Kamer Qaka


Kamer Adem Qaka is an Albanian professional footballer who plays mainly as a defensive midfielder for Romanian club CS Universitatea Craiova and the Albania national team.
He started his senior career in Norway with Vålerenga at age 15, going on to represent Raufoss, Hønefoss, Sarpsborg 08 and Kristiansund in the country. In 2017, he joined Romanian team Politehnica Iași.
A youth international for Norway, Qaka chose to represent Albania at senior level and earned his first cap in November 2017.

Club career

Early years / Norway

Qaka was born in Peć, modern-day Kosovo, but when he was two years old his family moved to Norway and settled in Brandbu. In 2010, while still attending lower secondary school, he signed his first professional contract for Norwegian Eliteserien side Vålerenga.
In a May 2010 cup game against Oppsal IF, as Qaka made his professional debut, he became Vålerenga's youngest goalscorer ever. He made his league debut in 2011.
In 2013, he signed for fellow Norwegian club Raufoss. He made his debut on 15 April 2013 against Odd 2 as they won the game 2-1. In January 2014, he joined Hønefoss BK, and a year later he went on to Sarpsborg 08 FF.
In 2016 he tried his luck with Kristiansund BK. His performances paid off when Qaka helped his team get promoted to the Eliteserien, as well as being awarded the trophy for the best player in the league.

Politehnica Iași

On 17 July 2017, after terminating his contract with Kristiansund, Qaka put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Romanian team Politehnica Iași. A week later, he made his competitive debut in a 0–0 Liga I draw with Gaz Metan Mediaș, coming on as a half-time substitute for Dan Spătaru. From the following matchday, Qaka established himself as a starter under head coach Flavius Stoican.
In November 2017, after his international debut for Albania, it was reported that fellow league teams FCSB, CFR Cluj and Universitatea Craiova, as well as Portuguese side Braga, were interested in acquiring the player.

Universitatea Craiova

On 3 June 2019 he signed a 4-years contract with CS Universitatea Craiova.

International career

Despite having played for Norway under-15, under-17, under-18 and under-19 football teams, he accepted the invitation from the Albania national team by coach Christian Panucci for the friendly match against Turkey on 13 November 2017 as a replacement for the injured Amir Abrashi. He debuted for Albania against Turkey as a 67th minute substitute for Odise Roshi in a 2–3 away win for his side.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Sarpsborg 08
;Kristiansund