Entonjo Elezaj

Entonjo Elezaj (born 14 July 1996) is an Italian-born Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Sliema Wanderers.

Entonjo Elezaj
Personal information
Full name Entonjo Elezaj
Date of birth (1996-07-14) 14 July 1996
Place of birth Turin, Italy
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Sliema Wanderers
Youth career
0000–2003 Torino
2003–2014 Juventus
2014 → Virtus Lanciano (loan)
2014–2015 Pro Vercelli
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Pro Vercelli 0 (0)
2015–2016 → Sliema Wanderers (loan) 8 (0)
2016–2018 Perugia 2 (0)
2017–2018 → Racing Fondi (loan) 37 (0)
2018–2019 Catanzaro 5 (0)
2019– Sliema Wanderers 7 (0)
National team
2012 Albania U17 3 (0)
2013–2014 Albania U19 3 (0)
2014 Albania U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:44, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Elezaj was born in Turin, Italy to Albanian parents originally from Vlorë. He started his youth career at Torino F.C. academies and at age of 6 he was invited for a trial at Juventus F.C. Youth Sector in 2003 which he successfully passed and was transferred there.[1] On 1 July 2013, he did well at Primavera team and was included in the Juventus 2013–14 UEFA Youth League squad in which he served as a second choice behind Emil Audero.[2]

In January 2014, he was loaned out to S.S. Virtus Lanciano until the end of the 2014–15 season and played with Primavera side in total 11 matches.

Pro Vercelli

After return from loan, he was sold to F.C. Pro Vercelli for a fee of £375k. At Pro vercelli he became part of the first team, as he was trained with coach Cristiano Scazzola, but played as a first choice with primavera team in total 14 matches where he kept 3 clean-sheets. Elezaj participated with the first team in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia match against Alessandria on 9 August 2015, in which he was an unused substitute.[3]

Loan to Sliema Wanderers

On 15 August 2015, Elezaj was loaned out to Maltese side Sliema Wanderers F.C. to gain more professional experience.[4] He made it his debut on 21 August 2015, in the opening match against Tarxien Rainbows coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute in place of the midfielder Peter Xuereb after first choice goalkeeper Glenn Zammit was sent-off as he received a Red card.[5] In the continuation, he had a poor playing space serving mostly as a second choice but also a third choice playing in just two occasions in October. Then in April would come his time as he played the full 90-minutes match against Pembroke Athleta on 2 April 2016, where he managed to keep the clean-sheet as his side won 2–0.[6] During the month, he played in 5 out 6 matches, kept clean-sheets in 2 matches and helped his side to win all 5 matches in which he played, including also the 2015–16 Maltese FA Trophy - Quarter-final one against St. Andrews, where Sliema won 2–1 to qualify for the semi-finals. Into the semi-finals Sliema beat Birkirkara 1–0, where Elezaj played the full 90-minutes to help Sliema reach the grand final.[7] In the final, Sliema played against Balzan, and Elezaj was in the starting line-up. Elezaj kept the clean-sheet for the full 120-minutes match, including extra-time, and then the match directed to Penalty shoot-out, in which Elezaj saved a penalty of opponent and his side won 5–4 to be declared the champions of the 2015–16 Maltese FA Trophy.[8]

Elezaj concluded the 2015–16 season with 8 league appearances, only 1 as a substitute and 3 domestic cup matches.[9]

Perugia

On 30 July 2016 he signed with Serie B side A.C. Perugia Calcio a 2-years contract with renewing option.[10]

Elezaj made his professional debut on 1 December 2016 in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia match against Genoa under coach Christian Bucchi. The regular 90-minutes finished in the 2–2 draw and advanced in the Extra time where Genoa won 4–3. Despite conceding 4 goals in total of 120 minutes Elezaj was rated highly with 7 after making several saves against the Argentinian duo Giovanni Simeone & Lucas Ocampos.[11]

Catanzaro

He joined Serie C club Catanzaro on 18 August 2018.[12]

International career

Albania U17

Elezaj was invited at the Albania national under-17 football team by coach Dzemal Mustedanagić to participate in the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round from 18–23 October 2012. He played every minute during this round's 3 matches ahead of Elhan Kastrati but Albania U17 got eliminated after losing both first games 1–0 to Italy U17 and Hungary U17 and despite beating hard Liechtenstein U17 6–0 in the closing match.[13][14]

Albania U19

Elezaj advanced at the Albania national under-19 football team as he was called up by coach Foto Strakosha to participate in the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying round from 12–17 November 2013. During the tournament he served as a second choice behind Thomas Strakosha for all matches.[9]

He was re-invited to the Albania U19 by a new coach Altin Lala to participate in the 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying round.[15] Under coach Altin Lala he played every minute of this round as Albania U19 was eliminated.[9]

Albania U21

Elezaj debuted with Albania national under-21 football team on 6 May 2014 against Italy U21 playing the full 90-minutes match under coach Skënder Gega. He made several notable saves but conceded a penalty goal and the match ended as a 1–0 loss.[16]

Personal life

His inspirations are famous fellow Goalkeepers, Gianluigi Buffon and Joe Hart where he had the chance to train with them, Buffon during the time that he was trained with the first team of Juventus and with Hart during the time he had a trial at English giants Manchester City.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 21 January 2018 [18]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pro Vercelli2015–16Serie B —00——00
Sliema Wanderers2015–16Maltese Premier League 8030——110
Perugia2016–17Serie B 2010—0030
2017–18 —00——00
Total 2010—0030
Racing Fondi 2017–18 Serie C 210———210
Career total 31040——350
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  2. Including other competitions, such as 2016–17 Serie B Play-off

Honours

Club
Sliema Wanderers[18]
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gollark: Forming countries is actually hard, and school systems are very unoptimized to teach this way.
gollark: Stop hating them.
gollark: There are things between linear and exponential, which is important sometimes.

References
  1. Flasin 2 shqiptarët e Juventusit : Si refuzuam Italinë, krenarë që jemi shqiptarë, por... aSport.al "Unë kam qenë pjesë e një ekipi të Torinos dhe në moshen 6-7 vjeçare bëra një provë tek Juventus, të cilën e fitova."
  2. Italy - Juventus Under 19 - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news Soccerway
  3. Pro Vercelli vs. Alessandria - 9 August 2015 Soccerway
  4. VERCELLI - La Pro cede a titolo temporaneo il portiere Entonjo Elezaj - VercelliOggi.it Libero 24x7
  5. Sliema Wanderers vs. Tarxien Rainbows - 21 August 2015 Soccerway
  6. Pembroke Athleta vs. Sliema Wanderers - 2 April 2016 Soccerway
  7. Sliema Wanderers vs. Birkirkara - 7 May 2016 Soccerway
  8. Balzan vs. Sliema Wanderers - 14 May 2016 Soccerway
  9. Entonjo Elezaj matches at Soccerway
  10. Perugia blen Entonjo Elezaj nga Pro Vercelli aSport.al
  11. As Berisha dhe as Strakosha, një tjetër portier kuqezi mahnit Italinë Panorama Sport
  12. "Entonjo Elezaj è pronto: "Non vediamo l'ora di cominciare" (in Italian). U.S. Catanzaro 1929. 18 August 2018.
  13. Entonjo Elezaj – UEFA competition record
  14. Summary - UEFA U17 Championship - Europe - Results, fixtures, tables and news Soccerway
  15. Barazon Kombëtarja, Lala: Kualifikohemi në Europian Panorama Sport
  16. Italia B triumfon me penallti ndaj tanëve Archived 2014-05-12 at the Wayback Machine Sporti Shqiptar
  17. Ka idhull Bufon dhe Hart, një tjetër “italian” synon portën kuqezi Panorama Sport
  18. Entonjo Elezaj at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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