Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a retired Slovenian
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
winger.
Club career
Born in
Šempeter pri Gorici
Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. The cr ...
, he spent his childhood in
Nova Gorica
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...
, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started playing for
ND Bilje, the village club of
Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to
Primorje, and then to
Gorica at the age of 17.
Sochaux
In 2006, he signed for French club
Sochaux
Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.
Geography
Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris.
Population
Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''.
Economy
S ...
in
Ligue de Football Professionnel
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority o ...
. While at Sochaux, he won the
2007 Coupe de France. The final game against
Olympique de Marseille finished 2–2 and went to
penalties, with Birsa scoring his penalty as his side emerged victorious.
Auxerre (loan)
On 22 January 2009,
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
signed him on a loan deal until June 2009 from Sochaux. He scored his first Auxerre goal against
Olympique Lyonnais. On 29 May 2009, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent. In the 2010–11 season, Birsa scored a 23-yard free kick and his first
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
goal against
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
in the group stage. Ajax eventually won 2–1.
Genoa
On 2 February 2011, despite interest from big Premier league teams such as
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and
Fulham, Birsa signed a four-year contract with
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 Cop ...
club
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
. He made just nine appearances in his maiden season in Italy.
Torino (loan)
He joined
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
on 31 August 2012 on loan. At Torino, Birsa played 17 games, scoring 2 goals but did not do enough to convince Torino to sign him on a permanent deal so he returned to Genoa at the end of the season.
AC Milan
Birsa made the switch to
AC Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...
on 31 August 2013, in what was a straight swap deal which saw
Luca Antonini
Luca Antonini (; born 4 August 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is best known for his five–season stint at A.C. Milan, for which he played from 2008 until 2013. During that time, he made 111 app ...
move in the opposite direction. He was handed the number 14 shirt at Milan. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 September 2013 against
Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa.
The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...
to give the ''Rossoneri'' the win.
Chievo
He signed for
Chievo
Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige.
It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...
on 9 July 2014 on loan. On 2 July 2015, Chievo signed Birsa outright in a three-year contract.
Cagliari
On 9 January 2019, Birsa signed with Serie A side
Cagliari.
International career
Birsa played for the
Slovenian national team
Slovene or Slovenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe
* Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia
* Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia
* Sl ...
between 2006 and 2018. He scored his first goal for the national team on 9 September 2009 in a
World Cup qualifying match against
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 populou ...
, which Slovenia won 3–0. At the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
, Birsa struck a long-range curling shot in Slovenia's second group stage match against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Slovenia drew that match 2–2.
Personal life
Birsa was born in
Šempeter pri Gorici
Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. The cr ...
, present day
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. In 2012, he married his long-time girlfriend Mateja. He has a son named Nolan.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Birsa goal.''
Honours
Gorica
*
Slovenian PrvaLiga
The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...
:
2004–05,
2005–06
Sochaux
*
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
:
2006–07
Individual
*
Slovenian Footballer of the Year: 2010
See also
*
Slovenian international players
References
External links
Player profileat NZS
Player profileat LFP
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birsa, Valter
1986 births
Living people
People from Šempeter pri Gorici
Slovenian footballers
Association football wingers
Association football midfielders
NK Primorje players
ND Gorica players
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players
AJ Auxerre players
Genoa C.F.C. players
Torino F.C. players
A.C. Milan players
A.C. ChievoVerona players
Cagliari Calcio players
Slovenian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in France
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Slovenian PrvaLiga players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Slovenia youth international footballers
Slovenia under-21 international footballers
Slovenia international footballers
2010 FIFA World Cup players