Valon Ahmedi

Valon Ahmedi (born 7 October 1994) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Shkëndija. At international level he represented Albania, making two appearances in 2017. He was also part of the Albania under-19 team[3] and the Albania under-21 team.

Valon Ahmedi
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-10-07) 7 October 1994
Place of birth Ohrid, Macedonia[1]
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Shkëndija
Number 11
Youth career
2004–2011 Kastelbell
2011–2012 Südtirol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Südtirol 6 (0)
2014–2015 Celje 34 (5)
2016–2018 Maribor 22 (1)
2016–2017 → Maribor B 14 (6)
2018–2019 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 20 (1)
2019–2020 Inter Zaprešić 5 (0)
2020– Shkëndija 4 (0)
National team
2012 Albania U19[lower-alpha 1] 3 (0)
2013 Albania U20 5 (0)
2013–2014 Albania U21 2 (0)
2017 Albania 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:06, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Ahmedi was born in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia), to ethnic Albanian parents and was raised in Castellanza, Italy. He began his career with Kastelbell.[4] He moved to F.C. Südtirol in August 2011 after being spotted by the club's scout and was offered a place in the youth team.[5]

He made his senior debut for Südtirol on 22 December 2012 against Tritium during the 2012–13 season, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Alessandro Campo in the 1–1 draw.[6] His next and last senior appearance of the 2012–13 season came on 13 January 2013 against Pavia in a 2–1 loss, where he came on in the 67th minute of the game in place of Alessandro Furlan.[7]

In the 2013–14 season he played overall 4 matches all as a substitute.[8]

Celje

In July 2014 Ahmedi signed with Slovenian PrvaLiga side NK Celje.[9] He made his debut in the opening match of the 2014–15 season against Zavrč playing the full 90-minutes.[10] He was considered as an important player for the team and regularly played for entire matches, and on 1 August 2014 he scored his first goal against Krka in the third round, helping his team to a 3–0 victory.[11] Ahmed had a three months break as he got injured in the start of the 2015 and missed out for two months until May 2015.

He finished his first season at Celje with 20 league appearances, scoring five goals. Celje finished as league runners-up and this made them to secure a place in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifiers.[12] Ahmedi also played five matches in the 2014–15 Slovenian Football Cup and scored one goal, as Celje finished runners-up losing to the final against Koper.[13]

He made his European debut on 2 July 2015 in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round against Śląsk Wrocław, where he played for 45 minutes before being substituted at the half-time for Sunny Omoregie.[14] In the second leg on 9 July, Ahmedi started from the bench and came in to play in the 79th minute in place of Danijel Miškić. The match ended in a 3–1 loss and it resulted in elimination of Celje 4–1 on aggregate.[15]

Maribor

He signed for Slovenian champions NK Maribor in January 2016.[16][17] He debuted on 20 April 2016 in the 2015–16 Slovenian Cup semi-final game against Zavrč, replacing Dare Vršič in the 64th minute. Maribor won the game 5–1 after extra time and secured a place in the final.[18] Ahmedi scored his first goal for Maribor on 22 September 2017 in the 2017–18 Slovenian PrvaLiga 10th matchday against Aluminij, helping his team to win the match 3–2.[19]

International career

Ahmedi was eligible to represent Macedonia through birthplace, Italy through residence, and Albania through his ethnicity.[1]

Albania under-19

He caught the attention of the Albanian Football Association in 2012 with his performances in the youth team of Südtirol, and he accepted their invitation to the join Albania U19s for a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 on 8 May 2012, which he featured in from the start as a striker in the 3–1 win. Then, Ahmedi was called up against in August 2012 to participate with Albania U19 in a friendly tournament in Slovenia.[20]

Ahmedi was named in the Foto Strakosha squad for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification from 12–17 October 2012 with opponents Italy U19, Belgium U19 and Belarus U19.[21] In the opening match of the tournament on 12 October 2012 against Italy U19, he made it his debut by playing as a starter and got substituted off in the 81st minute for Dardan Vuthaj in a 3–0 loss.[22] In the second match against Belgium U19 he was included in the starting line-up and played for 84 minutes as Albania U19 made a crucial 3–1 victory.[23] In the closing match against Belarus, Ahmedi managed to play the full 90-minutes but, however, was unable to avoid a 2–0 loss which resulted in elimination for Albania U19, which finished in the last place in their group.[24]

Albania under-20

Ahmedi was called up at Albania national under-20 football team by coach Skënder Gega to participate in the 2013 Mediterranean Games football tournament which began on 19 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey.[25][26] Ahmedi played in all five Albania U20s matches, in which one of them was a full 90-minutes game, two as a starter until second half, and two others as a substitute. Albania U20 was ranked in the last place out of eight teams.[27][28][29][30][31]

Albania under-21

Following impressive performances in the under-19s national team as well as his club Südtirol, Ahmedi received his first call up for the Albanian under-21 national team by coach Skënder Gega for a friendly against Macedonia U21 on 6 February 2013.[32][33] He debuted for the under-21 side against Macedonia U21, playing as a starter for the entire first-half in an eventual goalless draw.[34] He received another call up for the under-21 side by same coach Skënder Gega for the friendly match against Romania U21 on 8 October 2014.[35] He played against Romania U21 as a starter and in the 60th minute provided the assist for the 1–1 equalising goal scored by Vedat Muriqi, which however wasn't enough as Romania U21 won 3–1.[36]

Ahmedi was called up for the first time in an official competitive match by the coach Skënder Gega for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification opening match against Liechtenstein on 28 March 2015, but he withdrew due to a lately injury at Celje.[37]

Albania senior side

Following his good form at Maribor in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round, progressing and qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage, he received his first call for the Albania senior team by newly appointed coach Christian Panucci for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Liechtenstein and Macedonia (which he announced to have refused only to play for Albania) on 2 and 5 September 2017.[38][39]

Personal life

Ahmedi speaks Albanian as a mother tongue, Italian, German, English, Croatian, and Slovenian.[1]

Career statistics

Club
As of 4 January 2020[40][41]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Südtirol2012–13Lega Pro 20———20
2013–14 4000——40
Total 6000——60
Celje2014–15Slovenian PrvaLiga 20551——256
2015–16 1401020—170
Total 3456120—426
Maribor2015–16Slovenian PrvaLiga 1010——20
2016–17 5000——50
2017–18 16110100—271
2018–19 001000—10
Total 22130100—351
Ironi Kiryat Shmona2018–19Israeli Premier League 20110—00211
Inter Zaprešić2019–20Prva HNL 5010——60
Career total 877111120—1108
  1. Official UEFA matches only.
  2. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

International
As of 9 October 2017[41][42]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Albania 201720
Total20

Honours

Maribor

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References
  1. Kovačevič, Marko (10 July 2017). "Vijoličast Ahmedi: Dojel sem, kaj je v nogometu najpomembnejše". vecer.com (in Slovenian). Večer. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. "Valon Ahmedi - osebni karton" [Valon Ahmedi - personal card] (in Slovenian). NK Maribor official website. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  3. Valon Ahmedi – UEFA competition record
  4. AHMEDI BESTREITET EM - QUALY MIT U-19 AUSWAHL ALBANIENS FC Südtirol - Alto Adige (in German)
  5. Valon Ahmedi, dal Südtirol alla Nazionale albanese under 19 SportRentino.it
  6. Tritium vs. Südtirol - 22 December 2012 Soccerway
  7. Pavia vs. Südtirol - 13 January 2013 Soccerway
  8. Schede analitica di Valon Ahmedi Football.it
  9. Valon Ahmedi transferohet në NK Celje Yll Press
  10. Celje vs. Zavrč - 18 July 2014 Soccerway
  11. Celje vs. Krka - 1 August 2014 Soccerway
  12. Summary - 1. SNL - Slovenia - Results, fixtures, tables and news Soccerway
  13. Summary – Cup – Slovenia – Results, fixtures, tables and news Soccerway
  14. "Celje 0–1 Śląsk". UEFA.com. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  15. "Śląsk 3–1 Celje". UEFA.com. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  16. Peter Dominko (13 January 2016). "V Ljudskem vrtu tudi Ahmedi" [Ahmedi also in Ljudski vrt] (in Slovenian). SNPortal.si. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  17. R. K. (12 January 2016). "Mozaik skorajda sestavljen: Ahmedi četrta okrepitev Maribora" [The mosaic almost complete: Ahmedi fourth reinforcement of Maribor] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  18. "NK Maribor – Zavrč 5:1 (2:1, 1:1)". NK Maribor official website. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  19. S. J.; A. V. (22 September 2017). "Maribor trpel v Kidričevem, a se naposled le izvlekel" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  20. VALON AHMEDI CONVOCATO NELLA NAZIONALE U-19 ALBANESE FC Südtirol - Alto Adige (in Italian)
  21. Per Ahmedi le qualificazioni agli Europei con l'u-19 Albanese FC Südtirol - Alto Adige (in Italian)
  22. Match report – Under-19 2013 – Italy-Albania UEFA.com
  23. Belgium U19 vs. Albania U19 - 14 October 2012 Soccerway
  24. Summary - UEFA U19 Championship - Europe - Results, fixtures, tables and news Soccerway
  25. Lojërat Mesdhetare: Shqipëria merr pjesë me 75 sportistë (Lista e plotë) Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
  26. "Lojërat Mesdhetare, Shqipëria debuton me futbollin" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  27. Info Mersin 2013 Wayback Machine
  28. Info Mersin 2013 Wayback Machine
  29. Info Mersin 2013 Wayback Machine
  30. Info Mersin 2013 Wayback Machine
  31. Info Mersin 2013 Wayback Machine
  32. Valon Ahmedi convocato nella nazionale under-21 Albanese FC Südtirol - Alto Adige (in Italian)
  33. Valon Ahmedi in u-21 Albaniens einberufen FC Südtirol - Alto Adige (in German)
  34. "Shpresat pa fat , barazim pa gola me Maqedoninë" (in Albanian). aSport.al. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  35. "U-21 ben gati miqesoren kunder Rumanise". FSHF.org. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  36. "Shpresat munden në Rumani, dështon "armata" e Gegës" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2017. Kështu te Shqipëria hyn në lojë ish-sulmuesi i Teutës, Muriqi, i cili arrin të barazojë shifrat në minutën e 60-të, teksa merr një top nga Ahmedi, në shtyllë të parë ai arrin ta devijojë në rrjetë.
  37. Shpresat nisin kualifikimet kundër Lihtenshtajnit Archived 17 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
  38. Tre vite pritje për një ftesë kuqezi, Ahmedi: Kisha presion nga Maqedonia Panorama Sport
  39. "Trajneri Panucci shpall listën e lojtarëve për ndeshjet zyrtare eleminatore kundër Lihtenshteinit dhe Maqedonisë" (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  40. Valon Ahmedi at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  41. "Valon Ahmedi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  42. "Valon Ahmedi - national football team player". EU-football.info. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
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