian|date=23 May 2018|access-date=21 June 2018}}
In July 2018, Kuqi along with Argjent Halili joined newly promoted Albanian First Division side Oriku.{{cite news|url=http://sportekspres.com/kuqi-halilaj-pranojne-tani-ne-te-paren/|title=Kuqi-Halilaj pranojnë, tani në të Parën|trans-title=Kuqi-Halilaj agrees, now in the First Division|publisher=Sport Ekspres|language=Albanian|date=17 July 2018|access-date=1 August 2018}}
Career statistics
{{updated|23 May 2018}}{{Soccerway|taulant-kuqi/57396|accessdate=1 August 2018}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Club statistics | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|Cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="13"|Flamurtari Vlorë
|rowspan="12"|Albanian Superliga |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2006–07
|16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 16 | 1 | |||
| 2007–08
|20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2008–09
|26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 30 | 2 | |||
| 2009–10
|26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| 2010–11
|21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 24 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12
|18 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 4All appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13
|19 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14
|31 | 1 | 6 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2014–15
|26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1Appearance in Albanian Supercup | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| 2015–16
|25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17
|27 | 0 | 4 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 31 | 1 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!255 | 4 | 47 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 313 | 6 | |
| rowspan="1"|Kamza
|rowspan="1"|Albanian Superliga |31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 34 | 0 | |||
| rowspan="1"|Oriku
|rowspan="1"|Albanian First Division |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | |||
| colspan="3"|Career total
!286 | 6 | 50 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 346 | 6 |
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
Honours
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{FSHF player|215236}}
- {{UEFA player|250008605}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuqi, Taulant}}
Category:Footballers from Vlorë
Category:Albanian men's footballers
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Flamurtari FC players
Category:Kategoria Superiore players
Category:Kategoria e Parë players
Category:21st-century Albanian sportsmen
{{Albania-footy-midfielder-stub}}