Berat Djimsiti

Berat Ridvan Djimsiti (Albanian: Gjimshiti, born 19 February 1993) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Italian club Atalanta and the Albania national team.

Berat Djimsiti
Djimsiti with Atalanta in 2016
Personal information
Full name Berat Ridvan Djimsiti
(Albanian: Berat Ridvan Gjimshiti)
Date of birth (1993-02-19) 19 February 1993
Place of birth Zürich, Switzerland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Atalanta
Number 19
Youth career
0000–2007 Zürich-Affoltern
2007–2012 Zürich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Zürich II 46 (6)
2011–2016 Zürich 110 (5)
2016– Atalanta 76 (3)
2016–2017 → Avellino (loan) 35 (0)
2017–2018 → Benevento (loan) 30 (0)
National team‡
2011 Switzerland U18 3 (0)
2011–2012 Switzerland U19 9 (0)
2013–2014 Switzerland U21 5 (0)
2015– Albania 33 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:02, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2020

Club career

Early career

Djimsiti was born in Zürich, Switzerland into an ethnic Albanian family, from the village of Veliki Trnovac (Tërnoc i Madh) in Serbia. He started his youth career at FC Zürich-Affoltern where he stayed until 2007, when he moved to FC Zürich academies at the age of 14.[1]

Zürich

Djimsiti was called up to the first-team for the first time in the 2011–12 Swiss Super League season, being benched in the 2–1 victory against Young Boys on 19 April 2011.[2] He was also part of the squad in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round match against Bayern Munich on 17 August 2011.[3] He made his professional debut on 3 March 2012 against Sion, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute and replacing Heinz Barmettler in a 0–1 loss.[4] He scored his first goal for Zürich on 20 May 2012 against Grasshopper, where he played as a starter and scored in the 75th minute to give his team a 0–1 away victory.[5] Those were the only matches for the entire season.

He became regular starter the 2012–13 season.[6]

Atalanta

On 18 January 2016, Djimsiti signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Serie A side Atalanta, taking the vacant number 55 for the second part of 2015–16 season.[7][8] He debuted on 3 May 2016 against Napoli in a 2–1 loss.[9]

Djimsiti returned to Atalanta ahead of 2018–19 season,[10] playing his first match on 20 August in the 4–0 win against Frosinone.[11] He scored his first goal for Atalanta later on 11 November, heading home his side's third goal in a 4–1 home win over Inter Milan which ended the visitor's six 6-match winning streak.[12] Since returning from his two loan spells, Djimsiti has established himself as a starting defender under Gian Piero Gasperini.

Loan to Avellino

On 31 August 2016, Djimsiti was loaned out to Serie B side Avellino to gain more playing time.[13][14]

Loan to Benevento

On 8 July 2017, Djimsiti moved on loan to new promoted Serie A side Benevento until the end of the season,[15] with buying option.[16]

International career

Switzerland youth level national teams

Djimsiti became a youth national player of Switzerland as he was called up for the first time at Switzerland national under-18 football team making his debut on 5 April 2011 in a friendly match and then played in other 2 matches.

Djimsiti was then called up from the Switzerland national under-19 football team for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification and made his debut against Montenegro U19 on 5 June 2011, playing the full 90- minutes match in a 2–2 win.[17] Djimsiti also participated in the next tournament for U-19, the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship playing in all 6 matches.

Following his good performances at U-19 side, he became part of the Switzerland national under-21 football team. He participated in two consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championship, in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where he was called up in 4 occasions, remaining in all as an unused substitute and the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship playing in 2 out 6 matches.[18]

Albania

In September 2014, Swiss media reported Djimsiti would soon receive a call-up from Albania.[19] The news was confirmed by Djimsiti himself, who explained that he had been contacted by the Albanian coach, Gianni De Biasi.[20] In September 2014 he refused also Kosovo, letting them know that he intended to play for Albania.[21] On 20 September 2014, procedures to give him the Albanian citizenship were started.[22] He received the Albanian citizenship on 15 July 2015 by the president of Albania, Bujar Nishani, along with two other Albanian footballers, the twin brothers part of the fellow Swiss club Basel, Albian Ajeti and Adonis Ajeti.[23] In July 2015 Djimsiti confirmed definitively that he had decided to play for Albania.[24][25] On 27 August 2015 Djimsiti among two other Albanian descents players which switched from Swiss youth international footballers to Albanian international footballers, Arlind Ajeti and Naser Aliji, received the go ahead from FIFA which allowed them to play for Albania also in the competitive matches such as the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[26]

Debut and UEFA Euro 2016 campaign

Since he became eligible to represent Albania in international competitive level, Djimsiti received his first call-up at Albania by coach Gianni De Biasi for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Denmark and Portugal on 4 and 7 September 2015 respectively.[27] He made it his first international debut with Albania on 4 September 2015 against Denmark playing as a right back due to the absence of the injured Elseid Hysaj and completed the full 90 minutes helping Albania take one point with a goalless draw.[28] He was called up for the next UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I matches against Serbia and Armenia on 8 and 11 October 2015 respectively.[29] He played as a centre back among Captain Lorik Cana in both matches and on 11 October against Armenia he scored his first goal in the 23rd minute following a cross from Ledian Memushaj by a Free kick from left side.[30]

On 21 May 2016, Djimsiti was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016,[31] but was left out of final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May.[32]

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

He was returned to Albania national team by same coach Gianni De Biasi receiving a call up for the friendly match against Morocco on 31 August 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification opening match against Macedonia on 5 September 2016.[33]

Personal life

Since 2012, Djimsiti has been in a relationship with Montenegrin model Alisa Milenković.[34]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 27 January 2021[18][35][36]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Zürich U21 2009–10 Swiss Promotion League 30———30
2010–11 275———275
2011–12 161———161
Total 466———466
Zürich 2010–11 Swiss Super League 10———10
2011–12 21—00—21
2012–13 34050——390
2013–14 2613020—311
2014–15 3323071—433
2015–16 1513020—201
Total 1115140111—1366
Atalanta 2015–16 Serie A 30———30
2018–19 2414010—291
2019–20 3421060—412
2020–21 1502160—231
Total 76371130—964
Avellino (loan) 2016–17 Serie B 35000——350
Benevento (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 30000——300
Career total 29713211241—34215
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

International
As of 14 October 2020[35][37]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Albania 201561
201660
201720
201870
201980
202040
Total331

International goals
As of 11 October 2015. Albania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Djimsiti's goal.[37]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 October 2015Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia4 Armenia2–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Honours

Club

Zürich

References
  1. Portrait at FC Zürich website
  2. Zürich vs. Young Boys - 19 April 2011 - Soccerway
  3. Bayern München vs. Zürich - 17 August 2011 - Soccerway
  4. Zürich vs. Sion - 3 March 2012 - Soccerway
  5. Grasshopper vs. Zürich - 20 May 2012 - Soccerway
  6. Football : Berat Djimsiti footballdatabase.eu
  7. "Official: Atalanta sign Djimsiti". Football Italia. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. "Zyrtare, Berat Gjimshiti nënshkruan me Atalantën" (in Albanian). Football Italia. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. "Berat Xhimshiti debuton ne Seria A" [Berat Djimsiti debuts in Serie A] (in Albanian). AlbaniaSoccer. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  10. "Gjimshiti në rrugën e duhur, Atalanta gati t'i rinovojë kontratën" [Djimsiti in the right path, Atalanta ready to renew his contract] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  11. "Atalanta vs. Frosinone 4 – 0". Soccerway. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  12. "Inter stunned 4-1 at Atalanta to end 6-match winning streak". Fox Sports. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  13. Alfred Lleshi (31 August 2016). "Djimsiti huazohet tek Avellino, ja dy skuadrat që refuzoi" [Djimsiti on loan at Avellino, here are the two teams he rejected] (in Albanian). Telesport.al. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  14. "Mercato, Avellino scatenato: ufficiale il prestito di Djimsiti" (in Italian). Articalab.it. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  15. "Zyrtare/ Gjimshiti transferohet te Benevento" (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  16. "BERAT DJIMSITI AL BENEVENTO" (in Italian). Atalanta B.C. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  17. Montenegro U19 vs. Switzerland U19 - 5 June 2011 Soccerway
  18. Berat Djimsiti at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  19. Bald besser als unsere Nati? Blick
  20. De Biazi fton Berat Xhimshitin në Kombëtare Panorama Sport
  21. Berat Xhimshiti te Shqipëria, konfirmimi nga Kosova Albeu.com
  22. B.Xhimshiti kuqezi, nisin dhe procedurat Panorama Sport
  23. Shtohet “familja” kuqezi Archived 17 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Sportal.al
  24. Xhimshiti sqaron zvicerianët: Ja pse zgjodha Shqipërinë! Panorama Sport
  25. FCZ Profis | News | Berat Djimsiti entscheidet sich für die albanische Nationalmannschaft FC Zürich
  26. Xhimshiti, Ajeti e Aliji marrin lejen e FIFA-s Panorama Sport
  27. LISTA DEI CONVOCATI PER LA DOPPIA SFIDA CONTRO DANIMARCA E PORTOGALLO GianniDeBiasi.it
  28. Denmark vs. Albania - 4 September 2015 Soccerway
  29. De Biasi publikon listën e lojtarëve kundër Serbisë e Armenisë minuta90.com
  30. UEFA EURO 2016 - Matches UEFA.com
  31. Fatjon Pandovski (21 May 2016). "De Biasi leaves out Albanian top scorer Salihi". UEFA. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  32. "De Biasi shpall listën zyrtare të Euro 2016". FSHF.org. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  33. "De Biasi: Duhet të japim 101 % të mundësive tona" (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  34. "E dashura serbe e futbollistit shqiptar (Foto)". Telegrafi. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  35. "Berat Djimsiti". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  36. Berat Djimsiti – UEFA competition record
  37. Berat Djimsiti - national football team player EU-football.info
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