| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 30 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Vlora, Albania | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Skenderbeu | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| -2005 | KF Tirana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005-2010 | KF Tirana | 106 | (9) |
| 2010- | Skenderbeu | 3 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003 | Albania U-17 | 2 | (0) |
| 2005 | Albania U-19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2007 | Albania U-21 | 8 | (1) |
| 2009- | Albania | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 October 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jetmir Sefa (born 30 January 1987) is an Albanian football player. The attacking midfielder plays for Skenderbeu in the Albanian Superliga. His main position is in the centre of midfield but he can also play in a more advanced role as well, he has also played as a left and right midfielder during his time at KF Tirana. He is also part of the Albanian national team and has been since 2009 after being included in the squad by Croatian coach Josip Kuže for the record breaking 6-1 destruction of Cyprus on 12 August 2009 at the Qemal Stafa Stadium.[1]
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Sefa is a product of the KF Tirana youth setup and was at the club for a number of years before turning professional in 2005. He joined the senior team in the summer of 2005 when the Italian Leonardo Menichini was manager at the club. He joined the senior team with players such as Hamdi Salihi, Altin Rraklli, Klodian Duro, Ervin Bulku, Isli Hidi and Blendi Nallbani. Sefa faced competition for a place in the team from Ervin Bulku, Sajmir Patushi, Devi Muka, Klodian Duro and Italian midfielder Cristiano Muzzachi.[2]
Sefa's league debut came on 7 September 2005 in an away match against KS Shkumbini Peqin. He was 18 years old when he made his debut in a KF Tirana shirt, a debut in which he started and played the full 90 minutes of in midfield alongside Devi Muka, Ervin Bulku and Egert Bakalli. The match ended in a 1-1 draw as a ten man Tirana struggled against Shkumbini, Sefa was also one of 4 players to be cautioned with a yellow card throughout the course of a fiery encounter which saw Tirana's Arjan Pisha receive a straight red card.[3] During the entire Kategoria superiore 2005-06 season, Sefa featured in a total of 14 league games, starting 8 of them and playing the full 90 minutes on four occasions.[4] Tirana finished 2nd in the table to KF Elbasani who won the Kategoria superiore for the first time since the 1983-84 season.[5] He was also part of the team that won the 2005-06 Kupa e shqipërisë (Albanian Cup) which was Sefa's first ever trophy since turning professional.[6]
He started the 2006-07 season with KF Tirana in the UEFA Cup preliminary round against Croatian side NK Varteks. Sefa travelled with the squad to Varaždin but only managed to debut in a European tournament with a cameo appearance after coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute for striker Vioresin Sinani. His first taste of Europe was successful as the club went back to Tirana with an away goalthrough Devi Muka in the 1-1 draw.[7] Despite featuring in the 1st leg of the preliminary round, Sefa didn't play in the home leg in Tirana in which his team secured a place in the next round of the competition with a comfortable 2-0 victory.[8] Tirana's next opponents in the competition were Turkish side Kayserispor. Once again Sefa didn't play in the home 2-0 loss.[9]
He had more luck during the next campaign as he played 21 times in the league and even twice in the UEFA Cup against Kayserispor and NK Varteks.[10] Following the departure of one of KF Tirana's greatest ever players, Ervin Bulku to FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih in the summer of 2007 Sefa was given the number 8 shirt. This was a great privilege for the young midfielder as he would be following in the footsteps of one of the all-time greats of Albanian football. More high profile players like Albanian international Endrit Vrapi also wanted the shirt. however he started every game that he played and finished them on all but two occasions. He found the net three times, the first coming on 1 September 2007.
In July 2010 he signed for KS Skenderbeu.
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Albania | League | Albanian Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 2005-06 | KF Tirana | Superliga | 14 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 [11] |
| 2006-07 | KF Tirana | Superliga | 21 | 0 | ? | ? | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 [12] |
| 2007-08 | KF Tirana | Superliga | 13 | 3 | ? | ? | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 [13] |
| 2008-09 | KF Tirana | Superliga | 26 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 4 [14] |
Sefa stated in an interview with www.Albanian-sport.com that his dream is to play in Germany and hinted that clubs in Germany have shown interests in him. When asked who was his idol, he pointed out that without a doubt that his favourite foreign player is Francesco Totti and he would like to some day like to play like the Italian star.[15]