Mërgim Brahimi
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Mërgim Brahimi (born 8 August 1992) 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 midfielder for FC Wil. A youth international for Albania and
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 ...
, Brahimi represented the Albania national team before switching to the Kosovo national team.


Early life

Brahimi was born in Istog, FR Yugoslavia to
Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...
parents. He lived in Istog for two years before moving to Zürich, Switzerland along with his mother, brother and two sisters due to the growing tension in Kosovo. Prior to moving, his father had been living for a number of years in Switzerland as a Gastarbeiter. He then signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich in 1997 before being spotted by
Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
in 2007.


Club career


Youth clubs

At the age of five, Brahimi signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich before being spotted by
Grasshopper Zürich Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...
in 2007. Brahimi moved up the ranks of the youth divisions at
Grasshopper Zürich Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...
, eventually playing for the under-21s in 2010. In the under-21s, Brahimi made a total of thirty two appearances and scored three goals before joining the senior team.


Grasshopper Club Zürich

Brahimi made his first team appearance against city rivals
FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
on 2 October 2011. He came on in the 21st minute and made a good impact, in a game that was later abandoned due to
FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
fan violence. A 3–0 victory was awarded to GC. Brahimi made his first starting appearance in the second round of the
Schweizer Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...
against FC Chiasso on 16 October 2011. He started the game and was substituted in the 77th minute for Davor Landeka in the 1–0 win.


Panionios

On 14 January 2018,
Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...
officially announced the capture of Kosovo-Albanian Mërgim Brahimi. The 25-year-old international (with Kosovo National Team) attacking midfielder will replace experienced Iranian attacking midfielder
Masoud Shojaei Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling varia ...
who recently joined rivals AEK Athens.


FC Wil

On 3 June 2019, it was confirmed that Brahimi a two-year contract with FC Wil with an option to one further year.


International career

Originating from Kosovo with ethnic Albanian parents and raised in Switzerland, Brahimi was eligible to play for Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo if a national team should be formed, but in March 2011 he answered the call by Albania's Under-21 coach Artan Bushati for a non official friendly tournament held in Slovenia. On 26 August 2011 Brahimi was called up by Switzerland U-20 for two friendlies against Italy and Germany in September, but he refused the offer and decided to represent Albania instead. He officially gained Albanian citizenship on 26 August 2011 along with his Grasshopper teammate Imran Bunjaku, in order to compete in the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers .


Albania senior team

He received his first senior international call up for friendliest by
Gianni De Biasi Giovanni "Gianni" De Biasi (, sq, Xhovani "Xhani" De Biazi), born 16 June 1956 is an Italian football coach and former player. He holds dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. De Biasi was the first coach of the Albania national team to lead th ...
against Qatar and Iran in May 2012. Brahimi made his international debut on 27 May 2012 against Iran, at age of 19.


Switzerland under-21

Brahimi switched to play for Switzerland national under-21 football team in 2013–15 season. He scored 2 goals in 4 qualifying matches.


Kosovo senior team

Brahimi switched his nationality again in 2015. He scored a brace in his debut match for Kosovo national football team, 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 ...
. He also played another match for Kosovo in November 2015. He was invited by
Albert Bunjaki Albert Bunjaki (born 18 June 1971) is a Kosovan professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of IF Karlstad. Managerial career Kosovo On 18 July 2009, Bunjaki was appointed as the manager of the Kosovo after the forme ...
, in a friendly with Faroe Islands on 3 June 2016. That match was the first match of Kosovo as a member of FIFA. However, as he also played for national teams of Albania and Switzerland, his switch to Kosovo competitively was dependent on the approval of FIFA's Bureau of the Players' Status Committee. Brahimi and Football Federation of Kosovo had to submit a formal request to the committee in order to know the eligibility of Brahimi. To sum up, Brahimi played twice for Kosovo in friendlies, but did not made his competitive debut yet.


Career statistics


Club


International


References


External links

*
Mergim Brahimi
at FSHF (archived) *
Switzerland U21 stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahimi, Mergim 1992 births Living people People from Istog Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Kosovo Albanians Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Kosovan emigrants to Switzerland Men's association football forwards Dual internationalists (men's football) Grasshopper Club Zurich players FC Aarau players FC Wohlen players Panionios F.C. players FC Wil players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Swiss Super League players Footballers from Peja