Amir Abrashi

Amir Abrashi

Abrashi playing for Switzerland U21 at the UEFA Euro U21 2011
Personal information
Full name	Amir Malush Abrashi
Date of birth	(1990-03-27) 27 March 1990
Place of birth	Bischofszell, Switzerland
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	SC Freiburg
Number	6
Youth career
2002–2003	FC Bischofszell
2003–2005	FC Weinfelden-Bürglen
2005	FC Bischofszell
2005–2007	Winterthur
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Winterthur II	16	(2)
2008–2011	Winterthur	58	(4)
2010–2011	→ Grasshopper (loan)	27	(1)
2011–2015	Grasshopper	100	(5)
2015–	SC Freiburg	33	(3)
National team‡
2007–2008	Switzerland U17	2	(0)
2008–2009	Switzerland U19	20	(2)
2010–2012	Switzerland U21	18	(0)
2012	Switzerland Olympic	4	(0)
2013–	Albania	15	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:29, 16 May 2016 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 September 2015

Amir Malush Abrashi (born 27 March 1990) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the German club SC Freiburg and the Albanian national team. Albanian fans call "The Pitbull".

Club career

Early career

Abrashi was born in Bischofszell, Switzerland, to Albanian parents who had emigrated from Kosovo before his birth. He grew up in the Canton of Thurgau region and began his career at the age of 12 with his hometown club, FC Bischofszell. A year later, in 2003, he moved to FC Weinfelden-Bürglen, where he spent 2 years before returning to his hometown club FC Bischofszell. However, just a month after his return, Abrashi moved to Winterthur along with his family, where he joined local side FC Winterthur, the club where he would remain for the remainder of his youth career.

Winterthur

Following impressive performances with the youth teams, Abrashi was first called up to the reserve side towards the end of the 2006–07 season, making his debut on 16 May 2007 in a goalless draw against GC Biaschesi, coming on in the 81st minute for Micha Iseli. Ten days later he was in the starting formation for the 3-2 away win against FC Chur 97. The following season he started in the youth team but was promoted permanently a few months into the season, and on 11 November 2007 he came on as a late substitute in a 4-3 loss against FC St. Gallen II. The following game he started in midfield against FC Herisau in a game which ended in a 4-1 win, and Abrashi scored his first competitive goal in the 90th minute of this game. He became a regular in the squad's starting line-up for the second half of the season, even scoring again against FC Baden. His performances in the reserve side caught the attention of the first team coach Mathias Walther, who included the 18-year-old in his squad for the Challenge League class against FC La Chaux-de-Fonds on 27 April 2008. Abrashi came on as a 67th-minute substitute for fellow Albanian Sehar Fejzulahi in the 1-0 away loss. He made 2 more appearances off the bench for the senior side against FC Lugano and SR Delémont, respectively.

Grasshopper

In July 2010, Abrashi was loaned for a year to the Grasshopper Club Zürich. After the loan contract ended in 2011, he was bought from Grasshopper for a fee of €600,000. He played together with other Albanian compatriots with origins in Kosovo, such as Shkëlzen Gashi, Shani Tarashaj, Imran Bunjaku, Albion Avdijaj, and Mërgim Brahimi.

SC Freiburg

On 3 June 2015, it was announced the Abrashi had successfully completed a move to German side SC Freiburg.^[1] He was presented on the same day, where he signed the three-year deal and was given the squad number 6.^[2]

Abrashi made his official debut with the club on 27 July 2015 in the opening match of 2. Bundesliga against Nürnberg, playing full-90 minutes in a 6–3 home win.^[3] He scored his first goal for the team on 11 September in Freiburg's 2–0 defeat of Kaiserslautern.^[4] He quickly established himself in the starting lineup, becoming an important instrument in the team's midfield, playing 33 league match throughout the season, as the team achieved the promotion to Bundesliga by winning the league.^[5]

International career

Switzerland

Amir Abrashi was an important player of Swiss youth national teams, earning more than 40 caps in total. The highlights of his career for Switzerland were the achievement of runner-up at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, coming on as a second-half substitute in the final against Spain (0–2), and the subsequent participation in the 2012 Summer Olympics as a regular player where Switzerland lost in the group games against the later Gold Medalist Mexico (0–1) and Bronze Medal winner South Korea (1–2), while achieving a 1–1 draw against Gabun.^[6][7][8]

Abrashi, who was serving for the Swiss Army,^[9] repeatedly stated his wish to play for the Swiss national team in the future: "That's no question for me. I grew up here and I feel like a Swiss."^[10] However, the big competition for a spot in the Swiss national team on his position of central midfield by such players as Valon Behrami, team captain Gökhan Inler, Granit Xhaka, Blerim Dzemaili, Pajtim Kasami, Gelson Fernandes, Fabian Frei, or Pirmin Schwegler made him reconsider his decision. In a long talk with Ottmar Hitzfeld in May 2013, the Swiss national team coach told Abrashi that he is following his development closely and would like Abrashi to play for Switzerland in the future, but given the competition on his position, he would need patience in order to catch a regular spot in the team. After this talk, Abrashi decided to play for the Albanian football association in the future, stating: "It hurts that I can't play for Switzerland, which would have been my first choice, but the step to become a national team player is important in this stage of my career as a footballer. I cannot wait until I'm 26."^[11] In order to become a national team player for Albania, not only Abrashi himself but also his parents, who hail from Kosovo, had to apply for Albanian passports.^[12]

Albania

Abrashi (#22) lining up with Albania against Austria.

On 24 May 2013, Abrashi received Albanian citizenship along with 4 fellow Albanian international players, Jurgen Gjasula, Ilir Berisha, Azdren Llullaku, and Vullnet Basha.^[13]

He played his first match for Albania on 14 August 2013 as a starter against Armenia in a friendly match, which ended as a 2–0 victory for Albania.^[14] On 3 June 2013, FIFA gave the go ahead for Abrashi to play for Albania also in international official matches, such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[15] He made his official international debut on 6 September 2013 against Slovenia, a match valid for the Group E of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, in which Abrashi came in as a substitute in the 80th minute in place of Migjen Basha.^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 June 2016^[17][18]

International

As of 20 June 2016^[19][20]

Honours

Club

Grasshopper^[17]

• Swiss Cup: 2012–13
• Swiss Super League: Runners-up 2012–13, 2013–14

SC Freiburg^[17]

• 2. Bundesliga: 2015–16

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amir Abrashi.

• football.ch profile
• Amir Abrashi profile at Soccerway

Switzerland men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics
1 Benaglio (c) 2 Hochstrasser 3 Daprelà 4 Buff 5 Affolter 6 Wiss 7 Emeghara 8 Abrashi 9 Frei 10 Kasami 11 Mehmedi 12 Drmić 13 Rodríguez 14 Zuber 15 Klose 16 Schär 17 Morganella 18 Siegrist Coach: Tami

Albania squad – UEFA Euro 2016
1 Berisha 2 Lila 3 Lenjani 4 Hysaj 5 Cana (c) 6 Veseli 7 Agolli 8 Basha 9 Memushaj 10 Sadiku 11 Gashi 12 Shehi 13 Kukeli 14 Xhaka 15 Mavraj 16 Cikalleshi 17 Aliji 18 Ajeti 19 Balaj 20 Kaçe 21 Roshi 22 Abrashi 23 Hoxha Coach: De Biasi