Arber Zeneli

Arber Zeneli
Personal information
Full name Arber Zeneli
Date of birth (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995
Place of birth Säter, Sweden
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 12 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
SC Heerenveen
Number 13
Youth career
0000 Hälsinggårdens AIK
2007–2013 IF Elfsborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 IF Elfsborg 46 (11)
2016– SC Heerenveen 15 (4)
National team
2010–2012 Sweden U17 7 (1)
2012–2014 Sweden U19 17 (5)
2014– Sweden U21 10 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2016

Arber Zeneli (born 25 February 1995 in Falun) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Dutch Eredivisie club SC Heerenveen as a winger.[1]

Personal life

Zeneli was born in Säter, but grew up in Falun, before moving to Borås with his family when he was 11 years old.[2][3] He is of Albanian descent.[4] He has named his father as his greatest role model in life.[5]

Club career

IF Elfsborg

Zeneli started playing football for Hälsinggården, but left as a 12-year-old for Elfsborg's youth academy. In 2011, Zeneli scored a late winning goal in the final of Swedish Under-17 Championships against Brommapojkarna.[6] The following year Zeneli helped his team reach the final in the same competition, and scored another goal, although this time Elfsborg lost to Malmö FF.[7] In 2013 Elfsborg won the U21-Allsvenskan with Zeneli in the squad, after a 5-2 final win away against Häcken.[8]

In December 2013, Zeneli was promoted to the senior team.[9]

Zeneli made his senior debut on March 1, in 2013-14 Svenska Cupen. Zeneli played in total three games in the domestic cup the following months, which Elfsborg later won against Helsingborg in the final. He made his first Allsvenskan appearance in the premier game 31 March, away against Åtvidaberg.[10] In May the same year, former Premier League player and team mate Anders Svensson labeled Zeneli as one of the greatest talents he has ever seen.[11] Zeneli played 16 games during the 2014 season and finished the season by scoring his first senior goal that subsequently sealed the win for his team against Brommapojkarna. Zeneli dedicated the goal to his former coach Klas Ingesson who died a couple of days earlier.[12]

Heerenveen

On November 10, 2015, Zeneli signed a 3.5 year contract with Heerenveen for an estimated fee of €2 million.[13] He made his Eredivisie debut on January 16, 2016,[14] and scored his first goal the following weekend, on January 23.[15] His performance earned him the man of the match award.[16]

International career

Zeneli has represented Sweden U17, Sweden U19 and Sweden U21.

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 April 2016[17]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
IF Elfsborg 2014 Allsvenskan 1614110212
2015 Allsvenskan 301062504112
Total 4611103606214
SC Heerenveen 2015–16 Eredivisie 1540000154
Total 1540000154
Career total 6115103607718

Honours

Club

IF Elfsborg

International

Sweden U21

References

  1. "Arber Zeneli". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. "Elfsborgs Arber Zeneli om Ingesson och barndomen i Falun". dalademokraten.se. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  3. Björklund, Emil. "Zeneli – en bollkonstnär i skulpturstaden - Borås Tidning". Borås Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  4. "Europeiskt intresse för Elfsborgs Zeneli - Sporten P4 Sjuhärad - P4 Sjuhärad". Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  5. "Supertalangen peppas av Anders Svensson - Sport | SVT.se". svt.se. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  6. "Elfsborg mästare i pojk-SM". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  7. "Malmö FF Svenska Mästare 2012". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  8. "Elfsborgs U21-lag vann SM". sverigesradio.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  9. "Elfsborg slår rekord i "U-uppflyttning"". svenskelitfotboll.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  10. "Åtvidaberg vs. Elfsborg 2 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  11. "Anders Svensson tokhyllar: "En av de största talangerna jag sett"". fotbolldirekt.se. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  12. "Zeneli rörd efter sitt första allsvenska mål". Borås Tidning. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  13. "sc Heerenveen versterkt zich in winterstop met Arber Zeneli - sc Heerenveen". www.sc-heerenveen.nl. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  14. "Zeneli fick spela 90 minuter i debuten - Borås Tidning". Borås Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  15. "Svensksuccé när Heerenveen vände och vann". fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  16. "sc Heerenveen on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  17. "Arber Zeneli". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 January 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.