Valon Behrami

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Personal information
Valon Behrami
Date of birth	19 April 1985
Place of birth	Mitrovica, Kosovo
Height	1.86 m
Nickname	Mastino
Position	Right winger, right back
Club information
Current club	Lazio
Youth clubs
1992-1994 1994-1996 1996-2002	Stabio Chiasso Lugano
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-06	Lugano Genoa → Verona (on loan) → Lazio (co-ownership)	2 (0) 24 (0) 32 (3) 26 (2)
National team**
2005-	Switzerland	7 (1)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2005. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 26 June 2006.

Valon Behrami (born 19 April 1985 in Mitrovica, Kosovo) is a Swiss midfielder currently playing professional football for S.S. Lazio of Italian Serie A.

Born in Kosovo to Albanian parents, Behrami moved to Stabio, a village in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, due to war when he was only a child, and he then obtained the Swiss nationality.

Behrami started playing football in Swiss sides FC Stabio, FC Chiasso and FC Lugano. After a number of impressive appearances with FC Lugano, Behrami was jointly signed by Italian teams Genoa and Udinese, and played the Serie B championship with Genoa in 2003. In 2004, Udinese sold its rights on Behrami back to Genoa, and loaned him to Hellas Verona, again in Serie B. After an impressive season played with Hellas Verona, Lazio signed him in the summer of 2005. He is used to wear the #85 jersey, as he does for Lazio. He has made € 6 000 000 so far in his professional career.

Behrami has also been capped for the Switzerland national football team at the Under-18, Under-19 and "A" levels. However, Behrami has also expressed the wish to play for Kosovo if the area should gain independence. But, because he already has played for the Swiss first team, should Kosovo gain its independence and become an affiliated FIFA federation, Behrami would not be allowed to join the new national team. ^{[citation needed]}

For the Swiss national team, Behrami scored a very important goal against Turkey in the Stade de Suisse in the last 2006 World Cup barrage.

During the World Cup he endured a grion injury which put him on the side for the first two matches. On the third match he was subbed in the game, in the 88th minute. He did not participate in the goaless loss to Ukraine in the final 16th, round. Some feel that the decision by coach Kobi Kuhn, not to put Behrami in the game was a very poor mistake.

[edit] External links

	Switzerland squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Zuberbühler \| 2 Djourou \| 3 Magnin \| 4 Senderos \| 5 Margairaz \| 6 Vogel \| 7 Cabanas \| 8 Wicky \| 9 Frei \| 10 Gygax \| 11 Streller \| 12 Benaglio \| 13 Grichting \| 14 D. Degen \| 15 Džemaili \| 16 Barnetta \| 17 Spycher \| 18 Lustrinelli \| 19 Behrami \| 20 Müller \| 21 Coltorti \| 22 Yakın \| 23 P. Degen \| Coach: Kuhn