Thomas Strakosha

Thomas Strakosha

Strakosha playing for Albania U-21 in 2014
Personal information
Full name Thomas Fotaq Strakosha
Date of birth (1995-03-19) 19 March 1995
Place of birth Athens, Greece
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Salernitana
(on loan from Lazio)
Number 12
Youth career
2011 Panionios
2011–2014 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2012– Lazio 0 (0)
2015– → Salernitana (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2012 Albania U-17 1 (0)
2012–2014 Albania U-19 6 (0)
2013 Albania U-20 0 (0)
2013– Albania U-21 5 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 July 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 September 2015

Thomas Fotaq Strakosha (born 19 March 1995) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Salernitana on loan from Lazio and the Albania national under-21 football team.

Club career

Early life and youth career

Strakosha's father Foto Strakosha was also a goalkeeper who played for various Albanian clubs and several Greek clubs, in addition to representing the Albanian national team in the years spanning, 1990–2005.[1] Strakosha's parents, were originally from Memaliaj, Albania but Strakosha was born in Athens, Greece, because his father Foto was at the peak of his career playing for one of the greatest and most successful clubs in Greece, Olympiacos.[2]

Strakosha began his youth career in 2011 at Panionios, from where in the same year he was signed by Lazio for the primavera team.[3][4]

Lazio

In the start of the 2012–13 season second-half, Strakosha gained entry with the first team of S.S. Lazio but being only as an unused substitute as the third choice behind the challenge between his compatriot, the fellow Albanian goalkeeper, Etrit Berisha and Federico Marchetti for a place in the starting line up. Strakosha played just one match with the first team of Lazio on 23 May 2014 against Levski Sofia finished in the 3–2 loss, where Strakosha was included in the starting line up and got substituted off in the 61st minute for the 4th choise Guido Guerreri as Marchetti and Berisha were not part of the team for this match.[5] On 11 July 2014 sports direct of Lazio Igli Tare announced to have extended the contract with Strakosha until the 2019 year.[6]

Loan to Salernitana

In July 2015, Lazio agreed to loan Strakosha to newly promoted Serie B side Salernitana.[7]

At Salernitana, Strakosha managed to make his first senior debut, on 9 August 2015, playing the full 90-minutes in a match against Pisa in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia - 2nd round. He also kept a clean sheet to give his side a decisive 1–0 victory, thus qualifying for the 3rd round.[8]

A week after his debut on 17 August 2015, Salernitana played against Serie A side, Chievo in the 3rd round of the Coppa Italia and beat them 1–0 after 120 minutes, where Strakosha played the full match and made some decisive saves during the entire game to help his side qualify for the next round.[9]

International career

Strakosha was called up for the first time to Albania's U17 squad by coach Džemal Mustedanagic to participate in the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round. He was an unused substitute for all 3 matches, serving as second choice goalkeeper behind Aldo Teqja.[10]

Albania U19

Strakosha was called up to the under-19 side that participated in the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, coached by none other than former footballer and father of Strakosha Foto Strakosha. Under coach Foto Strakosha, Thomas played every minute of all 3 matches of the Group 7. Albania finished (4th) place, with Strakosha conceding in total 6 goals, despite Albania beating top of the table Belgium 3–1 with goals from Enis Gavazaj, Elvis Kabashi and Lorenc Shehaj.[11][12][13][14]

In the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, Strakosha again played every minute in all 3 matches of the Group 6, leaving behind Juventus Academies goalkeeper, Entonjo Elezaj.[15]

Albania U20

Strakosha was called up to the U20 team by coach Skënder Gega for the 2013 Mediterranean Games football tournament, which began on 19 June, in Mersin, Turkey. However, Strakosha didn't participate in any match of the tournament.[16]

Albania U21

Strakosha was selected for the Albania U21 side that took part in the 2015 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualification. He played in half of all Group 4 matches (4 of 8), as the 4 other matches were played by fellow goalkeepers, Aldo Teqja and Orestis Menka, who each played 2 matches.[17]

Personal life

Thomas is the son of Foto Strakosha, former goalkeeper of the Albania national football team in years 1990–2005, now currently part of the technical staff of Olympiacos. He is the younger brother of Dhimitri Strakosha also a footballer who plays as a forward for Albanian club Himara.

Career statistics

Club

As of 17 August 2015 [18]
Season Club League country League League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2012–13 Lazio Serie A 00000000
2013–14 00000000
2014–15 0000--00
Total 00000000
2015–16 Salernitana Serie B 0020--20
Total 00200020
Career total 00200020

Honours

Club

Lazio

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, November 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.