Isli Hidi (born 15 October 1980) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

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 ...

n club Erzeni. He started his career with

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

, where he won six Kategoria Superiore winners medals, three

Kupa e Shqipërisë The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

winners medals and six Superkupa e Shqipërisë winners medals. In Albania he has also played for

KF Bylis KF Bylis, also known as Bylis Ballsh, is an Albanian football club based in Ballsh, Mallakastër District. The club's home ground is the Adush Muça Stadium and they currently compete in the Kategoria Superiore. History Early history The club ...

Dinamo Tirana Futboll Club Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital Tirana. They play in the Kategoria e Parë, the second tier of Albanian football, in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1950 during the communist r ...

, KF Teuta and

KS Kastrioti KS Kastrioti, also known as Kastrioti Krujë, is an Albanian football club based in the city of Krujë. The club's home ground is the Kastrioti Stadium which has a capacity of 8,000 spectators and they currently compete in the Kategoria Superiore ...

. He also played in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

for

Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Football Club Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih () was a professional Ukrainian football club based in Kryvyi Rih. Until 2013 the club participated in professional competitions. In June 2013 the club went bankrupt and was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier ...

and in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

for Alki Larnaca,

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...

, AEL Limassol,

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

and Nea Salamina. During his time in Cyprus he won one Cypriot First Division winners medal with AEL Limassol and one

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

with

Club career

He started off his career at his hometown club,

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

in 1998. After very few appearances, he was loaned out to Bylis. After making a huge impact, he returned to Tirana to compete for the number 1 shirt. He signed for the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

club

in August 2007. In 2008, Hidi moved to Alki Larnaca for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. Hidi rejoined

on a three-year contract for around one million dollars per season on 3 March 2009. On 6 July 2010, he signed for

for the 2010–11 season. On 7 January 2011, Hidi joined

by inking a contract until the end of the season. In July 2018, Hidi joined

Teuta Teuta (Illyrian languages, Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death ...

on a one-year contract, returning to Kategoria Superiore after eight years. In November, he was named league's player of the month after some strong performances. He concluded the 2018–19 season by making 33 league appearances, missing only one match, the one against Tirana in April 2019. In August 2019, Hidi completed a transfer to Bylis, returning in

Ballsh Ballsh ( sq-definite, Ballshi) is a town and a former municipality in Fier County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mallakastër. It was the seat of the former District ...

for the first time since 2002 when he was on loan. He took squad number 1 for the 2019–20 season. Hidi made his debut on 24 August in the 1–0 away defeat to his former side Teuta. On 1 September, in his third appearance of the season, Hidi scored his first career goal, a penalty in the 3–0 win at

Skënderbeu , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

, guiding the team to their first seasonal win. On 15 September, in the first match following the international break, Hidi scored another penalty, this time at home against Kukësi, aiding Byis to achieve a 2–1 comeback win which lifted them in 4th place in championship. His first goal in

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

came on 12 February 2020 in the second leg of competition's

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

against Laçi, helping Bylis advance to quarter-finals 4–3 on aggregate.

International career

Hidi received his first senior international call-up in May 2005 for the friendly match versus

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

coach Hans-Peter Briegel who was impressed by Hidi's performances in Kategoria Superiore with his club at the time Tirana. He earned his first cap in that match, but things could not have started any worse for him as Poland scored in under 2 minutes with

Maciej Żurawski Maciej Stanisław Żurawski (; born 12 September 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Żurawski appeared 72 times and scored 17 goals for Poland, representing them at two World Cups and Euro 2008. He also s ...

. Hidi's second appearance for Albania came later that year, on 17 August against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

at Qemal Stafa Stadium; he started again and conceded another early goal, but this time the team bounced back and won 2–1 in front of around 7,300 Albanian fans.

Personal life

In 2017, Hidi begun the application for

Cypriot passport Cypriot passports are issued to citizens of Cyprus. Every Cypriot citizen is also a Commonwealth citizen and a citizen of the European Union. The Cypriot passport, along with the Cypriot identity card, allows for free rights of movement and reside ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Tirana * Kategoria Superiore: 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07 *

: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2005–06 * Superkupa e Shqipërisë:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

;AEL Limassol * Cypriot First Division: 2011–12 ;Apollon Limassol *

: 2015–16

Individual

* Kategoria Superiore Player of the Month: November 2018

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hidi, Isli 1980 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian footballers Albania international footballers Association football goalkeepers KF Tirana players KF Bylis Ballsh players FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih players Alki Larnaca FC players FK Dinamo Tirana players Olympiakos Nicosia players AEL Limassol players Apollon Limassol FC players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players KF Teuta Durrës players Kategoria Superiore players Ukrainian Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus KS Kastrioti players KF Erzeni players