Gezim Pepsi; sr-cyr, Геѕим Пепши, translit=Gezim Pepši. (born 12 July 1998) is a 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
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for Bulgarian club
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Futbolen klub Pirin ( bg, Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football.
Th ...
. Born in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and a former Albanian and Swiss youth international, he has most recently represented Kosovo at youth level.
youth academy. He played for the U17, U18, U19 and U21 teams making a total of 99 appearances, scoring nine goals and assisting two. In 2018, Pepsi was loaned to
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
as part of a partnership between the two clubs. Pepsi made 33 appearances for the Aarau. In February 2020, Pepsi told teammates he would be leaving Aarau, and subsequently was sold by parent club Basel to Winterthur.
Winterthur
Upon return from loan, Pepsi was bought by
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
in February 2020. His first goal for the club would come against
Vaduz
Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...
in June, the first match in the
Swiss Challenge League
The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...
since the COVID-19 enforced break. He scored against his former club Basel in the 2020–21 Swiss Cup round of 16, a game which Winterthur won 6–2. In May 2022, Pepsi was given a one-year contract extension with Winterthur.
Vaduz
On 30 August 2022, Pepsi joined
Swiss Challenge League
The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...
side
Vaduz
Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...
, on a one-year contract with the option of a further year. His debut with Vaduz came a day later in the 2022–23 Liechtenstein Cup round of 16 against
Triesen
Triesen () is the third largest of Liechtenstein's municipalities. It contains several historic churches dating from the fifteenth century. It also has a weaving mill from 1863 that is considered a historical monument. The population is around 5, ...
II after being named in the starting line-up and scored his side's two goals during a 0–18 away deep win.
International career
On 3 September 2014, Pepsi received the
Albanian passport
The Albanian passport (Albanian: ''Pasaporta e Shqipërisë'') is a travel document issued by the Ministry of Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, along with t ...
and this paved the way for him to represent
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
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 ...
. He switched to Switzerland and made eight appearances for the under-18 and under-19 teams.
On 11 March 2019, Pepsi received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the
friendly matches
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against Turkmenistan U21 and Malta U21. His debut with Kosovo U21 came on 26 March in the friendly match against Malta U21 after being named in the starting line-up, while the competitive debut came on 15 November in the
2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 footballtournament that determined the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary and Slovenia in the 2021 UEFA European Unde ...
match against Albania U21 again after being named in the starting line-up.