Cristian Shpendi (born 19 May 2003) is an Albanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for the Italian club

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

and the Albania national under-21 team.

Club career

Early Life

Shpendi was born in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

, Italy, along with his twin Stiven. He is the son of Albanian parents originating from

Pukë Pukë ( sq-definite, Puka) is a town and municipality in northern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjegjan, Pukë, Qelëz, Qerret and Rrapë, that became municipal units. The ...

. The Shpendi family immigrated to Italy in 1997, thus Christian and Stiven both hold dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. Their first team was Real Metauro, from where they moved to Delfino Fano and then to

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

Academy until they went to

Early career - Cesena

The twins played their first competitive season for Cesena under-17 squad coached by Filippo Masolini in Allievi Nazionali U17, where the attacking duo made each 16 appearances, with Cristian scoring 14 goals and Stiven 11. They then played for Cesena Primavera under coach Giovanni Ceccarelli in

Campionato Primavera 3 Campionato Primavera 3, formerly Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti (or simply ''Campionato Berretti''), is an Italian football competition played by youth teams (under 19) organized by the Lega Pro, and mainly composed by Serie C clubs but also ...

2020–21 with 15 goals for Cristian and 13 for Stiven. The duo helped the side to reach the final, losing only to

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

Primavera. For the following season, 2021–22, promoted already at Primavera 2, Cristian scored 15 goals in 17 matches and was helped by 23 goals from Stiven in just 20 games - this made Stiven the league's top-scorer. Cesena won the Championship, gaining promotion to Primavera 1 and the Primavera Supercup against Udinese Primavera, beating them 4–1 with two goals from each twin. Meanwhile, the players were also promoted to the first team in the

2021–22 Serie C The 2021–22 Serie C is the eighth season of the unified Serie C division, the third tier of the Italian football league system. Changes The league is composed by 60 teams, divided into three different groups. On 31 May 2021, the league committee ...

, where Cristian made his professional debut under coach William Viali on 25 September 2021 against

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...

, starting and playing for 57 minutes before being replaced by

Salvatore Caturano Salvatore Caturano (born July 3, 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Potenza. Club career Empoli He made his debut in the Serie A on May 13, 2007 for Empoli in a game against Siena when he came on as a ...

. On 25 February 2022, the twins extended their contract with Cesena until 2025.

International career

Shpendi was called up to the Albania national under-19 team by coach

Armando Cungu Armando Cungu (born 23 April 1973) is an Albanian football coach and former player. He was the sporting director of his former club Vllaznia between 2010 and 2012. Managerial career Laçi Cungu started his second season in charge of Laçi in ...

for several friendlies during 2021. He started five matches and scored two goals. In November 2021, he was called to participate in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Group 7, where his side played against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. He made his competitive debut in the first match versus France, substituting in at halftime for his twin Stiven; his side was beaten 4–0. For the next game against Serbia three days later, Shpendi started from the bench and was brought in in the 72nd minute with Albania U19 down by a goal; Shpendi scored the equaliser to secure a draw that kept the Albanian team in contention for the next round. In the closing match against North Macedonia, he came on in the last few minutes with Albania U19 collecting a 3–1 victory. The team finished on 4 points, the same as Serbia U19 and failing to qualify due to the goal difference. Both Cristian and Stiven Shpendi debuted with Albania under-21 under coach

Alban Bushi Alban Bushi (born 20 August 1973) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Albania under-21 and under-20 team. He is nicknamed "Loku". During his playing career he played as a striker. Bushi ...

on 16 November 2022, when they were included in the starting lineup.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shpendi, Cristian 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Ancona Footballers from the Province of Ancona Albanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serie C players Cesena FC players Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Italian people of Albanian descent