Fatos Bećiraj

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Fatos Bećiraj

Bećiraj playing for Dinamo Zagreb
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-05-05) 5 May 1988
Place of birthPeć, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubDinamo Zagreb
Number21
Youth career
2005–2007KF Shqiponja
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2007KF Besa
2008–2010Budućnost Podgorica81(39)
2010–Dinamo Zagreb87(30)
National team‡
2009–2010Montenegro U215(0)
2009–Montenegro24(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 December 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2013

Fatos Bećiraj (Cyrillic: Фатос Бећирај, Albanian: Fatos Besim Beqiraj; born 5 May 1988) is a Montenegrin footballer of Albanian ethnicity[a] who plays for Dinamo Zagreb and the Montenegro national football team.

Club career

Budućnost Podgorica

He began his career in Peć with the local club KF Shqiponja at 17 years of age before joining their city rivals KF Besa in July 2007.[1] After spending the first half of the 2007–08 season with Besa his good performances in the Kosovar Superliga attracted attention from several clubs in the region, and in January 2008 he moved to the Montenegrin side FK Budućnost Podgorica.[1]

He immediately established himself as a first team regular at Budućnost, scoring 9 goals in 15 appearances in the second half of the 2007–08 season,[2] helping the club win the Montenegrin championship title and finish runners-up in the 2007–08 Montenegrin Cup. In the following two seasons Bećiraj scored 28 league goals in 62 matches for the club,[2] becoming league top scorer in the 2008–09 season with 18 goals scored.

Dinamo Zagreb

It was announced on 30 August 2010 that Beqiraj signed for Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb.[3] Beqiraj played very well in his debut season with Dinamo and became regularly called up to the Montenegro national team. He played in 22 league matches and scored 8 goals, most notably a beautiful goal against NK Rijeka and a fine header against Hajduk Split.

Beqiraj struggled to find his goalscoring form at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, finally scoring after eight matches without a goal, netting the fifth goal in a 5–0 win against NK Karlovac. He then scored the last goal in a 4–1 win against Malmö FF in the Champions League Play-off. Beqiraj then continued his goalscoring form in domestic competition, scoring against NK Varaždin, NK Istra, NK Zadar, NK Šibenik and RNK Split.

On 22 November 2011, Bećiraj scored Dinamo's first goal in the 2011-12 Champions League, netting a header in Dinamo's 6-2 away loss to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.[4]

Beqiraj was the first choice striker throughout the 2011-12 season and became top scorer of the Prva HNL with 15 goals in 28 appearances, becoming the first foreign player to accomplish that feat.

International career

Beqiraj was first called up for the Montenegro U21 by coach Dušan Vlaisavljević in 2009, winning his first cap in a 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan U21 on 7 June 2009.[5] He went on to earn five caps for the U21 team before receiving his first call-up for the senior team in March 2009, for a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Italy.[6] He had his international debut in the match, coming on as a substitute for Radomir Đalović in the 70th minute.[7] He scored his first goal for Montenegro on 17 November 2010 in a friendly match against Azerbaijan.[8]

Beqiraj said in an interview that should the Kosovo national football team be allowed to play international events, he would consider leaving the Montenegro team to play for Kosovo.[9]

Career statistics

This list of sports fixtures or results is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
As of 2 November 2013
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Zagreb 2010-11 228001023210
2011-12 2815001224017
2012-13 27400102376
Total 77270032610933

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 November 2010 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro  Azerbaijan
2–0
2–0
 Friendly
2 11 September 2012 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino
0–2
0–6
 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying
3 11 September 2012 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino
0–3
0–6
 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Honours

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fatos Beciraj – Player changes, player transfers" (in German). Transfermarkt.de. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Fatos Bećiraj". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  3. ↑ "Modre redove pojačao i Bećiraj!" (in Croatian). NK Dinamo Zagreb. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  4. ↑ http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/nogomet/beqiraj-tomecak-zabili-realu-dinamo-ublazio-poraz-madridu-clanak-34908
  5. ↑ "About Fatos Bećiraj" (in Montenegrin). Football Association of Montenegro. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  6. ↑ "Filipović pozvao Bašu i Bećiraja" (in Montenegrin). Football Association of Montenegro. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  7. ↑ "Montenegro – Italy Match Report". FIFA. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  8. ↑ "Pobjeda za kraj uspješne godine" (in Serbian). fscg.co.me. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010. 
  9. ↑ Pandovski, Fatjon (11 January 2010). "Fatos Beqiraj : Benfika do te realizonte endrren time" (in Albanian). Albaniasoccer. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 

External links

Prva HNL top scorers
GNK Dinamo Zagreb – current squad
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