Labinot Harbuzi

Labinot Harbuzi
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-04-04) 4 April 1986
Place of birth Lund, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
Melaka United
Number 10
Youth career
1996–1998 Malmö BI
1999–2000 Falkenbergs FF
2000–2001 Malmö FF
2002–2004 Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Feyenoord 0 (0)
2004–2005Excelsior (loan) 9 (0)
2006–2009 Malmö FF 50 (4)
2009–2011 Gençlerbirliği 40 (4)
2012 Manisaspor 5 (0)
2012 Syrianska FC 3 (0)
2013 KSF Prespa Birlik 5 (2)
2015– Melaka United 3 (1)
National team
2001–2003 Sweden U17 20 (5)
2004 Sweden U19 15 (1)
2006–2009 Sweden U21 26 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2012.

† Appearances (goals)

Labinot Harbuzi (born 4 April 1986) is a Swedish footballer of Kosovar-Albanian descent who plays as a midfielder.

Early life

Harbuzi's family migrated to Sweden. His father, Ismet, was a table tennis player in Kosovo.[1]

Club career

Early career

Growing up in the Malmö district Rosengård, he began his career with Malmö BI, the same club where Zlatan Ibrahimović began his career. Being a very hot prospect in his young years, he was spotted by Swedish Malmö FF.

Feyenoord

At 15 years old, he was signed by Dutch club Feyenoord where he started playing professional football in the club's reserve team and youth team.[2] In 2005 he was loaned to their satellite club Excelsior where he played 9 league games.

Malmö FF

In the spring of 2006, he returned to Malmö FF and made his Allsvenskan debut that same year.[3] In 2009 he made history when he became the first goalscorer in the then newly built Swedbank Stadion.

Gençlerbirliği

On 11 July 2009, Harbuzi signed with the Turkish club Gençlerbirliği S.K. His contract with the side started in January 2010, when his contract with Malmö FF expired.[4] He has since scored 5 goals, gaining 11 assists, a promising returning for a Bosman signing. He has received great praise from Gençlerbirliği fans and head coach, Fuat Çapa. He left Gençlerbirliği on 20 December 2011 after coming to a mutual agreement with the club to terminate his contract.[5]

Melaka United

Harbuzi joined Malaysian Premier League club Melaka United on 13 November 2015.[6] He missed the first 5 league matches of the 2016 season due to a pre-season injury.[7][8] He made immediate impact on his first appearance for Melaka United, when he produced an assist in the 2nd minute for team-mate Ilija Spasojević to equalise against UiTM F.C. He went on to score a goal on his debut in the 46th minute in a match which Melaka United dominated and eventually won 3-1.[9][10][11]

International career

He was a Swedish under-21 international, making his debut against Republic of Ireland on 28 February 2006.[12] He also played in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

In 2011, Harbuzi declared to the media in two different interviews that, given his ethnicity and also his feelings about being an Albanian, he desires to be part of Albania's national football team in the future and is eagerly awaiting a convocation and has been in contact with the Albanian Football Association.[13]

References

  1. "Harbuzi har det som krävs | SvD". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1 June 2009.
  2. "Www.Feyenoord.Nl Labinot Harbuzi Keert Terug Naar Zweden". Feyenoord.nl. 25 March 2006.
  3. "Labinot hem som en bättre spelare – Sport – Sydsvenskan-Nyheter Dygnet Runt". Sydsvenskan. 4 April 1986.
  4. http://web.archive.org/web/20100927092936/http://www.imscouting.com:80/global_news_item.aspx?id=2553. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. "Bekas pemain Feyenoord, Harbuzi kuatkan Melaka United". 13 November 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  7. "'Labi' Diharap Perkukuh Jentera Tengah Melaka United". 2 March 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  8. "Spasojevic boleh beraksi lawan Sime Darby". 10 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  9. "Melaka United kekal rekod tanpa kalah". 5 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  10. "Melaka United Lonjak Ke Tangga Ketiga Liga Perdana". 5 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  11. "KL stay on top, Negeri and Melaka keep chase - Goal.com". Goal.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  12. UEFA u-21 2009 player profile Archived 20 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. "Labinot Harbuzi: Dua të luaj me Shqipërinë". Gazeta Shqip. 13 July 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.