Shani Tarashaj (born 7 February 1995) is a Swiss retired 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 ...

who played as a forward.

Club career

Tarashaj was born in

Hausen am Albis Hausen am Albis is a village in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Hausen am Albis may be first mentioned in 869 as ''Husun'', though this reference is questionable. In 1242 it was mentioned as ''Husen''. ...

, Switzerland. He grew up in youth teams of Grasshopper Club Zürich. Tarashaj made his Swiss Super League debut on 2 August 2014, coming on as a substitute for Alexander Merkel in a 0–0 draw against

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. Tarashaj started 2015–16 by scoring 5 goals in his first 4 games, including two braces against FC Zurich and

FC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its original name, FC Lu ...

. His contract with Grasshopper was renewed, extended to 2019. On 7 January 2016, Tarashaj joined English club Everton on a -year deal. He was loaned back to Grasshopper, until the end of the season so that he could complete his national service. He was loaned to German club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

for the 2016–17 season. On 19 July 2018, Tarashaj returned to Grasshopper on a season-long loan deal with an option to make the deal permanent. Tarashaj moved to FC Emmen for a 2-season loan deal in July 2019. His loan spell was cancelled in October 2020 and on his return, he was released by Everton. On 11 January 2021, Tarashaj joined

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

, initially linking up with the club's under–21 side. On 7 October 2022, Tarashaj retired from football due to injuries.

International career

Switzerland

Tarashaj was eligible to represent three countries on international level, either

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 ...

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 ...

or Switzerland. From 2010, until 2016, Tarashaj has been part of Switzerland at youth international level, respectively has been part of all youth teams and he with these teams played 48 matches and scored 33 goals. On 18 March 2016, Tarashaj received a call-up from senior Swiss team for the

friendly matches 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

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. His senior debut came seven days later in the friendly match against Republic of Ireland after coming on as a substitute at 71st minute in place of

Blerim Džemaili Blerim Džemaili ( sq, Blerim Xhemaili, ; mk, Блерим Џемаили; born 12 April 1986) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays for Super League club Zürich as a midfielder. He began his career at FC Zürich, where he won the Swi ...

. On 30 May 2016, Tarashaj was named as part of the Switzerland squad for

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 ...

, but only made a single appearance, coming on as a late substitute against

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

Proposed Kosovo switch

In July 2016, Tarashaj after the end of UEFA Euro 2016 applied for a Kosovo passport at the Kosovan Consulate in

and after receiving the passport, he attempted to switch from Switzerland to Kosovo, but this switch was rejected by FIFA, because he had played competitive matches with Switzerland after Kosovo's admission to UEFA and FIFA.

Return to Switzerland

On 7 October 2016, Tarashaj after not being able to switch to Kosovo, returned to Switzerland, where he played with under-21 team in a

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2017 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 Poland in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship tournament ...

match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

after being named in the starting line-up. Three days later, he was named as a senior team substitute in a

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

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

Personal life

Born and raised in Switzerland, Tarashaj is of Kosovo Albanian origin from Prizren. In December 2019, he completes his military service in the

Swiss Armed Forces The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...

. On 28 June 2021, Tarashaj enters politics by becoming a member of the Diaspora branch of the

Democratic Party of Kosovo The Democratic Party of Kosovo ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; abbr. ''PDK'') is one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. It was originally a social-democratic party coming out of the demilitarised Kosovo Liberation Army after the K ...

Career statistics

Honours

* Swiss Super League Young Player of the Year: 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarashaj, Shani 1995 births Living people Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Grasshopper Club Zürich players Everton F.C. players Eintracht Frankfurt players FC Emmen players Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss people of Albanian descent People from Affoltern District Men's association football forwards UEFA Euro 2016 players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players Eredivisie players Footballers from the canton of Zürich