Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987) is a Finnish former 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 ...

who played as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

. He is of Kosovar Albanian descent and has represented both Finland national team and

Kosovo national football team The Kosovo national football team ( sq, Kombëtarja e futbollit të Kosovës; sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Косова, Fudbalska reprezentacija Kosova) represents Kosovo in men's international football. The team is con ...

, but now he is no longer eligible to play for the latter. He started his football career in HJK youth team.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Hetemaj started his career in Finland in HJK Helsinki where he made 17 appearances between 2006 and 2007. During 2007 season he was loaned to Viikingit for 9 matches.

Panionios

In 2008, he agreed a move to Greek club Panionios F.C. In June 2009 he was loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

outfit AlbinoLeffe, where he established himself as a regular.

AlbinoLeffe

In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios. He signed a four-year contract. In July 2012 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit

Reggina Calcio Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

. The loan contract with Reggina ended after the 2012–13 season and Hetemaj returned to AlbinoLeffe. In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.

Monza

In July 2014 he joined Italian club Monza.

SJK

Hetemaj joined SJK in January 2015. Since then he has become a fan favorite and scored many important goals for the club. Hetemaj has been the clubs captain since 2019. Hetemaj announced his retirement from playing in December 2022.

International career

Finland Under-21

Hetemaj, along with his older brother

Përparim Hetemaj Përparim Hetemaj (born 12 December 1986) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club HJK. Born in modern-day Kosovo, Hetemaj arrived in Finland when he was 6 years old and played for HJK's youth teams ...

, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 compe ...

Finland

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland against Japan in February 2009. After a convincing season in AlbinoLeffe he was called up again on 21 May 2010 for a match against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Kosovo

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in May 2014, a friendly match. However, he lost his eligible to switch for Kosovo in competitive match after accepting the call-up from Finland in 2016, after Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA.

Personal life

Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in

Skenderaj Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaj or ''Skënderaji'') or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Skënderaj has 9,372 inhabitants, while ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

, and moved to Finland in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

. He has an older brother, the footballer Përparim, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

HJK Helsinki *

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

: 2006

References

External links

Mehmet Hetemaj
at

U.C. AlbinoLeffe Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is an Italian association football club representing Albino and Leffe, two small towns located in Val Seriana, Lombardy. The club played in Serie B for nine consecutive years and narrowly missed promotion in Serie A a ...

* * *
Profile at Welt Fussball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetemaj, Mehmet 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Skenderaj Kosovan emigrants to Finland Naturalized citizens of Finland Men's association football midfielders Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Dual men's international footballers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players FC Viikingit players Panionios F.C. players Thrasyvoulos F.C. players UC AlbinoLeffe players Reggina 1914 players FC Honka players AC Monza players Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho players Veikkausliiga players Serie B players Serie C players Super League Greece players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Finnish people of Albanian descent