Ilion Lika

Early career

Lika played for Dinamo Tirana from 1999 to June 2007. He became a fan favourite during his time at Dinamo Tirana and was considered as being one of the best goalkeepers in the Albanian Superliga. Lika was tested by the Danish side Odense BK but he was not offered a contract at the club. His failed trial in Denmark paved the way for him to be transferred to the 2005–06 Albanian Superliga champions, Elbasani, in August 2007, where he signed a one-year contract. He played just under six months at Elbasani before looking for a new team. It emerged in January that Tirana were interested in signing the Albanian international and that Lika had spoken to one of the club's owners about a possible switch back to the capital, however Lika himself quickly squashed these rumours, insisting that he had never spoken to anyone about a move to Tirana and that it was all speculation. He also had offers from abroad as well with Vorskla Poltava apparently leading the chase for the goalkeeper's signature, although he had other clubs from Turkey and the rest of Europe interested in him. According to his agent, he was in contact with Vorskla Poltava, and he stated that Lika had been offered a very good contract, but it was still hard to accept because the location and the weather of Ukraine would have been a problem for Lika.

Terek Grozny

Even though he had turned down a move to Ukraine, Lika was still wanted by Tom Tomsk and Terek Grozny, both in Russia. Both clubs…

Lika was first approached to Albania senior team in January 2002 for the Bahrain Shoot Soccer Tournament, held at Riffa. He earned his first international cap on 10 January in the third match against the hosts, conceding three times as Albania lost 3–0; they finished in the third place tied on points with Macedonia but with better goal average. Lika was the starting goalkeeper in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He played seven matches in the Group 2, keeping no clean-sheets as Albania finished in 5th position. Lika continued to be part of the team in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, where Albania was placed in Group G. He was called up for the opening two matches against Belarus and Romania in September 2006, starting in the opening match which ended in a 2–2 draw. Otto Barić then removed Lika from the team in March 2007 due to problems with his club Dinamo Tirana, as he was forced to become a free agent until the end of the season. Arjan Beqaj was used as the starting keeper with Isli Hidi as his backup. He returned to the national team in October 2007 after half a year absence for the match versus Slovenia due to an injury of Beqaj. Speaking about that, Lika stated return to the national team was an "indescribable joy". Under new manager Arie Haan, Lika received another call-up in January 2008 for gathering between 14 and 23 January in Antalya, Turkey. He was the third goalkeeper in Albania's unsuccessful 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Lika returned…

Club

International

Lika is a practicing Muslim. He has also spoken out strongly against homosexuality, calling it "dangerous", as it violates the family.