Stiven 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 club

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

, on loan from

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 ...

. He also plays for the Albania under-21 national team.

Club career

Early career

Stiven 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. His parents are originally 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 ...

and had emigrated from Albania in 1997; they hold dual citizenship. His twin brother is footballer Cristian Shpendi. 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

. Shpendi made his professional debut on 10 October 2021 against

Ancona-Matelica Unione Sportiva Ancona, commonly referred to as Ancona, is an Italian football club based in Ancona, Marche. The club is widely considered to be the heir of defunct former Serie A club Ancona, with whom it shares its official historical logo. ...

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 ...

, replacing Mattia Bortolussi in the last minutes of the match. In February 2022, he (along with his brother) signed a new deal through June 2025. He concluded his first season with the senior squad by making two appearances.

2022–23 season

Shpendi begun the new season by scoring his first professional goal in team's 2–1 win against

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in Serie B in 1948. History The club was founded in 1908. In the season 2010–1 ...

on 4 September 2022. After cementing his place in the lineup in the first weeks of the season, he fell out of favor as manager Toscano relegated him to bench for the next five league games. Shpendi played as a substitute in the matchday 14 against Ancona-Matelica, and a week later returned as a starter 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, ...

, but suffered a knee injury which kept him sidelined for the next two weeks. Shpendi returned from injury on 10 December 2022, by appearing as a second-half substitute against

Vis Pesaro Vis Pesaro dal 1898 S.r.l., commonly referred to as simply Vis Pesaro, is an Italian association football club located in Pesaro, Marche. The club currently plays in Serie C. History Vis Pesaro was founded in 1898 and refounded in 2008. Th ...

, scoring his side's winning goal in the process. Later on in the season, he regained his spot in the starting line-up, notably scoring a brace in a 3–0 away win over

Pontedera Pontedera (; la, Pons Herae) is an italian comune with a population of 29.270 inhabitants, located in the province of Pisa, Tuscany, Central Italy, central Italy. The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florenc ...

, as Cesena climbed to the second spot in the championship.

Empoli

On 5 August 2023, Shpendi joined

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

on a two-season loan, with an obligation to buy. It was reported that the deal commanded a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2 million fee, plus €400,000 in add-ons, and a 15% sell-on clause in favor of Cesena. He made his debut for the club on 12 August 2023, coming on as a substitute for

Liam Henderson Liam Henderson (born 25 April 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Empoli. Henderson joined Celtic as a youth and progressed through the club's development squad before making his competitive ...

in the 67th minute of a 2–1

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

loss to

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

. He then made his top-flight debut one week later, coming on for Matteo Cancellieri in the 70th minute of a 1–0 home defeat to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

International career

In November 2021, 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 ...

to participate in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Group 7 where his side were shorted to play 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 international debut in the first match on 10 November 2021 versus France playing in the starting line up and being substituted at half time exactly for his twin Cristian where his side got beaten 4–0. Then for the next two games he started from the bench to be acttivated only in the closing match against North Macedonia in the last 8 minutes with Albania U19 collecting a 3–1 victory to go on 4 points same as Serbia but failing to qualify due to the goal difference thus ranking in the 3rd place of the group. He subsequently played for the Albania under-20 managed by 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 ...

in September 2022 in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

against

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

where his side lost both matches with the same result 3–1 with Shpendi scoring the only goal against Croatia. Coach Alban Bushi then gave the twins their debut with Albania under-21 on 16 November 2022 including in the starting line up.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

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