Përparim Hetemaj

Përparim Hetemaj

Personal information
Full name	Përparim Hatemaj
Date of birth	12 December 1986 (1986-12-12)
Place of birth	Srbica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chievo
Number	56
Youth career
1993–2004	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2006	HJK	33	(1)
2006–2009	AEK Athens	25	(0)
2008	→ Apollon Kalamarias (loan)	10	(1)
2009–2010	Twente	0	(0)
2010–2011	Brescia	34	(2)
2011–	Chievo	22	(0)
National team‡
2005–2009	Finland U-21	15	(2)
2009–	Finland	11	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 March 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:57 29 February 2012 (EEST)

Përparim Hetemaj (born 12 December 1986) is a Finnish footballer of Albanian descent who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Chievo and the Finnish national team. He is the elder brother of Mehmet Hetemaj.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

He started his career with HJK Helsinki's reserve team Klubi-04, but soon made it to the first team making his Veikkausliiga debut in 2005. His impressive performances caught the eye of Greek club AEK Athens.

AEK Athens

He joined AEK Athens F.C. in the summer of 2006 for a fee of €450.000. He instantly became an important member of the team, having played seven league and one cup match even though only 19 years old. He also appeared in four UEFA Champions League matches. Hetemaj's season ended in an abrupt manner in February 2007, when he suffered a fractured leg after a violent tackle by Kevin Thomson during a friendly match between the Finnish and Scottish national teams.

On 29 January 2008, he was loaned to Apollon Kalamarias (the Greece league) until the end of the season to gain more playing experience after the injury that ended his season in 2007.

For the 2008–09 season Hetemaj had a successful season with AEK, making over 15 appearances for the first team.

FC Twente

On 31 August 2009, he signed with FC Twente of the Dutch Eredivisie as a part of another player transfer.

Brescia Calcio

On the first of February 2010, he was signed by the Italian side Brescia. Hetemaj was rarely used as Brescia finished third and gained promotion to Serie A for the 2010–2011 season. He made his Serie A debut on 12 September 2010, playing the full minutes in a 3–2 home victory over Palermo. 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.

A.C. ChievoVerona

On 30 June 2011, he was signed by the Italian Serie A side Chievo for 1.2 million euros.

International career

Finland Under-21

Hetemaj made his debut for the Finland U-21 side in 2005 versus Estonia. Hetemaj, along with his younger brother Mehmet Hetemaj, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and made a good appearance in the tournament, playing from start in every match.

Finland

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland as a substitute against Japan in February 2009.

Career statistics

International

As of 29 February 2012

Finland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	2	0
2010	0	0
2011	8	0
2012	1	0
Total	11	0

Honours

HJK Helsinki

• Finnish Cup: 2006

References

a.	^ Albanian spelling: Përparim Hetemaj, Serbo-Croatian spelling: Perparim Hetemaj

External links

• PerparimHetemaj at A.C. ChievoVerona (Italian)
• Përparim Hetemaj – UEFA competition record
• Profile at FA of Finland's official website (Finnish)
• Official Twente team player profile
• transfermarkt.co
• Profile at ESPNsoccernet