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Mehmet Hetemaj

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Mehmet Hetemaj
Hetemaj with SJK in 2018.
Personal information
Date of birth (1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia
(present-day Kosovo)
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder[1]
Youth career
1996–2006 HJK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 HJK 17 (1)
2007 → Viikingit (loan) 10 (0)
2008–2010 Panionios 11 (0)
2009 → Thrasyvoulos (loan) 9 (0)
2009–2010 → AlbinoLeffe (loan) 23 (1)
2010–2014 AlbinoLeffe 76 (0)
2012–2013 → Reggina (loan) 29 (0)
2014 → Honka (loan) 16 (1)
2014 Monza 17 (0)
2015–2022 SJK 156 (14)
International career
2007–2009 Finland U21 18 (2)
2014 Kosovo 1 (0)
2009–2017 Finland 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987) is a Finnish football commentator and a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Yugoslavia, he has represented both Finland national team and Kosovo national football team. He started his football career in HJK youth team.

Club career

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HJK Helsinki

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Hetemaj started his career in Finland in HJK Helsinki where he made 17 appearances between 2006 and 2007. During 2007 season he was loaned to Viikingit for 9 matches.

Panionios

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In 2008, he agreed a move to Greek club Panionios F.C. In June 2009 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit AlbinoLeffe, where he established himself as a regular.

AlbinoLeffe

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In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios.[2][3] He signed a four-year contract. In July 2012 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit Reggina Calcio.[4] The loan contract with Reggina ended after the 2012–13 season and Hetemaj returned to AlbinoLeffe.[5] In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.[6][7]

Monza

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In July 2014 he joined Italian club Monza.[8]

SJK

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Hetemaj joined SJK in January 2015.[9] Since then he has become a fan favorite and scored many important goals for the club. Hetemaj has been the clubs captain since 2019.[10] Hetemaj announced his retirement from playing in December 2022.[11]

International career

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Finland Under-21

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Hetemaj, along with his older brother Përparim Hetemaj, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[12]

Finland

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Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland against Japan in February 2009. After a convincing season in AlbinoLeffe he was called up again on 21 May 2010 for a match against Estonia.

Kosovo

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Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against Turkey in May 2014, a friendly match.[13] However, he lost his eligible to switch for Kosovo in competitive match after accepting the call-up from Finland in 2016, after Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA.[14]

Personal life

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Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland with his family as refugees in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having asthma. He has an older brother, the footballer Përparim, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.[15][16]

Later career

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After his playing career, Hetemaj has worked as a studio commentator in Veikkausliiga matches in Ruutu+ broadcasts since 2023,[17] in European final tournament matches for Yle, and in UEFA Champions League matches for MTV since 2024.[18]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 25 July 2016[19][20]
Club Season Division League Domestic Cups Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Klubi-04 2005 Kakkonen 16 0 0 0 – 16 0
2006 Ykkönen 13 2 0 0 – 13 2
Total 29 2 0 0 0 0 29 2
HJK Helsinki 2006 Veikkausliiga 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
2007 Veikkausliiga 8 1 0 0 0 0 8 1
Total 17 1 0 0 0 0 17 1
Viikingit (loan) 2007 Veikkausliiga 9 0 0 0 – 9 0
Panionios 2007–08 Super League Greece 5 0 0 0 – 5 0
Thrasyvoulos (loan) 2008–09 Super League Greece 9 0 0 0 – 9 0
AlbinoLeffe 2009–10 Serie B 23 1 1 0 – 24 1
2010–11 Serie B 36 0 2 0 – 38 0
2011–12 Serie B 35 0 2 0 – 37 0
2013–14 Lega Pro 5 0 0 0 – 5 0
Total 99 1 5 0 0 0 104 1
Reggina (loan) 2012–13 Serie B 29 0 2 0 – 31 0
Honka (loan) 2014 Veikkausliiga 16 1 3 1 2 0 21 2
Monza 2014–15 Lega Pro 17 0 2 0 – 19 0
SJK 2015 Veikkausliiga 31 2 4 0 2 0 37 2
2016 Veikkausliiga 17 1 4 0 2 0 23 1
2017 Veikkausliiga 22 2 8 6 2 0 31 8
2018 Veikkausliiga 23 3 6 1 – 29 4
2019 Veikkausliiga 22 2 4 0 – 26 2
2020 Veikkausliiga 17 4 5 0 – 22 4
2021 Veikkausliiga 10 0 4 0 – 14 0
2022 Veikkausliiga 14 0 5 1 4 0 23 1
Total 156 14 40 8 10 0 206 22
Career total 384 19 53 9 12 0 451 28

International

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As of 7 June 2017[21]
Finland national team
Year Apps Goals
2009 1 0
2010 1 0
2011 0 0
2012 0 0
2013 0 0
2014 1 0
2015 0 0
2016 2 0
2017 1 1
Total 6 1

International goals

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Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.[20]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 June 2017 Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland  Liechtenstein 1–0 1–1 Friendly

Honours

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HJK Helsinki

References

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  1. ^ a b Mehmet Hetemaj at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. ^ "UFFICIALE: AlbinoLeffe, acquistato Mehmet Hetemaj dal Panionios" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj acquistato a titolo definitivo dal Panionios FC" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. AlbinoLeffe. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj vaihtaa seuraa". mtv3.fi (in Finnish). 7 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj'n siirto jumissa". iltasanomat.fi (in Finnish). 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Hongan tuore vahvistus: "Maajoukkuetta on ollut ikävä"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj passa a titolo temporaneo al Honka" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. AlbinoLeffe. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Shefki Kuqi: "Mehu lähtee"" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj ja SJK sopimukseen". SJK.fi. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Hetemaj on SJK:n kapteeni kaudella 2019". SJK.fi. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj'n pelaajaura päättyy" [Mehmet Hetemaj's playing career ends] (in Finnish). SJK. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Finland squad". Uefa.com. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Kosovo 1-6 Turkey - TFF".
  14. ^ "Change of association to the Football Federation of Kosovo". FIFA. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Perhepoika ja suuri suu" (in Finnish). Ylioppilaslehti. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. ^ Nissinen, Taru (23 May 2018). "Poikkeuksellinen perhe näyttää mallia sopeutumisesta: "Pakolainen ei ole ikuisesti uhri"". Maailman Kuvalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  17. ^ Mehmet Hetemaj’lla selkeät näkemykset mestari- ja putoajakandidaateista, veikkausliiga.com, 19 July 2024
  18. ^ Mestarien liigan tiimin tulokas Mehmet Hetemaj: ”Tämä on unelmani”, futisuutiset.fi, 17 September 2024
  19. ^ "Jukka Raitala".
  20. ^ a b "Finland - M. Hetemaj - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  21. ^ "Mehmet Hetemaj".
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