Berisha :: Etrit Berisha :: Europa League 2017/2018

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Etrit Fadil Berisha (Albanian pronunciation: ; born 10 March 1989) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains the Albania national team. Berisha began his career at local club KF 2 Korriku as a youngster, as well also playing youth football with KF KEK, before joining Kalmar in 2008, initially as part of their youth setup. He was promoted to the first team in 2010, and soon made his debut for the club, establishing himself as a first team player with fourteen league appearances in his debut season. He cemented his position as the club's first choice keeper during the 2011 Allsvenskan campaign, helping his side achieve a mid-table finish as well as reach the 2011 Svenska Cupen final, which he did not play in as his side lost. Berisha remained the club's first choice goalkeeper, and his performances earned him the Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year award for the 2013 campaign. In the summer of 2013, Italian club Chievo announced that they had a pre-contract agreement in place with Berisha, but he instead joined their Serie A rivals Lazio on a four-year deal, which caused controversy and led to the player being faced with a six-month suspension, although the case was eventually dropped against him. He competed with Italy international Federico Marchetti for the first choice goalkeeper spot at Lazio. Berisha is from Kosovo but is able to represent Albania through his Albanian ethnicity, and he was first called up to the Albania national team in 2012 by Italian head coach Gianni De Biasi, where he made his international debut against Iran on 27 May 2012. He was initially a backup for Samir Ujkani, but after just a few matches became Albania's first choice goalkeeper, with Ujkani switching allegiances to represent Kosovo in 2014. Berisha played an instrumental role in Albania qualifying for its first major international tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, becoming a fan favourite in the process. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article