Veton Berisha

Veton Berisha (born 13 April 1994) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a forward for Viking FK. His parents are from Kosovo and he is the younger brother of Valon Berisha. Berisha has represented Norway at every level from Under-15 to full international level.

Veton Berisha
Berisha with Rapid Wien in 2017
Personal information
Full name Veton Berisha
Date of birth (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994
Place of birth Egersund, Norway
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Viking
Number 14
Youth career
0000–2009 Egersund
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Egersund 21 (1)
2010–2015 Viking 94 (24)
2015–2017 Greuther Fürth 63 (11)
2017–2019 Rapid Wien 44 (7)
2019 Brann 26 (3)
2020– Viking 14 (7)
National team‡
2009 Norway U15 1 (0)
2010–2011 Norway U16 9 (3)
2011 Norway U17 9 (3)
2011–2013 Norway U18 14 (8)
2013 Norway U19 2 (1)
2013–2016 Norway U21 17 (2)
2015– Norway 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 August 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2016

Club career

Berisha was born in Egersund,[1] and started his career in the local club Egersunds IK. He was considered as one of the biggest Norwegian talents at his age, and like his brother Valon, Veton was on a trial with Manchester City before he signed for Viking in May 2009, but did not join the club until the summer of 2010.[2] He made his debut for Egersunds' first-team in 2009 against Hundvåg,[3] and in total he played 21 matches for the Third Division side.

After joining Viking, Berisha trained with the first team in the pre-season ahead of the 2011 season,[4] and made his debut for the club when he replaced Erik Nevland after 60 minutes in the First Round of the 2011 Norwegian Cup against his old club Egersund.[1] Berisha got his first minutes of playing-time in Tippeligaen in the 1–3 loss against Tromsø on 19 May 2011,[5] and started his first match for Viking when Brann was beaten 3–0 on 17 June 2011.[6]

On 19 June 2011, Berisha and his brother Valon became the first brothers to start a match for Viking in 22 years since Jan and Egil Fjetland played against Molde in the 1989 Norwegian Cup final.[7] After the match, Viking's manager Åge Hareide said that "It's fun to start the game with two brothers, I only wish they could pass the ball to others than themselves, as it would create a lot more chances for us, but since they are brothers I guess we can forgive them.[7] In the match against Aalesund on 17 July 2011, Berisha got his first league-goal when he scored the match-winning goal 12 minutes after he came on as a substitute to replace Erik Nevland.[8]

During the mid-summer break in the 2012 season, Berisha expressed a concern about his lack of playing time; he had only played 69 minutes in the league that season and his last appearance in Viking's starting line-up was on 7 August 2011. But Berisha was hoping for a fresh start after Kjell Jonevret was hired as the new head coach following Hareide's departure.[9] In the Fourth Round of the 2012 Norwegian Cup, Berisha scored Viking's first goal after only one minute on the pitch, but Brann eventually won 3–2.[10]

On 15 July 2012, Berisha secured Jonevret his first victory as Viking-coach, when he scored the match-winning goal in the stoppage-time against Hønefoss.[11]

On 22 April 2013, it was reported that Berisha fractured his right elbow and would be absent for two months.[12]

After scoring 11 goals in 14 matches halfway through the 2015 season, Berisha joined 2. Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth on a free transfer on 1 July 2015.[13]

On 1 September 2017, Berisha signed for Austrian club Rapid Wien.[14]

On 30 March 2019, Berisha returned to Norwegian football, signing a four-year contract with Brann.[15]

In January 2020, Berisha joined his former club Viking, for a reported fee of around NOK 6.5 million. He signed a four-year contract with the club.[16][17]

International career

Berisha played for one match for Norway U15 in 2009, and the next year he played nine matches for Norway U16 where he scored three goals. In 2011 Berisha again scored three goals in nine matches while representing his country, this time for the Under-17 team. Berisha has also played eight matches for Norway U18, scoring three goals.[18]

Like his brother Valon, he was approached by Kosovo when they became FIFA members in February 2016. However, unlike his brother who elected to represent Kosovo, he decided to keep representing Norway.

Career statistics
As of 9 August 2020[1][19]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Viking 2011 Tippeligaen 12140—161
2012 21731—248
2013 22410—234
2014 25142—293
2015 141121—1612
Total 9424144—10828
Greuther Fürth 2015–16 2. Bundesliga 33810—348
2016–17 26321—284
2017–18 4010—50
Total 631141—6712
Rapid Wien 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 27420—294
2018–19 17321101295
Total 44741101589
Brann 2019 Eliteserien 2633021314
Total 2633021314
Viking 2020 Eliteserien 1470000147
Total 1470000147
Career total 2415225612227860

International goals
Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.[20]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 June 2016King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Belgium2–12–3Friendly
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gollark: A language where postfix + increments a value by 0.5.
gollark: Oh, I just had an amazing idea.
gollark: See, I use Rust and I just *complain* about C. I can totally write it (see length terminated strings).
gollark: Allegedly.

References
  1. "Veton Berisha". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2 (Norway). Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  2. Olsen, Olav Rege (16 May 2009). "Bror til Berisha signerte for Viking". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 10 August 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. "Veton Berisha tatt ut til G-15 landslaget" (in Norwegian). Egersunds IK. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  4. "Veton har Valon som forbilde og rådgiver". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  5. Kvendseth, Kristian Oftedal (23 May 2011). "Debutant Veton Berisha sulten på mer spill". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. Nilssen, Stig (17 June 2011). "Veton Berisha gjorde som broren sa". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  7. Nilssen, Knut Arne (20 June 2011). "Familien Berishas store dag". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  8. Karstensen, Pål (17 July 2011). "Berisha ble matchvinner med sitt første Viking-mål". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  9. Nilssen, Knut Arne (27 June 2012). "Nå vil lillebror Berisha gripe sjansen". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  10. Larsen, Jan-Erik (4 July 2012). "Berisha tok en Balotelli". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  11. Time, Joar (15 July 2012). "Veton Berisha sørget for Jonevrets første". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  12. Time, Joar (22 April 2013). "Veton Berisha thyen dorën, mungon dy muaj" (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  13. "Berisha til tysk 2. divisjon". www.nrk.no (in Norwegian). NRK. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  14. "Neuzugang: Veton Berisha verstärkt unseren Angriff". www.skrapid.at (in German). SK Rapid Wien. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  15. "Bekrefter Berisha-overgangen". www.brann.no (in German). SK Brann. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  16. "Veton er på vei hjem!". www.viking-fk.no (in Norwegian). Viking FK. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  17. "Veton Berisha legger ekstra press på seg selv: – Det er viktig for meg å få det til i Viking". www.aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  18. "Veton Berisha's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  19. Veton Berisha at Soccerway
  20. "Berisha, Veton". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
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