Arben Minga

Arben Minga (died January 31, 2007 in Canada) was known as 'Beni i madh' (Big Ben). Minga was a powerful centre-forward football player who spent the latter part of his career as a fine central defender. He was a six-time Albanian title winner.

Shyqyri Rreli, his coach at KF Tirana - then KF 17 Nëntori - called Minga: "The best captain and leader I ever had." Team-mate Millan Baçi added: "His shot was like a bullet." Meanwhile, his former colleague with the national side, Skënder Gega, labelled him "the hardest forward to defend against and the best person to have in your team". Having risen to the senior ranks at Tirana in 1977/78, Minga made a great impression on all. His one-time youth coach Fatmir Frasheri said: "I never heard him say 'I'm tired'. He would always be the first in for training and would give everything he had in every game."

Along with Mirel Josa, Artur Lekbello, Sulejman Mema, Millan Baçi, Skënder Hodja, Bedri Omuri, Krenar Alimehmeti, Shkëlqim Muça and Agustin Kola, Minga was a member of the great Tirana side of the 1980s who won four championships and three cups, before moving abroad to play in Romania in the early 1990's. Capped 28 times by Albania, he played 20 games in European competition, then finally hung up his boots after two last seasons at his beloved Tirana. He had claimed titles in both, so bowed out in 1996 - not for the first time - as a winner.

He subsequently went to Canada with his wife Nora, a former professional basketballer, where they raised two sons, Gridi and Joni. It was there that he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, dying on 31 January. Players wore black armbands in his memory in the 18th round of Albanian league games. His best friend Mirel Josa related one story that summed him up. Handed his Tirana debut because Minga was suspended in December 1981, Josa discovered he had no boots to play in. But, the latter recalled, "Beni gave me his boots and said 'put them on and be careful because they never stop running'."