Mehmet Hetemaj

Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987), is a naturalized Finnish professional football defensive midfielder of Kosovar Albanian descent who plays for Finnish Veikkausliiga side SJK. He has represented both Finland national team and Kosovo national football team, but now he is no longer eligible to play for the latter. He started his football career in HJK youth team.

Mehmet Hetemaj

Hetemaj with SJK in 2018.
Personal information
Date of birth	(1987-12-08) 8 December 1987
Place of birth	Skenderaj, Yugoslavia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position(s)	Defensive midfielder[1]
Club information
Current team	SJK
Number	58
Youth career
1996–2006	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	HJK	17	(1)
2007	→ Viikingit (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2010	Panionios	11	(0)
2009	→ Thrasyvoulos (loan)	9	(0)
2009–2010	→ AlbinoLeffe (loan)	23	(1)
2010–2014	AlbinoLeffe	76	(0)
2012–2013	→ Reggina (loan)	29	(0)
2014	→ Honka (loan)	16	(1)
2014	Monza	17	(0)
2015–	SJK	119	(11)
National team^‡
0000–2009	Finland U21	18	(2)
2009–	Finland	6	(1)
2014	Kosovo	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:29, 14 August 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2017

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Hetemaj started his career in Finland in HJK Helsinki where he made 17 appearances between 2006 and 2007. During 2007 season he was loaned to Viikingit for 9 matches.

Panionios

In 2008, he agreed a move to Greek club Panionios F.C.. In June 2009 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit AlbinoLeffe, where he established himself as a regular.

AlbinoLeffe

In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios.[2][3] He signed a four-year contract. In July 2012 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit Reggina Calcio.[4] The loan contract with Reggina ended after the 2012–13 season and Hetemaj returned to AlbinoLeffe.[5] In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.[6][7]

Monza

In July 2014 he joined Italian club Monza.[8]

SJK

Hetemaj joined SJK in January 2015. [9] Since then he has become a fan favorite and scored many important goals for the club. Hetemaj has been the clubs captain since 2019. [10]

International career

Finland Under-21

Hetemaj, along with his older brother Përparim Hetemaj, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[11]

Finland

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland against Japan in February 2009. After a convincing season in AlbinoLeffe he was called up again on 21 May 2010 for a match against Estonia.

Kosovo

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against Turkey in May 2014, a friendly match.[12] However, he lost his eligible to switch for Kosovo in competitive match after accepting the call-up from Finland in 2016, after Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA.[13]

Personal life

Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having asthma. He has an older brother, the footballer Përparim, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 25 July 2016[15][16]

Club	Season	Division	League		Domestic Cups		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Klubi-04	2005	Kakkonen	16	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
	2006	Ykkönen	13	2	0	0	0	0	13	2
	Total		29	2	0	0	0	0	29	2
HJK Helsinki	2006	Veikkausliiga	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	2007	Veikkausliiga	8	1	0	0	0	0	8	1
	Total		17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
Viikingit	2007	Veikkausliiga	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
Panionios	2007–08	Superleague	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Thrasyvoulos	2008–09	Superleague	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
AlbinoLeffe	2009–10	Serie B	23	1	1	0	0	0	24	1
	2010–11	Serie B	36	0	2	0	0	0	38	0
	2011–12	Serie B	35	0	2	0	0	0	37	0
	Total		94	1	5	0	0	0	99	1
Reggina	2012–13	Serie B	29	0	2	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		29	0	2	0	0	0	31	0
AlbinoLeffe	2013–14	Lega Pro	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Honka	2014	Veikkausliiga	16	1	3	1	2	0	21	2
	Total		16	1	3	1	2	0	21	2
Monza	2014–15	Lega Pro	17	0	2	0	0	0	19	0
	Total		17	0	2	0	0	0	19	0
SJK	2015	Veikkausliiga	31	2	4	0	2	0	37	2
	2016		6	0	4	0	2	0	12	0
	Total		37	2	8	0	4	0	49	2
Career total			267	7	20	1	6	0	293	7

International

As of 7 June 2017[17]

Finland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	1	0
2010	1	0
2011	0	0
2012	0	0
2013	0	0
2014	1	0
2015	0	0
2016	2	0
2017	1	1
Total	6	1

International goals

Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.[16]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	7 June 2017	Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland	Liechtenstein	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

HJK Helsinki

• Finnish Cup: 2006

References

1. Mehmet Hetemaj at National-Football-Teams.com
2. "UFFICIALE: AlbinoLeffe, acquistato Mehmet Hetemaj dal Panionios" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
3. "Mehmet Hetemaj acquistato a titolo definitivo dal Panionios FC" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. AlbinoLeffe. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
4. "Mehmet Hetemaj vaihtaa seuraa". mtv3.fi (in Finnish). 7 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
5. "Mehmet Hetemaj'n siirto jumissa". iltasanomat.fi (in Finnish). 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
6. "Hongan tuore vahvistus: "Maajoukkuetta on ollut ikävä"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
7. "Mehmet Hetemaj passa a titolo temporaneo al Honka" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. AlbinoLeffe. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
8. "Shefki Kuqi: "Mehu lähtee"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
9. "Mehmet Hetemaj ja SJK sopimukseen". SJK.fi. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
10. "Hetemaj on SJK:n kapteeni kaudella 2019". SJK.fi. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
11. "Finland squad". Uefa.com. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
12. http://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=471&ftxtID=20671
13. "Change of association to the Football Federation of Kosovo". FIFA. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
14. "Perhepoika ja suuri suu" (in Finnish). Ylioppilaslehti. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
15. http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/29772/Jukka_Raitala.html
16. https://int.soccerway.com/players/mehmet-hetemaj/8488/
17. http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/30459/Mehmet_Hetemaj.html

External links

• Mehmet Hetemaj at U.C. AlbinoLeffe (in Italian)
• Mehmet Hetemaj at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mehmet Hetemaj at Soccerbase
• Mehmet Hetemaj at Soccerway
• Profie at Welt Fussball (in German)