Armando Sadiku

Armando Sadiku
Personal information
Full nameArmando Sadiku
Date of birth27 May 1991
Place of birthElbasan, Albania
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing positionForward
Club information
Current team
Zürich
Number11
Youth career
2007–2008Turbina Cërrik
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2008–2009Turbina Cërrik40(10)
2009–2010Gramozi Ersekë28(8)
2010–2011Elbasani14(5)
2011–2012Locarno39(28)
2012–2013Lugano43(24)
2014–Zürich26(3)
National team‡
2010–2011Albania U-191(0)
2011–2012Albania U-217(6)
2012–Albania11(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 March 2014

Armando Sadiku (born 27 May 1991) is a Albanian professional footballer who plays as a Forward for Swiss club FC Zürich and the Albania national team.

Career

Early career & Turbina Cërrik

Sadiku played for Albanian First Division side KF Turbina Cërrik during the two season 2007–08 and 2008–09.[1]

Gramozi Ersekë

In 2009 he moved to newly promoted Albanian Superliga side KS Gramozi Ersekë, owned by the brother of Albanian oil tycoon Rezart Taci. He made it his first debut for the club and in the Albanian Superliga on the opening day of the 2009–2010 season in a goaless draw at home against KS Shkumbini Peqin, where Sadiku came in as a substitute for Brazilian forward Marko dos Santos in the 66th minute.[2] His first goal in the Albanian Superliga came on the fourth match of the season in a 4–1 away loss to fellow newly promoted side KS Skënderbeu Korçë. Sadiku started the game and played the full 90 minutes with his goal coming on 18th minute of the game to make the scores 1–1 at the time, he netted from close range with his right foot after an assist from Marko Dos Santos.[3]

In total Sadiku played in 28 games and scored 8 goals during the 2009–10 season.[4] Gramozi ranked in the last place of the table and were relegated to Albanian First Division.[5]

Elbasani

During the Summer Transfers Window, Sadiku signed for his hometown club KF Elbasani. During the 2010–11 season first-half he played 14 matches and scored 5 goals. As it happened with Gramozi Ersekë in previous season, Elbasani also ranked in the last place and were relegated to Albanian First Division.

Locarno

Sadiku signed for Swiss Challenge League side FC Locarno on 13 March 2011.[6] He arrived in the morning and even travelled with the side to the away fixture with FC Schaffhausen.[7] He made his debut for the club on the very day he signed, starting the game before being substituted in the 82nd minute in the 2-1 loss.[8] His first goal came in his third appearance for FC Locarno, against FC Chiasso on 1 April. Sadiku scored the winning goal in the 64th minute of 2-1 away win, before being substituted in the 75th minute.[9] His goal against FC Chiasso was then followed up by a brace against SC Kriens, scoring during the first half and then again in injury time in a game which ended 3-0 for FC Locarno.[10] He then scored again in the next game against FC Aarau which took his tally to 4 goals in 3 games.[11] Sadiku scored against FC Winterthur on 7 May, opening the score in the 4-1 win.[12] This goal was followed up by another 4 goals in his next 3 appearances. During the second half of the 2010-11 season he scored 9 goals in 12 games, which helped his side avoid relegation.

Sadiku began the 2011-12 season in the same form as he ended the last, netting twice on the opening day of the new season against FC Wohlen in a match his side lost 5-2.[13] Sadiku's next goals came four games later against Étoile Carouge FC on 20 August, scoring twice in the first half of the 3-0 win.[14] He scored a late equaliser at home against Stade Nyonnais on 10 September to earn his side a draw.[15] In the next game he scored again, this time the opening goal in a 2-1 win against Vaduz FC.[16] Sadiku then scored in the Swiss Cup against FC Wil on 16 October, but FC Locarno were knocked out on penalties after a 1-1 draw.[17] His goal in the Swiss Cup was then followed by three goals in his next three league games, including the winner away at FC Chiasso.[18] Sadiku then ended 2011 in Switzerland with a goal in the 82nd minute against FC Aarau, to give his side a point that left them in 8th place at the end of the year.[19] He finished season 2013-13 of Swiss Challenge League as Top scorer with 19 goals.

Lugano

After much speculation about his future, on 23 July 2012 Locarno released a statement revealing that Sadiku had left the club and signed a three year contract with FC Lugano, also in the Swiss Challenge League.[20][21]

On 13 February 2013 Sadiku scored twice against his previous former team Locarno in the opening match for second phase of the 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League, where the match finished in the 3–0 victory with Sadiku scoring the second and the last goal in the 42nd and 87th minutes.[22]

For the second consecutive season and also with two different teams, Sadiku finished the complete season as Top goalscorer. In the end of 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League he registered a total of 18 goals in 32 appearances and Lugano finished in the 7th place.

Zürich

After speculations of last days about his transfer to FC Zürich, on 13 November 2013 he officially signed with the FC Zürich in the Swiss Super League and in this way on December 2013 he finished his adventure with FC Lugano and after window of transfers opens, he joined his new club Zürich, exactly on 1 January 2014.[23] He made it his presentation with the new club Zürich days later on 18 November 2013, were it was given the shirt with the number 11 and he signed the new contract until June 2018. [24] Coming in Zürich, Sadiku joined there another fellow Albanian player Burim Kukeli. His first match with Zürich came on 14 January 2014 and was a friendly against MSV Duisburg, where Sadiku also scored a goal.[25]

2013–14 season (second-half)

Sadiku made it his first debut in the Swiss Super League with Zürich, on 1 February 2014 against Sion coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute in place of Franck Etoundi.[26] On 26 March 2014 Sadiku played in the semi-final match of Swiss Cup against Thun as he came in as a substitute in the 19th minute of the extra-time, after the full 90-minutes and also 30-minutes of the extra-time had finished in the goalless draw, match decided by penalties were Zürich won 5–4 with Sadiku scoring the 3rd penalty take.[27] He played first match e as a starter for Zürich on 16 April 2014 in the 4–2 loss against Basel, were he got substituted off in the 80th minute.[28] Sadiku played 5 days later, on 21 April 2014 even against Basel in the Swiss Cup final match, as he came in as a substitute in the 91st minute (1st minute of stoppage time) in place of Franck Etoundi, were the full 90-minutes finished in the goalless draw and the match passed in to the 30 minute extra-time,were the Zürich striker Mario Gavranović scored twice on the 10th & 24th minutes to give it the final match result 2–0, with Zürich declaring the champions of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup.[29] Sadiku scored on 26 April 2014 against Luzern but his goal wasn't any enough as Zürich lost with 1–2 result.[30] During the match between Zürich and St. Gallen on 10 May 2014, Sadiku caem in as a substitute in the 70th minute in place of Franck Etoundi and after just 9 minutes he suffered an hard injury as he broken knee ligament, then substituted off for Amine Chermiti in the 79th minute. He ended the season 2 weeks before the end as he remained 6 months out of play due to his injury.[31]

2014–15 season

Sadiku got returned from the long-injury on 22 November 2014 as he participated in to the 16th week match of the 2014–15 Swiss Super League against FC Sion. He was an unused substitue during the entire match.[32] 5 days later he was on the bench again for the entire match of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage against Apollon Limassol.[33] Another 3 days after he made it his new season debut by coming on as a substitute in the 71st minute in place of Davide Chiumiento in a 1–2 loss in extreme against Basel. For Basel scored twice the fellow Albanian international striker Shkëlzen Gashi in the 41st minute an goal which equaled by the Zürich midfielder Yassine Chikhaoui in the 88th minute and where then Shkëlzen Gashi scored in the 90+4' to sign the victory for opponents of Basel.[34] Being returned before just a week, on 3 December 2014 Sadiku played as a starter and scored the first season goal in a 5–0 victory over Cham valid for the 2014–15 Swiss Cup - 3rd round, in where Sadiku scored the 3rd goal in the 73rd minute.[35]

International career

He has been included in Ramadan Shehu's squad Albanian U-19 for their UEFA U-19 Championship 2010 qualification and played only one game.[36]

Albania U-21

In the Qualifiers for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Sadiku scored two goals as a second half substitute against Moldova U-21 on 7 September 2011 to earn Albania their first points of the campaign. He then scored twice against Poland in a 3-4 loss for Albania. He followed this up with another two goals in a 2-2 draw with Portugal, taking his tally to 6 goals in his first 7 games for Albania U-21.

Caps and goals

Albania's goal tally first.

Albania senior team

New senior national team coach Gianni De Biasi, called up Sadiku for a friendly against Georgia on 29 February 2012 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. He made his senior international debut in the game, coming on as an 82nd minute substitute for goalscorer and fellow debutant Edgar Çani in the 2-1 loss for Albania. He was than called up to Albania's next two friendliest against Qatar and Iran in May, where he came off the bench for both games, winning both times. Sadiku scored his first international goal in the open match against Cyprus for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers on 7 September 2012. Goal came after an assist cross by Alban Meha from a Free-Kick. This match finished 3-1 winning by Albania. [42]

Caps and goals

Albania's goal tally first.

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 April 2015 [4][1]
Season Club League country League League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2007–08 Turbina Cërrik Albanian First Division
2008–09
Total
2009–10 Gramozi Ersekë Albanian Superliga 28800--288
Total 2880000288
2010–11 Elbasani Albanian Superliga 14500--145
Total 1450000145
2010–11 Locarno Swiss Challenge League 11900--119
2011–12 271900--2719
2012–13 1000--10
Total 392800003928
Lugano Swiss Challenge League 321800--3218
2013–14 11611--127
Total 432411004425
2013–14 Zürich Swiss Super League 15220--172
2014–15 1111100122
Total 2633100294
Career total 14968420015370

International

As of 5 March 2014
Albania national team [1][43]
YearAppsGoals
201271
201330
201410
Total111

International goals

Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 7 September 2012 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania  Cyprus 1–0 3–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Zürich

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Armando Sadiku | National Football Teams
  2. ↑ "Gramozi 0-0 Shkumbini". Footballdatabase. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Skenderbeu 4-1 Gramozi". Footballdatabase. 19 September 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Armando Sadiku profile at Soccerway
  5. ↑ Summary - Superliga - Albania - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway
  6. ↑ "Armando Sadiku al FC Locarno" (in Italian). CHalcio. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "Al Locarno l’attaccante albanese Armando Sadiku" (in Italian). Il Giornale Del Ticino. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  8. ↑ "FC Schaffhausen 2-1 FC Locarno". Soccer Way. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "FC Chiasso 1-2 FC Locarno". Soccer Way. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "FC Locarno 3-0 SC Kriens". Soccer Way. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "FC Locarno 1-1 FC Aarau". Soccer Way. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  12. ↑ "FC Locarno 4-1 FC Winterthur". Soccer Way. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. ↑ "FC Wohlen 5-2 FC Locarno". Soccer Way. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "FC Locarno 3-0 Étoile Carouge". Soccer Way. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "FC Locarno 2-2 Stade Nyonnais". Soccer Way. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "FC Locarno 2-1 Vaduz FC". Soccer Way. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "FC Locarno 1-1 FC Wil". Soccer Way. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "FC Chiasso 0-1 FC Locarno". Soccer Way. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "FC Locarno 1-1 FC Aarau". Soccer Way. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  20. ↑ To date Sadiku has scored a breathtaking 11 goals in 16 appearances.Il Lugano arruola il bomber Sadiku
  21. ↑ Armando Sadiku transferohet te Lugano KOHA.net
  22. ↑ Sadiku nuk ndalet, shënon dy gola ndaj ish-skuadrës së tij - Sporti Shqiptar Online - Sporti Shqiptar Online
  23. ↑ Armando Sadiku transferohet te Zyrihu | aSport.info - Albania Sport
  24. ↑ Sadiku prezantohet te Zyrihu | aSport.info - Albania Sport
  25. ↑ Sadiku e nis me gol te Zurichu | aSport.info - Albania Sport
  26. ↑ Zürich vs. Sion - 1 February 2014 - Soccerway
  27. ↑ Swiss Football Association - Telegram
  28. ↑ Basel vs. Zürich - 16 April 2014 - Soccerway
  29. ↑ Zürich vs. Basel - 21 April 2014 - Soccerway
  30. ↑ Zürich vs. Luzern - 26 April 2014 - Soccerway
  31. ↑ Sadiku, 6 muaj jashtë fushave Panorama Sport
  32. ↑ Sion vs. Zürich - 22 November 2014 - Soccerway
  33. ↑ UEFA Europa League 2015 - Zürich-Apollon – UEFA.com
  34. ↑ Zürich vs. Basel - 30 November 2014 - Soccerway
  35. ↑ Kupa e Zvicrës: Sadiku shënon në fitoren e thellë të Zurichut | aSport.info
  36. ↑ "Albania U-19 Squad". UEFA.com. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  37. ↑ Albania 0-3 Poland (U-21)
  38. ↑ Albania 4-3 Moldova (U-21)
  39. ↑ Poland 4-3 Albania (U-21)
  40. ↑ Albania 0-1 Russia (U-21)
  41. ↑ Albania 2-2 Portugal (U-21)
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Late goals grant Albania victory (FIFA website)
  43. ↑ Armando Sadiku - national football team player EU-Football.info

External links