Xhevdet Shabani (born 10 October 1986) is a retired Kosovar 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 played as a

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 boundarie ...

. The last club he played for was

FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...

. He is nicknamed as "Rrapa".

Club career

Teuta Durrës

In June 2014, Shabani moved for the first time aboard and signed with

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

side

Teuta Durrës Teuta ( 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 of her spouse Agro ...

for the 2014–15 season. In an interview, he said that the reason he signed was the project and club's ambition. He commenced the season on 23 August by scoring in the 2–1 loss to

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, and it is also one ...

in the opening week of championship. Later on 10 September, Shabani scored a brace to lead the team into a 1–5 win over fellow relegation strugglers

Elbasani Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central A ...

for the first victory of the season. He finished the first part of the season with 14 matches and 3 goals, in addition to 1 cup match, before leaving in January to return to Kosovo.

Feronikeli

On 11 January 2015, Shabani returned in Kosovo to sign a six-month contract with top flight side Feronikeli. He debuted for the team on 1 March in the matchday 17 against Kosova Vushtrri, receiving a red card in the second half in an eventual 0–2 away win. He scored his maiden Ferronikeli goal on 8 May in the 3–0 home win over

Ferizaj Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...

to bring the team closer to the title. He finished the second part of the season by appearing in 17 league matches and scoring twice as Ferronikeli won the 2014–15 Football Superleague of Kosovo. Shabani left as a free agent in July 2015 after his contract ran out.

Besa Pejë

In May 2016, Shabani completed a transfer at Besa Pejë by penning a contract for 2016–17 season. During his first at only season at ''The Eagles'', Shabani scored 9 goals in 29 league appearances as Besa finished 6th in championship.

Drita

On 16 June 2017, Shabani returned to Drita for a third time by penning a one-year contract, taking the squad number 10 in the process. He made his competitive debut later on 20 August in the opening match of championship against

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 ...

, scoring the lone goal of the match. In matchday 5 against

Drenica Drenica ( al, Drenicë, Drenica, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klin ...

, Shabani produced a Man of the Match performance by assisting the second goal and winning the penalty which lead to the third goal in a 3–0 home win which returned Drita to the winning ways after three consecutive matches. Later on 10 October, he scored his first brace of the season against the leaders of Llapi to bring Drita closer to the lead of championship. On 6 December, in the 2017–18 Kosovar Cup fourth round against Feronikeli, Shabani scored the opener for a 3–0 win to send Drita through to the next round. His performances throughout the year earned him a spot at

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 ...

Team of the Year 2017. He along with Ardian Limani were the only Drita players to be selected. Drita won the championship on 20 May 2018 after holding on into a draw in the final matchday versus

, finishing three points above them and also clinching a spot to 2018–19 UEFA Champions League preliminary round. Shabani was ever-present, playing all matches as starter, netting 10 goals which placed him as the team's second scorer of the 2017–18 season. On 12 June 2018, it was announced that Drita would play their first Champions League game versus Santa Coloma. The team won the match 2–0, with Shabani scoring Drita's first ever Champions League with a curled shot outside the box to break the deadlock in the 9th minute of extra-time.

International career

On 22 January 2018. Shabani received his first 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

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 ...

. The match however was cancelled two days later, which prolonged his debut.

Honours

Club

;Drita *

: 2017–18

Individual

's Team of the Year: 2017 *Kaçanik's sportsperson of the year: 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shabani, Xhevdet 1986 births Living people People from Kaçanik Men's association football midfielders Kosovan men's footballers FC Ferizaj players FC Drita players KF Teuta Durrës players FC Feronikeli 74 players FC Besa Pejë players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Kategoria Superiore players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate men's footballers in Albania