Samir Ujkani

Samir Ujkani

Ujkani in 2011
Personal information
Full name Samir Ujkani
Date of birth (1988-07-05) 5 July 1988
Place of birth Vushtrri, Kosovo
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Latina (on loan from Genoa)
Youth career
2001–2007 Ingelmunster
2006–2007 Anderlecht
2007–2008 Palermo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2007–2015 Palermo 34 (0)
2009–2012 → Novara (loan) 86 (0)
2013 → Chievo (loan) 0 (0)
2015– Genoa 0 (0)
2016– → Latina (loan) 18 (0)
National team‡
2007–2009 Albania U21 6 (0)
2008–2014 Albania 20 (0)
2014 Kosovo 4 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:13, January 31, 2016 (UTC)

Samir Ujkani (born 5 July 1988) is a Kosovar international football goalkeeper, currently playing for Latina, on loan from Genoa and the Kosovo national team. An ethnic Albanian, Ujkani previously represented Albania at the international level, prior to Kosovo's recognition by FIFA.

Early life

Ujkani was born in Resnik, a village near Vushtrri, Kosovo, back then part of SFR Yugoslavia. His family then moved to Belgium six years after his birth.[2]

Club career

Youth clubs

At the age of thirteen, Ujkani enrolled into Ingelmunster, spending six years there before moving to Anderlecht. The Anderlecht football academy has a reputation of producing talented goalkeepers such as Jacky Munaron.[3] Ujkani played until June 2007 for the Anderlecht Under-19s, and made also ten appearances with their Reserves team.

On June 2007, he agreed to sign a 5-year contract with Palermo of Serie A.[2]

Palermo

Since then, he served as unused bench in two UEFA Cup matches for Palermo, and several Serie A matches as well. He was confirmed as third-choice goalkeeper for the rosanero's 2008–09 season campaign, and later promoted as second goalkeeper after the club chose to transfer-list veteran goalie Alberto Fontana.

On 26 April 2009, he made his professional debut with Palermo, replacing injured Marco Amelia during a Serie A game against Milan at San Siro[4] and his performance was congratulated from Ricardo Kaka in the end of the match.[5] On July 2009 he was loaned out to Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Novara to exchange with Giacomo Brichetto, also in order to gain first team experience.[6]

Novara

Ujkani immediately cemented his place as the first choice keeper. He is a pivotal and influential member of squad, promoting Novara from the Lega Pro Prima Divisione to the Serie B in the 2009–10 season. This event was significant as the club had returned to Serie B after 33 years.[7] This led Novara to ask for an extension to his loan, which was agreed by Palermo on July 2010.[8]

Ujkani helped Novara reach promotion to the Serie A after 55 years of absence.[9] On 31 January 2011 Palermo announced to have sold 50% of Ujkani's transfer rights to Novara along with Michel Morganella (both tagged for €1.5M),[10] as part of a bid involving striker Pablo Andrés González (€5M).[11]

Ujkani has been a crucial member of the squad in the Serie A, helping Novara beat Inter Milan home and away when Ujkani pulled off a point-blank save to deny Giampaolo Pazzini and held off Wesley Sneijder when he struck the free kick from a dangerous position.[12] He also helped Novara secure a draw against top club SSC Napoli.

From 16 October 2011, Ujkani sustained a broken nose and lost four teeth when he colided with team mate Michel Morganella against Bologna. Being one of the fan favourites, The mayor of Novara, Andrea Ballarè, visited Ujkani in hospital.[13] Ujkani returned on 5 December against Lazio.

Return to Palermo and loan to Chievo

On 14 June 2012, Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini confirmed that Ujkani will be playing on Palermo for the 2012–13 Serie A season.[14][15] 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.[16]

After the arrival of goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino in rosanero, Ujkani moved on loan to Chievo.[17] In his short stint at Chievo, he did not play a single game, serving as backup choice behind Christian Puggioni, and was not acquired by the Verona-based club, thus making his return to Palermo by the end of season. For the 2013—14 Serie B campaign, he was used as a second choice goalkeeper, playing as a regular, and being praised for his performance improvements with respect to his previous Palermo stint, during December and January to replace injured Stefano Sorrentino.

His contract with Palermo expired June 30, 2015.

Genoa

On 19 July 2015 Genoa announced the signing of Ujkani .[18]

In January 2016 he was signed by Latina.[19]

International career

Ujkani received an Albanian passport in summer 2007 and started playing for the Albania U21. He made his debut on 1 June in a European qualification match against Italy.

On 6 October 2008, he received his first senior call-up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification qualifying matches with Hungary and Portugal.[20] He made his full senior debut on 10 June 2009 in a 1–1 draw vs Georgia at Albania.

Ujkani lost his starting place to Etrit Berisha during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

His original birthplace country Kosovo, on 13 January 2014 gained the right to play international friendlies against FIFA member associations,[21] causing him to switch to the Kosovo national football team from the Albanian team. On 5 March 2014 he played his first international friendly match for Kosovo, against Haiti, finished in a goalless draw.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of February 2014
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2008–09PalermoSerie A100010
2009–10NovaraLega Pro23030260
2010–11Serie B39010400
2011–12Serie A24020260
Total Novara 86060920
2012–13PalermoSerie A19010200
2013–14Serie B10000100
2014–15Serie A001010
Total Palermo 30020320
Career total 116080001240

International

Albania

Albania national team [23]
YearAppsGoals
2009 4 0
2010 1 0
2011 8 0
2012 5 0
2013 2 0
Total 20 0

Kosovo

Kosovo national team
YearAppsGoals
2014 4 0
Total 4 0

References

  1. ↑ "samir ujkani novara – Serie B". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Migliaccio e Ujkani i primi acquisti del Palermo". US Città di Palermo. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  3. ↑ Jean-Paul Bonomi (6 Feb 2010). "Ujkani: "Novara? Città molto tranquilla, super-organizzata e… la società di calcio è fantastica!"". oknovara.it. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Esordio di Ujkani in Serie A". US Città di Palermo. 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  5. ↑ http://news.al/lajme/artikull/iden/236101/titulli/Ujkani-Kaka-me-pergezoi Ujkani : Kaka me pergezoi ne fund te ndeshjes
  6. ↑ "NEWS: ARRIVA SAMIR UJKANI" (in Italian). Novara Calcio. 2009-07-24. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  7. ↑ "La storia" (in Italian). Novara Calcio. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "MOVIMENTI IN USCITA DEL PALERMO" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  9. ↑ "Novara seal return to Serie A".
  10. ↑ "Bilancio Palermo 2010/11: utile grazie a Cavani e Kjaer" (in Italian). ju29ro.com. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "ACQUISTATO PABLO ANDRES GONZALEZ" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  12. ↑ AP (12 February 2012). "Inter Milan slip up against lowly Novara". Aljazeera. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Il Sindaco in visita a Ujkani ricoverato al "Maggiore"" (in Italian). andreaballare. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Zamparini e konfirmon: Ujkani portier i ri i Palermos" (in Albanian). asport. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  15. ↑ "Samir Ujkani happy to be staying with Palermo". tribalfootball. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "MOVIMENTI DI MERCATO" [MARKET MOVEMENTS] (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  17. ↑ "UJKANI CEDUTO AL CHIEVO, CETTO SI TRASFERISCE AL SAN LORENZO" [UJKANI SOLD AT CHIEVO, CETTO MOVES IN SAN LORENZO] (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 29 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "IL GRIFONE PRENDE SAMIR UJKANI" (in Italian). Genoa C.F.C. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Ujkani è nerazzurro" (in Italian). U.S. Latina Calcio. January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Albania: Ujkani convocato nazionale "A"" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  21. ↑ "FIFA Emergency Committee confirms friendly matches involving clubs and representative teams of Kosovo". FIFA.com. 13 January 2014.
  22. ↑ http://nonfifafootball.blogspot.com/2014/03/in-their-first-friendly-to-be-approved.html
  23. ↑ http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/27783/Samir_Ujkani.html

External links

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