Arber Zeneli
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arber Zeneli | ||
| Date of birth | 25 February 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Säter, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | SC Heerenveen | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hälsinggårdens AIK | |||
| 2007–2013 | IF Elfsborg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2015 | IF Elfsborg | 46 | (11) |
| 2016– | SC Heerenveen | 26 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2010–2012 | Sweden U17 | 7 | (1) |
| 2012–2014 | Sweden U19 | 17 | (5) |
| 2014–2016 | Sweden U21 | 11 | (1) |
| 2016– | Kosovo | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2016. | |||
Arber Zeneli (born 25 February 1995) is a Kosovar Albanian professional footballer who plays for Dutch Eredivisie club SC Heerenveen as a winger.[1]
Personal life
Zeneli was born in Säter, but grew up in Falun, before moving to Borås with his family when he was 11 years old.[2][3] He is of Albanian descent.[4] He has named his father as his greatest role model in life.[5]
Club career
IF Elfsborg
Zeneli started playing football for Hälsinggården, but left as a 12-year-old for Elfsborg's youth academy. In 2011, he scored a late winning goal in the final of Swedish Under-17 Championships against Brommapojkarna.[6] The following year he helped his team reach the final in the same competition, and scored another goal, although this time Elfsborg lost to Malmö FF.[7] In 2013 Elfsborg won the U21-Allsvenskan with he in the squad, after a 5–2 final win away against Häcken.[8]
Having been promoted to the senior team in December 2013.[9] He made his senior debut on 1 March 2014, in the 2013–14 Svenska Cupen. He went on to play a total of three games in the competition which Elfsborg later won beating Helsingborg in the final. He made his first Allsvenskan appearance in the premier game of the season on 31 March, away against Åtvidaberg.[10] In May the same year, former Premier League player and teammate Anders Svensson labeled him as one of the greatest talents he had ever seen.[11] Zeneli played 16 games during the 2014 season and finished the season by scoring his first senior goal that subsequently sealed the win for his team against Brommapojkarna. He dedicated the goal to his former coach Klas Ingesson who had died a couple of days earlier.[12]
Heerenveen
On 10 November 2015, Zeneli signed a 3.5-year contract with Heerenveen for an estimated fee of €2 million.[13] He made his Eredivisie debut on 16 January 2016,[14] and scored his first goal the following weekend on 23 January.[15] His performance earned him the man of the match award.[16]
International career
Zeneli has represented Sweden U17, Sweden U19 and Sweden U21.
On 24 August 2016, Arber Zeneli decided to represent Kosovo on international level [17] Zeneli made his debut Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying 6-0 loss to Croatia on 6 October 2016.[18]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 October 2016[19]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| IF Elfsborg | 2014 | Allsvenskan | 16 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 2015 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 12 | |
| Total | 46 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 62 | 14 | ||
| SC Heerenveen | 2015–16 | Eredivisie | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 4 | |
| 2016–17 | Eredivisie | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | 9 | 5 | ||
| Total | 25 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 71 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 88 | 23 | ||
Honours
Club
- IF Elfsborg
International
Sweden U21
References
- ↑ "Arber Zeneli". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Elfsborgs Arber Zeneli om Ingesson och barndomen i Falun". dalademokraten.se. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ↑ Björklund, Emil. "Zeneli – en bollkonstnär i skulpturstaden - Borås Tidning". Borås Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ↑ "Europeiskt intresse för Elfsborgs Zeneli - Sporten P4 Sjuhärad - P4 Sjuhärad". Retrieved 2016-01-27.
- ↑ "Supertalangen peppas av Anders Svensson - Sport | SVT.se". svt.se. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ↑ "Elfsborg mästare i pojk-SM". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Malmö FF Svenska Mästare 2012". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Elfsborgs U21-lag vann SM". sverigesradio.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Elfsborg slår rekord i "U-uppflyttning"". svenskelitfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Åtvidaberg vs. Elfsborg 2 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Anders Svensson tokhyllar: "En av de största talangerna jag sett"". fotbolldirekt.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Zeneli rörd efter sitt första allsvenska mål". Borås Tidning. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "sc Heerenveen versterkt zich in winterstop met Arber Zeneli - sc Heerenveen". www.sc-heerenveen.nl. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ↑ "Zeneli fick spela 90 minuter i debuten - Borås Tidning". Borås Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ↑ "Svensksuccé när Heerenveen vände och vann". fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ↑ "sc Heerenveen on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ↑ "Zeneli väljer Kosovo - här är U21-truppen". Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276483/match=300361568/index.html
- ↑ "Arber Zeneli". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 January 2016.