Valter Birsa

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Valter Birsa
Personal information
Full name Valter Birsa[1]
Date of birth (1986-08-07) 7 August 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth Šempeter pri Gorici, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Chievo
Number 23
Youth career
1991–2003 Bilje
2003–2004 Primorje
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Primorje 1 (0)
2004–2006 Gorica 61 (26)
2006–2009 Sochaux 66 (8)
2009 → Auxerre (loan) 15 (1)
2009–2011 Auxerre 68 (8)
2011–2013 Genoa 9 (0)
2012–2013 → Torino (loan) 17 (2)
2013–2015 Milan 15 (2)
2014–2015 → Chievo (loan) 35 (0)
2015– Chievo 80 (15)
International career‡
2001 Slovenia U15 7 (1)
2004 Slovenia U19 1 (0)
2004–2005 Slovenia U20 2 (0)
2004–2006 Slovenia U21 12 (5)
2006 Slovenia B 1 (0)
2006– Slovenia 88 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 October 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 October 2017

Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986 in Šempeter pri Gorici) is a Slovenian footballer, who plays as a winger for Chievo and the Slovenian national team.

Club career

Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started playing for ND Bilje, the village club of Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to Primorje, then to Gorica at the age of 17. By the second season he was already the second best striker and one of the best in the Slovenian first league, scoring 29 goals for his home team, an outstanding goalscoring record for a midfielder.

Sochaux

In 2006, he signed for French club Sochaux in Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1. He was declared the best Slovenian player of 2006–2008 by the leading Slovenian football website.[2]

Auxerre (on loan)

On 22 January 2009, AJ Auxerre signed him on a loan deal until June 2009 from Sochaux.[3] He scored his first Auxerre goal against giants Lyon. On 29 May, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent.[4] In the 2010–11 season, Birsa scored a 23-yard free kick and his first Champions league goal against Ajax in the group stage, Ajax eventually won 2–1.

Genoa

On 2 February 2011, despite interest from big Premier league teams such as Liverpool and Fulham, Birsa signed a four-year contract with Serie A club Genoa.[5] He made just nine appearances in his maiden season in Italy.

Torino (on loan)

He joined Torino on the 31 August 2012 on loan. At Torino, Birsa played 17 games, scoring 2 goals but did not do enough to convince Torino to sign him on a permanent deal so he returned to Genoa at the end of the season.

A.C. Milan

Birsa made the switch to Milan on 31 August 2013, in what was a straight swap deal which saw Luca Antonini move in the opposite direction. He was handed the number 14 shirt at Milan. He scored his first goal for Milan on 28 September 2013 against Sampdoria to give the Rossoneri the win.

Chievo

He signed for Chievo on 9 July 2014 on loan.[6] On 2 July 2015, Chievo signed Birsa outright in a three-year contract.[7]

International career

He plays for the Slovenian national football team since 2006. He scored his first goal for the national team on 9 September 2009 in a World Cup qualifying match against Poland, which Slovenia won 3–0. At the 2010 World Cup finals, Birsa struck a long-range curling shot in Slovenia's second match against the United States. Slovenia drew that match 2–2.

Career statistics

As of 26 October 2017
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2003–04 Primorje 1. SNL 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2004–05 Gorica 26 7 0 0 2 0 28 7
2005–06 35 19 0 0 0 0 35 19
Total 61 26 0 0 2 0 63 26
2006–07 Sochaux Ligue 1 31 3 0 0 0 0 31 3
2007–08 22 3 0 0 2 0 24 3
2008–09 28 3 3 0 0 0 31 3
Total 81 9 3 0 2 0 86 9
2009–10 Auxerre Ligue 1 35 3 4 0 0 0 39 3
2010–11 33 5 2 0 7 1 42 6
Total 68 8 6 0 7 1 81 9
2011–12 Genoa Serie A 9 0 3 2 0 0 11 2
2012–13 Torino 17 2 1 0 0 0 18 2
2013–14 Milan 15 2 2 0 4 0 21 2
2014–15 Chievo 35 0 1 0 0 0 36 0
2015–16 35 6 1 0 0 0 36 6
2016–17 35 7 2 0 0 0 37 7
2017–18 10 2 1 0 0 0 11 2
Total 115 15 5 0 0 0 120 15
Career total 367 62 20 2 15 1 401 65

International goals

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.[8]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 September 2009 Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia  Poland 3–0 3–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 10 October 2009 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia  Slovakia 1–0 2–0
3 18 June 2010 Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa  United States 1–0 2–2 2010 FIFA World Cup
4 7 June 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Iceland 2–2 4–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 19 November 2013 Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia  Canada 1–0 1–0 Friendly
6 9 October 2015 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Lithuania 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 Qualification
7 4 September 2017 4–0 4–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life

Birsa was born in Šempeter pri Gorici, present day Slovenia. He is a childhood friend of three professional footballers, Etien Velikonja, Tim Matavž and Goran Cvijanović, who also lived in the same town.[9][10] In 2012, he married his long-time girlfriend Mateja, the couple has a son named Nolan.[11]

Honours

ND Gorica

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 27. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Največji slovenski nogometni portal - Nogomania". www.nogomania.com.
  3. ^ "Valter Birsa prêté à Auxerre" (in French). FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Prolongation pour Stéphane Grichting et Benoît Pedretti, Valter Birsa auxerrois".
  5. ^ "Birsa štiri leta v Genovi" (in Slovenian). nogomania.com. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Official: Valter Birsa coming to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Official: Birsa belongs to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Birsa, Valter". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Bratranca z golgeterskimi geni" (in Slovenian). dnevnik.si. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Do imena iz mamine knjige" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Valter Birsa: Poroka je bila slavje brez primere". 11 June 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valter Birsa.

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