Ledian Memushaj (born 7 December 1986) is an

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 ...

n professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and a former

central 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 ...

. He is the head coach of the Under-19 squad of the Italian club

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

Club career

Early career

Memushaj joined A.S.D. Sarzanese Calcio 1906 when he was 17 years old. He helped the team finish second in

Eccellenza Liguria Eccellenza Liguria is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in the northern Italian region of Liguria. It consists of 16 teams competing in one group. The winning team is promoted to Serie D, the top level of Italian amateur football ...

in 2006 and gain promotion to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. In the summer of 2008, he moved to fellow

side

Valle d'Aosta , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

, where he played 34 games and scored 3 goals. On 10 September 2009, he signed for Paganese to play in the

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

after a trial.

Chievo and Portogruaro (loan)

On 21 June 2010, he was signed by

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 ...

side

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Football in Italy, Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and o ...

on a free transfer. He was loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

side

Portogruaro Portogruaro ( vec, Porto, fur, Puart) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. The city is the centre of a district, made up of 11 ''comuni'', which form the Venezia Orientale with the San Donà di Piav ...

on 29 January 2011.

Lecce

On 27 July 2012, Memushaj left Carpi and moved to

side

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

on a three-year contract. However, before he even kicked a ball for his new club, they were relegated to the

after being expelled from Serie B for their part in the Calcio Scommesse scandal. Memushaj scored his first goal for Lecce on 3 September 2012 in a 3–2 victory against

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

. He scored his team's 3rd goal of the match in the 31st minute with a shot from 20 meters out. On 23 September 2012, he scored Lecce's third goal in its 1–3 victory at

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, which took them to the top of the 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione League table.

Loan to Carpi

On 27 July 2013, Carpi announced that they had signed Memushaj on loan from Lecce for the 2013–14 season of Serie B. This transfer happened shortly after Carpi signed the fellow Albania national team player,

Edgar Çani Edgar Junior Çani (born 22 July 1989) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Legnano. Club career Early career Çani was born in Tirana, Albania but grew up in Città della Pieve in the Perugia central Italy, afte ...

. This was his second spell with Carpi. He became a key player for Carpi and made crucial contributions each week, scoring regularly. His first goal during this spell at Carpi came in extra time of the 0–1 away victory against

Reggina 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 ...

on 28 September 2013. On 26 October 2013, he scored a goal against

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

from the penalty spot at the start of the second half to give his team a 1–1 draw. On 21 December 2013, he scored from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute to give his team a narrow 1–0 victory against

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. This victory resulted in Palermo surrendering first place to

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 26 December 2013 he scored an equaliser at Virtus Lanciano before two further goals from teammates left Carpi three points away from the play-off zone for promotion to Serie A. He started 2014 with a goal to continue his excellent form from the first half of the season. He scored in the 20th minute of the first half against

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

at home on 25 January 2014, but this was not enough to avoid defeat. It was his fifth goal of the season and despite this defeat, his team were only three points away from the play-off zone for promotion. In the 2013–14 season, Memushaj played in total 33 Serie B matches in where he scored 8 goals. He also played in a single match for the

2013–14 Coppa Italia The 2013–14 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 67th edition of the competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs have taken part in the tournament. Lazio were the cup holders. Napoli were the winners, thus qua ...

. On 6 May 2014, Memushaj tore a right knee ligament in a match against

and had to undergo surgery. He was unable to play for 6 months.

Return to Lecce

Carpi did not accept the request of Lecce to buy Memushaj for a fee of €400,000, so he returned to Lecce.

Pescara

On 1 September 2014 Memushaj signed for the

club

on 1-year contract. Due to the injury he suffered in May 2014, he missed Pescara's first 7 matches of the

2014–15 Serie B The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. T ...

season. He made it his debut on 12 October 2014 by coming on as a substitute for

Gabriel Appelt Pires Gabriel Appelt Pires (born 18 September 1993), sometimes known as just Gabriel (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Botafogo, on loan from Portuguese club Benfica, as a midfielder. Club career Resende Born in Rio de Janeiro ...

in the 87th minute against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

; Pescara won the match, 1–4. He was an unused substitute for the next week match on 17 October 2014 against

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

(1–1), but a week later Memushaj started in the match against his previous team Carpi, but the match finished as a bad loss with a 0–5 result. A week later, Memushaj scored his first goal for Pescara in a 1–1 draw against

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

. On 27 December 2015, Memushaj scored the winning goal in the game against

U.S. Latina Calcio Latina Calcio 1932, commonly referred to as Latina, is an Italian football club based in Latina, Lazio. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1932 as ''Unione Sportiva Latina Calcio'' and subsequently re-established sever ...

, but was subsequently sent off the pitch after kicking a microphone on the sidelines as part of his goal celebration.

Benevento

On 28 August 2017, Memushaj was signed on loan with

club

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

until the end of the 2017–18 season with a purchase obligation at the end of loan.

International career

Memushaj was called for the first time to the Albania national team in November 2010 by manager

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...

for a friendly against Macedonia. He made his international debut during the match at

Qemal Stafa Stadium The Qemal Stafa Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Qemal Stafa), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a Albanian Resistance of World War II, World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football (soccer), football stadium in Tirana, Albania. ...

, replacing

Klodian Duro Klodian Duro (; born 21 December 1977) is an Albanian retired professional football and current coach of Lushnja of the Kategoria e parë. He was a versatile midfielder who usually played in an attacking role. His brother Albert Duro was also ...

in the second half as the match ended in a goalless draw. He returned on the team on 9 February 2011 for their next friendly against

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 ...

, earning his second cap in the process, again as a substitute, as Albania was defeated 1–2. In November 2013, after a long absence, Memushaj returned to the team with De Biasi as their manager for the friendly match against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

following the end of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He was again used as a substitute in place of

Valdet Rama Valdet Skënder Rama (born 20 November 1987) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for German club Wuppertaler SV. He also holds German citizenship. Early life Rama is a Kosovo Albanian and fled to Germany at the age ...

in another scoreless draw.

UEFA Euro 2016 campaign

Memushaj missed the first two UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers matches against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

due to an injury suffered in May 2014 while representing Carpi, an injury which sidelined him for 6 months. He also missed the notorious

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

against

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 ...

in October 2014. As soon as he was declared fit, he was called up for the friendlies 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 ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in November 2014. He played his first match as a starter against

as Albania earned a historic 1–1 draw at

Roazhon Park The Roazhon Park is a football stadium in Rennes, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, France. ''Roazhon'' is the Breton language, Breton name of Rennes. The stadium was inaugurated on 15 September 1912. It is located at 111 route de Lor ...

. He also featured as starter in Albania's first ever match against Italy, missing an opportunity to score in the first half as Albania slumped into a 1–0 away defeat. Memushaj continued to be part of Albania in their historic UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. In the final decisive match against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, he assisted the second goal via a set piece as Albania won 3–0 to secure a spot at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, its first ever appearance at a major men's football tournament. On 21 May 2016, he was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May. In the tournament, he did not play in the Albania's first

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, which finished in a 0–1 loss. However, he returned to the lineup in the second match against hosts

, hitting the post before Albania conceded two goals in the last minutes. In the final match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, he assisted

Armando Sadiku Armando Durim Sadiku (born 27 May 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Cartagena and the Albania national team. Born in Cërrik, Elbasan, Sadiku started his career with a local club Fushë Mbre ...

's header for the only goal of the match, helping earn Albania's first win at a major men's football tournament and beating Romania for the first time since 1948. Albania was eliminated from the tournament after finishing third in its group with three points and a goal difference of –2, ranking last among third-placed teams.

2018 FIFA World Cup campaign

Memushaj scored his first international goal on 11 June 2017 in the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, netting the third in an eventual 3–0 away win.

Post-playing career

Memushaj retired from playing at the end of the 2021–22 season and was appointed head coach of the Under-19 squad of

Personal life

He and his family migrated to Italy in 1997 due to civil war in Albania.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Memushaj goal''.

References

External links

* * * * *
Football.it Profile

Ledian Memushaj profile
at

FSHF The Albanian Football Association ( sq, Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. The association is based in Tirana, Albania. It organises the national football leagues of the Albanian Superliga, the Fir ...

.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Memushaj, Ledian 1986 births Living people Footballers from Vlorë Albanian footballers Men's association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players A.C. ChievoVerona players A.C. Carpi players U.S. Lecce players Portogruaro Calcio A.S.D. players Aosta Valley Paganese Calcio 1926 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Benevento Calcio players Albania men's international footballers Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy UEFA Euro 2016 players Albanian football managers Albanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Italy