Visar Bekaj (born 24 May 1997) is a Kosovan 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

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 Kategoria Superiore and Kosovo national team.

Club career

Prishtina

2019–20 season

On 27 June 2019, Bekaj commenced his fifth season with a draw in 2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round match against Gibraltarian side St Joseph's after being named in the starting line-up.

=Failure to join with 1899 Hoffenheim

= On 4 July 2019,

Prishtina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

through a communiqué stated that Bekaj, most likely in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

against St Joseph's has played his last official match with Prishtina and is soon expected to move to

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

. On 4 September 2019,

Bota Sot ''Bota Sot'' (English: World Today) is a daily newspaper from Kosovo, originally published by members of the Kosovo diaspora in Switzerland. History ''Bota Sot'' is published by Media Print and is owned by Xhevdet Mazrekaj, a diaspora businessman ...

confirms that Bekaj's transfer to 1899 Hoffenheim has failed after the German club request in TMS system to Prishtina was missing.

=Return to Prishtina

= Bekaj returned to

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

side

, On 13 September 2019, he played the first game after the return against Llapi after being named in the starting line-up.

Tirana

On 29 August 2020, Bekaj signed a three-year contract with Kategoria Superiore club

. His debut with Tirana came on 1 October in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League play-off round against Young Boys after being named in the starting line-up.

International career

Youth career and first senior call-up

In December 2012, Bekaj received a call-up from Albania U17 for a selection camp in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, Kosovo from 3–4 December 2012. On 7 October 2015, he received a call-up from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

for the

friendly match 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

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

. His debut with Kosovo came on 13 November in a friendly match against

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 ...

after coming on as a substitute at 89th minute in place of captain Samir Ujkani.

Return to youth team

On 21 March 2017, Bekaj received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Italy in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tour ...

match against Republic of Ireland U21, and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Honours

Club

;Tirana * Kategoria Superiore: 2021–22 * Albanian Supercup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* * 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Pristina Kosovan footballers Kosovo international footballers Kosovo under-21 international footballers Albanian footballers Albania youth international footballers Association football goalkeepers Football Superleague of Kosovo players FC Prishtina players Kategoria Superiore players KF Tirana players {{Kosovo-footy-bio-stub