Samir Ujkani (born 5 July 1988) is a

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- ...

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 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 ...

for Italian club

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 ...

and the Kosovo national team.

Early life

Ujkani was born in Resnik, a village near

Vushtrri Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria) or Vučitrn ( sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн), is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in northern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Vushtrri has 26,964 inhabitants, while the muni ...

SAP Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / ", sq, Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovë ...

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

, at the time part of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Y ...

. His family then moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

six years after his birth.

Club career

Youth clubs

At the age of thirteen, Ujkani enrolled into

Ingelmunster Ingelmunster (; vls, Iengelmunstr) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Ingelmunster proper and the village of Kriek. As of January 1, 2006, Ingelmunster had a total po ...

, spending six years there before moving to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...

. The Anderlecht football academy has a reputation of producing talented goalkeepers such as

Jacky Munaron Jacques "Jacky" Munaron (born 8 September 1956) is a Belgian former football goalkeeper and the goalkeeper coach of FP Halle-Gooik since 2017. As a young player, Munaron started as the keeper of the youth team of FC Dinant, and Munaron stayed ...

. Ujkani played until June 2007 for the Anderlecht Under-19s, and made also ten appearances with their reserves team. In June 2007, he agreed to sign a five-year contract with

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

of Italy's

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 Copp ...

Palermo

Since then, Ujkani served as unused substitute in two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

matches for Palermo, and several Serie A matches as well. He was confirmed as third-choice goalkeeper for the ''Rosaneros 2008–09 season, and later promoted as second goalkeeper after the club chose to transfer-list veteran goalkeeper Alberto Fontana. On 26 April 2009, Ujkani made his professional debut with Palermo, replacing injured

Marco Amelia Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish ...

during a Serie A match against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums ...

. His performance was congratulated from Kaká at the end of the match. In July 2009, he was loaned out to

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 ...

club

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

in exchange with

Giacomo Brichetto Giacomo Brichetto (born 9 May 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ruggell. Career Brichetto was born in Genoa, and spent most of his career in the lower ranks of Italian professional football. He joined then ...

, also in order to gain first team experience. On 14 June 2012, Palermo owner

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club U.S. Città di Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zampari ...

confirmed that Ujkani will be playing on Palermo for the 2012–13 season. On 22 June 2012, Palermo announced from their website to have re-acquired the full transfer rights of Ujkani and fellow Novara player Michel Morganella. For Palermo's 2013–14 season, spent in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

after its previous season's relegation, he was used as a second-choice goalkeeper – receiving playing time – and being praised for his development relative to his previous stint with Palermo. During December and January 2014, he became temporary first-choice to cover for the injured Stefano Sorrentino. His contract with Palermo expired 30 June 2015.

Loan at Novara

Ujkani immediately cemented his place as Novara's first-choice goalkeeper. He was a pivotal and influential member of squad, helping promote Novara from the

to the

in the 2009–10 season, marking a 33-year return for the club to Serie B. This prompted Novara to ask for an extension to his loan, which was agreed by Palermo in July 2010. Ujkani helped Novara reach promotion in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

to Serie A after a 55-year absence. On 31 January 2011, Palermo announced it had sold 50% of Ujkani's transfer rights to Novara, along with

Michel Morganella Michel Morganella (born 17 May 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Chiasso. Club career Born to an Italian father and a Swiss mother, Morganella is a product of the FC Basel youth system and plays as a right-b ...

(both tagged for €1.5 million), as part of a bid involving striker Pablo González (€5 million). Ujkani has been a crucial member of the squad in the Serie A, helping Novara beat

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

home and away when Ujkani pulled off a point-blank save to deny

Giampaolo Pazzini Giampaolo Pazzini (; born 2 August 1984), nicknamed ''Il Pazzo'' ("The Madman") after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Serie A with Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria ...

and held off

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he st ...

when he struck the free-kick from a dangerous position. He also helped Novara secure a draw against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. From 16 October 2011, Ujkani sustained a broken nose and lost four teeth when he collided with teammate Michel Morganella against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. Being one of the fan favourites, then Andrea Ballarè, the Mayor of

visited Ujkani in hospital. Ujkani returned on 5 December in a match against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Loan at Chievo

After the arrival of goalkeeper

Stefano Sorrentino Stefano Sorrentino (born 28 March 1979) is an Italian former footballer. A professional goalkeeper for his whole career, he is currently a football agent, as well as owner/chairman of Chieri in the Serie D league. Sorrentino played for severa ...

at Palermo, Ujkani moved on loan to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

on 29 January 2013. In his short stint there, he did not play a single game, serving as back-up to

Christian Puggioni Christian Puggioni (born 17 January 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career In January 2007, Puggioni joined Reggina. On 2 July 2015, Puggioni signed with Sampdoria on a free transfer. He made his debut with Samp ...

, and was not acquired by the Verona-based club, thus making his return to Palermo by the end of season.

Genoa

On 19 July 2015,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

announced the signing of Ujkani on a free transfer, he did not play a single game.

Loan at Latina

On 8 January 2016, Ujkani joined

side Latina on loan. On 16 January 2016, he made his debut in a 1–0 home defeat against former club

after being named in the starting line-up.

Loan at Pisa

On 11 July 2016, Ujkani joined

side

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...

on loan. On 7 August 2016, he made his debut with Pisa in the second round of

2016–17 Coppa Italia The 2016–17 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 70th edition of the national cup in Italian football. Juventus successfully defended its title by defeating Lazio 2–0 in the final, becoming the first team to w ...

against

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Cremonese

On 14 July 2017. Ujkani signed with the newly promoted team of

side

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 ...

. On 6 August 2017, he made his debut with Cremonese in the second round of

2017–18 Coppa Italia The 2017–18 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 71st edition of the national cup in Italian football. As a minimum, the winners of the Coppa Italia earn a place in the 2018–19 Europa League and would begin pla ...

against

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . History 1914: Foundation The club was founded in 1914 as Foot-Ball Clu ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Çaykur Rizespor

On 18 July 2018. Ujkani signed with the newly promoted team of

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

, on a three-year contract. On 26 September 2018, he made his debut for Çaykur Rizespor in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

of the

2018–19 Turkish Cup The 2018–19 Turkish Cup ( tr, Türkiye Kupası) was the 57th season of the tournament. Ziraat Bankası was the sponsor of the tournament, thus the sponsored name was Ziraat Turkish Cup. The winners will earn a berth in the group stage of the ...

against

Tarsus Idman Yurdu Tarsus may refer to: Biology *Tarsus (skeleton), a cluster of articulating bones in each foot *Tarsus (eyelids), elongated plate of dense connective tissue in each eyelid *The distal segment of an arthropod leg see Arthropod tarsus *The lower le ...

after being named in the starting line-up. From the beginning of 2019, Ujkani was excluded from the first team squad alongside 4 other foreign players and moved down to the U21 squad.

International career

Albania

Ujkani received an

Albanian passport The Albanian passport ( Albanian: ''Pasaporta e Shqipërisë'') is a travel document issued by the Ministry of Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, along with ...

in summer 2007 and started playing for the Albania U21. He made his debut on 1 June in a European qualification match against Italy U21. On 6 October 2008, he received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up for the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation, AFC (Asia), Confederation of African Football, CAF (Africa), CONCA ...

qualifying matches with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. He made his full senior debut on 10 June 2009 in a 1–1 draw with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

in Albania. Ujkani lost his starting place to

Etrit Berisha Etrit Fadil Berisha (; born 10 March 1989) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Torino and captains the Albania national team. Berisha began his career at local club KF 2 Korriku as a youngster, as ...

during the

2014 World Cup qualification Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unre ...

Kosovo

On 2 March 2014. Ujkani 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 Eur ...

for the first permitted by FIFA match against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ujkani, Samir 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Vushtrri Kosovo Albanians Association football goalkeepers Kosovan footballers Kosovo international footballers Albanian footballers Albania international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Dual internationalists (football) R.S.C. Anderlecht players Palermo F.C. players Novara F.C. players A.C. ChievoVerona players Genoa C.F.C. players Latina Calcio 1932 players Pisa S.C. players U.S. Cremonese players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Torino F.C. players Empoli F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Süper Lig players Kosovan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey