Engjel Makelara
Engjel Makelara (Albanian: Engjëll Makelara; born 22 August 1996) is a Macedonian Albanian-born naturalized Italian rugby union player for Benetton, in the Pro14 and his preferred position is hooker.
| Full name | Engjel Makelara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 22 August 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Debar, Republic of Macedonia[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
Makelara was born on 22 August 1996 in Debar, Republic of Macedonia from Albanian parents, he began playing rugby at the age of 14, showing off right away also thanks to the prowess of her physique. After a couple of seasons spent with the yellow and red jersey of Bassano, the adventure begins with the youth of Benetton during which Makelara gets the call-up by the Italy U17 and wins the U16 championship in 2012 and U18 in 2014 and in that same year, he was part of the group selected for the Mogliano's Zonal Academy.[1] He played for Benetton until 2019–20 Pro14 season.[2]
In the summer of 2014, he received a call-up from the technical commissioner Alessandro Troncon for the summer tour of the Italy U20 in Ireland and after the call came, he injured and had to give up and then that of Mogliano, a club where he remains for two years in which he makes his debut in Excellence and is also selected for the Six Nations Under 20s Championship.[1] On 4 February 2019, Makelara was named as part of the Italy squad for 2019 Six Nations to replace the injured Oliviero Fabiani.[3]
References
- "Makelara, Engjel" (in Italian). Benetton Rugby Treviso.
Biografia
- https://benettonrugby.it/benetton-rugby-saluta-gli-8-leoni-che-lasciano-il-club/?fbclid=IwAR2WIQqrk6KTGwUimyhtoKCJZb_HpK0tmbEbiE7t6HWkaVtEtoUsuEf5hgs
- "Italy bring in uncapped hooker Makelara for Wales clash". Six Nations Championship. 4 February 2019.
Makelara, 22, was a regular throughout the Azzurri’s youth teams and featured for Emerging Italy at the 2017 World Rugby Nations Cup. The Macedonian-born forward replaces Oliviero Fabiani, who was released following checks from Italy’s medical staff after initially being called up yesterday