Leart Paqarada

Leart Shukri Paqarada (born 8 October 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for St. Pauli and the Kosovo national team. He previously played for Albania national under-21 football team and Germany U17 team.

Leart Paqarada

Paqarada with SV Sandhausen in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Leart Shukri Paqarada
Date of birth	(1994-10-08) 8 October 1994
Place of birth	Bremen, Germany
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s)	Left-back
Club information
Current team	St. Pauli
Number	23
Youth career
1998–2003	Werder Bremen
2003–2013	Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Bayer Leverkusen II	30	(1)
2014–2020	Sandhausen	151	(5)
2020–	St. Pauli	0	(0)
National team^‡
2009–2010	Germany U16	7	(0)
2010–2011	Germany U17	7	(0)
2013	Albania U21	1	(0)
2014–	Kosovo	19	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 July 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 July 2020

Early life

Born in Bremen, Germany, Paqarada is the son of Shukri Paqarada, a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Prishtina. His family is originally from Pačarađa, Serbia.[1]

Club career

Paqarada started his career with SV Werder Bremen youths in 1998 until 2003, then he joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen where he played in all youth teams of the club until 2013, and was promoted in second team: Bayer 04 Leverkusen II. In 2014, he was transferred in SV Sandhausen. He made his 2. Bundesliga debut on 10 August 2014 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He played the full game in a 1–1 draw.[2]

St. Pauli

In August 2020, Paqarada joined 2. Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli on a free transfer.[3]

International career

Germany

Under-16

On 16 August 2009, Paqarada made his debut with Germany U16 in a friendly match against Austria U16 after being named in the starting line-up.[4]

Under-17

On 4 September 2010, Paqarada made his debut with Germany U17 in a friendly match against Azerbaijan U17 after being named in the starting line-up.[5]

Albania

Under-21

On 6 February 2013, Paqarada made his debut with Albania U21 in a friendly match against Macedonia U21 after being named in the starting line-up.

Kosovo

On 4 September 2014, Paqarada received a call-up from Kosovo for a friendly match against Oman[6] and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up and from that day, he is regularly playing for Kosovo.

Career statistics

Club

As of 31 July 2020[7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bayer Leverkusen II	2012–13	Regionalliga West	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	2013–14		27	1	0	0	—		—		27	1
	Total		30	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	1
Sandhausen	2014–15	2. Bundesliga	14	0	1	0	—		—		15	0
	2015–16		29	0	2	0	—		—		31	0
	2016–17		18	0	1	0	—		—		19	0
	2017–18		30	3	1	0	—		—		31	3
	2018–19		28	1	2	0	—		—		30	1
	2019–20		32	1	1	0	—		—		33	1
	Total		151	5	8	0	0	0	0	0	159	5
Career total			181	6	8	0	0	0	0	0	189	6

International

As of 31 July 2020[8]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Kosovo	2014	1	0
	2015	2	0
	2016	4	0
	2017	4	0
	2018	3	1
	2019	5	0
	Total	19	1

International goals

Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first.[9]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	27 March 2018 (2018-03-27)	Stade Municipal Jean Rolland, Franconville, France	Burkina Faso	2–0	2–0	Friendly	[10]

References

1. "Shpërngulja e shqiptarëve prej Sanxhakut më 1878-1912". Bujanoci (in Albanian). 18 April 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2017. Albanian villages in Serbia, in which is also Paqarada family origin, which you can see in his surname Paqarada and his village Pačarađa
2. "Sandhausen vs. Kaiserslautern 1 – 1". Soccerway. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
3. "Zwei auf einen Schlag: St. Pauli verpflichtet Paqarada und Smarsch". kicker (in German). 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
4. "U 16-Junioren: Leart Paqarada" [U 16-juniors: Leart Paqarada] (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
5. "U 17-Junioren: Leart Paqarada" [U 17-juniors: Leart Paqarada] (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
6. "Kosova, Bunjaki shpall listën anti-Oman". Albeu. 4 September 2014.
7. "Leart Paqarada". Soccerway.
8. "Leart Paqarada - national football team player". EU-Football.info.
9. "Paqarada, Leart". National Football Teams.
10. "Kosovo (2–0) Burkina Faso". eu-football.info. 27 March 2018.

External links

• Leart Paqarada at Soccerway
• Leart Paqarada at National-Football-Teams.com