Anel Rashkaj
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anel Raskaj | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Halmstads BK | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
Anel Raskaj (born August 19, 1989) is a Kosovar football player, who plays in midfield for Halmstads BK.
Club career
He started playing football in KF Liria, Kosovo, and came to Sweden at the age of 14. In Sweden he started his career with IF Leikin but after a few months moved to the youth team of local rivals Halmstads BK. Shortly after his 18th birthday in 2007 he played his first game for Halmstads BK against Kalmar FF[2], (1-3).
During the 2008 season he has mainly been used as a central midfielder, but has also played as a left winger after Martin Fribrock left the club, he has shared the position with Marcus Olsson.
National team
Raskaj missed out on the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship because he had not yet obtained a Swedish passport. In a interview with Hallandsposten Raskaj said that Swedish U21 co-manager Jörgen Lennartsson had told him that he might have made the team. In 2011 Raskaj will receive his Swedish citizenship and he will then decide if he will play for Sweden or Kosovo, if he is considered good enough he would choose Sweden ahead of Kosovo he stated in the interview[1], in another interview with Fotbolldirekt he stated that he already had said no to Albania[3].
In 2009 Raskaj played for the unoffical Kosovo national team, named Team Kosovo, against 2008 Swedish champions Kalmar FF[4].
New Zidane
Halmstads BKs manager, Janne Andersson, compares him with former French international star Zinedine Zidane and Arsenal's talented midfielder Cesc Fàbregas[5], claiming he has more talent than two earlier Halmstads BK players, Fredrik Ljungberg and Niclas Alexandersson.
References
- ^ a b "Anel har många mål i kikaren" (in Swedish). Hallandsposten.se. 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ "Anel Raskaj debuterade" (in Swedish). SvenskaFans.com. 2007-09-03. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ "Superlöftet missar EM-slutspelet" (in Swedish). Fotbolldirekt.se. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ "Stolt Kosovo blev en svår nöt för Kalmar" (in Swedish). Ostran.se. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ "Nye Zidane tar Djuric roll i HBK" (in Swedish). svd.se. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
External links
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