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
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Klubi-04 2005 Kakkonen 1600000160
2006 Ykkönen 1320000132
Total 2920000292
HJK Helsinki 2006 Veikkausliiga 90000090
2007 Veikkausliiga 81000081
Total 1710000171
Viikingit 2007 Veikkausliiga 90000090
Total 90000090
Panionios 2007–08 Superleague 50000050
Total 50000050
Thrasyvoulos 2008–09 Superleague 90000090
Total 90000090
AlbinoLeffe 2009–10 Serie B 2311000241
2010–11 Serie B 3602000380
2011–12 Serie B 3502000370
Total 9415000991
Reggina 2012–13 Serie B 2902000310
Total 2902000310
AlbinoLeffe 2013–14 Lega Pro 50000050
Total 50000050
Honka 2014 Veikkausliiga 1613120212
Total 1613120212
Monza 2014–15 Lega Pro 1702000190
Total 1702000190
SJK 2015 Veikkausliiga 3124020372
2016 604020120
Total 3728040492
Career total 2677201602937

International
As of 7 June 2017[17]
Finland national team
YearAppsGoals
200910
201010
201100
201200
201300
201410
201500
201620
201711
Total61

International goals
Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.[16]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 June 2017Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland Liechtenstein1–01–1Friendly

Honours

Club

HJK Helsinki

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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
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