Lorik Cana

Lorik Cana

Personal information
Full name	Lorik Cana
Date of birth	27 July 1983 (1983-07-27)
Place of birth	Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder, Central Midfielder, Defender
Club information
Current club	Lazio
Number	27
Youth career
	Lausanne
2000–2002	Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2005	Paris Saint-Germain	69	(2)
2005–2009	Marseille	122	(8)
2009–2010	Sunderland	31	(0)
2010–2011	Galatasaray	24	(1)
2011–	Lazio	6	(1)
National team‡
2004–	Albania	47	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 January 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 October 2010

Lorik Cana (IPA:ˈlorik ˈtsana) (born 27 July 1983) is an Kosovan-Albanian footballer, who plays for Lazio as a defensive midfielder and the Albania national football team. He is the captain for Albania at international level.

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

He was invited to Arsenal at the age of 16 for trial, but failed to attend because he was denied a British visa. At Paris Saint-Germain he spent three years working through the ranks of the French club. Cana finally made the first team in 2003 and quickly became a main player. During the 2003–04 season, he played 32 games and scored one goal, as the team won the Coupe de France and finished second in the French Ligue 1, proving to be one of the most successful seasons of his career so far. This was repeated the next season when he also played 32 games for the Paris team and scored one goal. In his senior debut for Paris Saint-Germain, he was awarded man of the match.^{[citation needed]}

Marseille

However, at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, there was a change of coach at Paris Saint-Germain and Cana fell out of favour. This prompted him to move to the south of France to join the most successful club in French history, Marseille. Since joining Marseille, he cemented his place in the starting eleven, and scored the winning goal in the first match between his new club (Olympique de Marseille) and his former club (Paris Saint-Germain). He also became team captain after the departure of the former captain Habib Beye to Newcastle United during the summer of 2007.

Sunderland

Cana joined Sunderland on a four-year contract for a fee of around £5 million on 24 July 2009. He was soon handed the team's captaincy by manager Steve Bruce, although Bruce later stated a captain had yet to be appointed. On 15 August, Cana made his league debut for Sunderland and contributed with an impressive performance in a 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers. He was appointed as Sunderland's captain for the 2009–10 season on 3 September. He became the first Albanian to play in the Premier League.

Galatasaray

Cana joined Galatasaray on 8 July 2010, for a fee of €5.5 million.

Lazio

On July 3, 2011, Cana signed for Italian Serie A club Lazio, becoming the club's fifth signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Miroslav Klose, Djibril Cissé, Senad Lulić and Abdoulay Konko. He was used in a part exchange for goalkeeper Fernando Muslera going to Galatasaray who also paid a fee of €6.0 million. He scored his first goal for Lazio on December 10 against Lecce, in the 47th minute after coming on as a substitute for Giuseppe Biava.

International career

Cana was eligible to play for either Switzerland, Albania or France, as he has all three passports.^{[citation needed]} Cana has been involved with the Albania national football team since early 2003, after receiving a call-up from the Albanian Football Association. He accepted the invitation and made his international debut on 11 June, at the age of just 19. On 12 September 2007, he was sent off by referee Mike Riley in the 87th minute of Albania's home game against the Netherlands, after an altercation with Wesley Sneijder and Ruud van Nistelrooy. His team conceded a late goal to lose 0–1 shortly after the dismissal. As of 21 July 2010 he has made 53 appearances and scored 1 goal for Albania. He was one of the key players in Albania's formidable 1–0 home win against Belarus for the Uefa Euro 2012 Group Qualifications by hitting the crossbar in a 40 meters free kick and by being an undefeatable wall in defense.

Personal life

Lorik is the son of retired footballer Agim Cana. He is a UNO-ambassador against poverty. In an interview Cana has stated that archeology is one of his biggest interests and that he plans to work in the Albanology field after his footballing career after pursuing a University degree in History.

Career statistics

As of 26 October 2010

Club

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Paris Saint-Germain	2002–03	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
	2003–04	32	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	32	1
	2004–05	32	1	-	-	-	-	6	0	38	1
	2005–06	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	0
	Total	69	2	0	0	0	0	6	0	75	2
Marseille	2005–06	28	3	-	-	-	-	8	0	36	3
	2006–07	33	2	-	-	-	-	5	0	38	2
	2007–08	34	2	-	-	-	-	9	0	43	2
	2008–09	27	1	-	-	-	-	3	1	30	2
	Total	122	8	0	0	0	0	25	1	147	9
Sunderland	2009–10	31	0	-	-	-	-	-		31	0
	Total	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
Galatasaray	2010–11	24	1	4	0	0	0	3	0	31	1
	Total	24	1	4	0	0	0	3	0	31	1
Lazio	2011–12	6	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	11	1
	Total	6	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	11	1
Career total		252	12	0	0	0	0	38	1	295	14

International

Albania national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	6	0
2004	5	0
2005	8	1
2006	4	0
2007	6	0
2008	6	0
2009	6	0
2010	6	0
2011	6	0
Total	53	1

Honours

Club

PSG

• Coupe de France: 2004

Olympique de Marseille

• Coupe de France Runner-up: 2006, 2007

Individual

• Albanian Footballer of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2006
• Albanian Fan's Footballer of the Year (1): 2009

External links

• Lorik Cana on Playerhistory.com
• Profile at Galatasaray.org
• Statistics at TFF.org (Turkish)
• Profile at Transfermarkt.de (German)
• Lorik Cana – FIFA competition record
• Lorik Cana at National-Football-Teams.com
• Lorik Cana career stats at Soccerbase
• Lorik Cana French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Lorik Cana OM.net (French)
• Lorik Cana's Yahoo Profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Habib Beye	Marseille Captain 2007–2009	Succeeded by TBA
Preceded by Dean Whitehead	Sunderland Captain 2009 – 2010	Succeeded by Lee Cattermole