Përparim Hetemaj

Përparim Hetemaj
Personal information
Full namePërparim Hetemaj
Date of birth12 December 1986
Place of birthSkenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Chievo
Number56
Youth career
1993–2003HJK
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2004–2006HJK33(1)
2004→ Klubi-04 (loan)21(6)
2006–2009AEK Athens25(0)
2008→ Apollon Kalamarias (loan)10(1)
2009–2010Twente0(0)
2010–2011Brescia34(2)
2011–Chievo124(0)
National team‡
Finland U-194(2)
2005–2009Finland U-2116(3)
2009–Finland34(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2014

Përparim Hetemaj[a] (born 12 December 1986) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Chievo and the Finnish national team. Born in the region which is now Kosovo, Hetemaj went to Finland when he was 6 years and played for HJK Helsinki youth teams until becoming a professional player in 2004. He went to the Greek team AEK Athens in 2006, and moved to Twente in 2009. Subsequently, in 2010, he was signed by Brescia Calcio and was transferred to Chievo in 2011.

Early and personal life

With an Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia (now Kosovo), and moved to Finland in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki due to his father, Miftar, having asthma. He has a younger brother, the footabller Mehmet, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.[2] In 2004, he acquired Finnish citizenship.[3]

Club career

Early career

He started his career at the youth academy of HJK Helsinki,[2] and in 2004 played for its second team, Klubi-04, in 26 Ykkönen—the second division of Finnish football—matches, in which he scored six goals.[4] He played 26 matches and scored a goal in the 2005–06 season of Veikkausliiga—the premier division of Finnish football.[4] After playing seven matches for HJK during the 2006–07,[4] he was sold to AEK Athens for a fee of €450.000.[2] He made his AEK's debut on 26 September 2006 in a 1–1 drawn against Anderlecht in a UEFA Champions League match.[5][6] After seven matches,[4] Hetemaj's 2006–07 season ended on 8 February 2007, when he suffered a fractured leg after a tackle by Kevin Thomson during a friendly match between the Finnish and Scottish national teams.[7]

He was again on playing condition in October 2007,[8] but he did not played for AEK and in January 2008 he was loaned to Apollon Kalamarias until the end of the season to gain more playing experience.[9] He scored his first goal in the Superleague Greece on 23 February 2008 against Asteras Tripoli.[10] He played a total of eight matches for Asteras Tripoli in the 2007–08, and for the following season Hetemaj played nine league matches with AEK.[4] Unsatisfied, Hetemaj asks to be transferred,[11] and on 31 August 2009, he signed to the Dutch FC Twente as a part of Youssouf Hersi transfer to AEK.[12]

Brescia

Even before having played a match for Twente,[4] Hetemaj, on the first of February 2010, was signed by the Italian Brescia on free transfer.[13] Hetemaj only played four matches in 2009–10 Serie B;[4] Brescia was promoted to Serie A and he signed a three-year contract.[14] He made his Serie A debut on 12 September 2010, playing the full minutes in a 3–2 home victory over Palermo.[15] He scored his first Serie A goal on 22 September 2010 against AS Roma and became the first Finnish footballer to score in Serie A,[16] which also aroused Roma's interest on him.[3] Hetemaj went to score again in a 3–1 victory against Bologna.[17]

Chievo

On 30 June 2011, he was signed by the Italian Serie A side Chievo in co-ownership deal for €1.2 million.[18] He made his debut for Chievo on 11 September 2011 against Novara, when he provided an assist to Cyril Théréau score the second goal of Chievo in the drawn.[19] At the end of the season and after 32 league matches, Chievo bought Hetemaj's full rights on 18 June 2012.[20] In the 2012–13 season and the 2013–2014, Hetemaj played 30 and 32 league matches respectively and did not scored for any competition.[4] On 22 August 2014, in his first match for the 2014–2015 season, he reached the mark of 100 appearances for Chievo in a 1–0 defeat against Pescara for Coppa Italia.[21][22]

International career

Youth

He was first drafted to play for Finland U-19 team on 7 September 2004.[23] Hetemaj made his debut for the Finland U-21 side on 13 April 2005 against Estonia.[24] Hetemaj, along with his brother Mehmet, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and he played in all the three matches which Finland played.[25][26][27]

Senior

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland as an 84th minute substitute against Japan on 4 February 2009 in a 5–1 loss.[28] He gained his first UEFA European Championship qualification game in 3 June 2011 when Mixu Paatelainen chose him to the starting line up against San Marino.[29] On 26 May 2012, he scored his first national goal—a last-minute goal—against Turkey in a friendly match, which assured a 3−2 victory for Finland.[30]

Honours

Club

HJK Helsinki

Country

Finland national football team

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 April 2015[4][31]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Klubi-04 2004 Ykkönen 216——216
Total 216——216
Helsinki 2005 Veikkausliiga 261——261
2006 70——70
Total 331——331
AEK Athens 2006–07 Superleague Greece 70—40110
Total 70—40110
Apollon Kalamarias 2007–08 Superleague Greece 81——81
Total 81——81
AEK Athens 2008–09 Superleague Greece 90—10100
Total 90—10100
Twente 2009–10 Eredivisie 00——00
Total 00——00
Brescia 2009–10 Serie B 40——40
2010–11 Serie A 30210—312
Total 34210—352
Chievo 2011–12 Serie A 32030—350
2012–13 300——300
2013–14 32020—340
2014–15 29010—300
Total 124060—1300
Career total 23510705024810
  1. ↑ Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup.

International

International appearances

As of 18 November 2014[23][31]
Finland national team
YearAppsGoals
200920
201000
201180
201283
201370
201491
Total344

International goals

# Date Location Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 26 May 2012 Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria  Turkey 2–3 2−3 Friendly
2. 15 August 2012 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 3–2 3−3 Friendly
3. 14 November 2012 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 0−2 0−3 Friendly
4. 31 May 2014 Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions, Ventspils, Latvia  Estonia 1–0 2–0 2014 Baltic Cup

References

  1. ↑ "Perparim Hetemaj". chievoverona.it. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Perhepoika ja suuri suu" (in Finnish). Ylioppilaslehti. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Roma, ipotesi di mercato: si seguono Hatemaj e Izco". Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 11 October 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "Perparim Hetemaj" (in Italian). Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Hetemaj tyytyväinen ensiesiintymiseensä" (in Finnish). MTV3. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "UEFA Champions League 2006/07 - History - AEK-Anderlecht". Uefa.com. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Perparim Hetemaj'n nilkka murtui" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "Hetemaj ei päässyt kentälle". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Perparim Hetemaj loppukaudeksi Apolloniin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Hetemaj teki avausmaalinsa Kreikan liigassa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 23 February 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Hetemaj kertoo siirtopyyntönsä taustat" (in Finnish). Yle. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Youssouf Hersi naar AEK Athene" (in Dutch). FC Twente official site. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Perparim Hetemaj siirtyy Italian kentille" (in Finnish). MTV3. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Perparim Hetemaj seuraava osoite Serie A". Aamulehti (in Finnish). 2 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Seitsemäs suomalaispelaaja debytoi Serie A:ssa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 12 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  16. ↑ "Suomalaisfutaajat ovat osuneet kaikissa Euroopan huippusarjoissa". Helsingin Sanomat. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  17. ↑ "Brescia 3-1 Bologna: Rondinelle secure vital victory at Rossoblu's expense in quest for Serie A survival". Goal.com. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Il Napoli punta su Pandev Roma: si chiude Stekelenburg". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 30 June 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Hetemaj'lle maalisyöttö Serie A:n avauksessa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 11 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Hetemaj è tutto gialloblu" (in Italian). chievoverona.tv. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Cento volte Hetemaj!" (in Italian). chievoverona.it. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Coppa Italia 3rd Round Pescara vs. Chievo Team line-ups". Goal.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Perparim Hetemaj" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "Olympiajoukkue EM-karsintaan Unkariin" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  25. ↑ "Pikkuhuuhkajien kisataival alkoi tappiolla" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  26. ↑ Atkin, John (18 June 2009). "Clinical Germany end Finland hopes". Uefa.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "Suomi 0-2-tappioon Espanjalle" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  28. ↑ "Japani askeleen edellä" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  29. ↑ "Forssell laukoi Suomelle nihkeän voiton" (in Finnish). YLE Urheilu. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  30. ↑ "Turkey lose to Finland by last-minute goal: 3-2". Turkish Football Federation. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "P. Hetemaj". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
a.   ^ Albanian spelling: Përparim Hetemaj, Serbo-Croatian spelling: Perparim Hetemaj

External links