Enea Mihaj

Enea Mihaj (born 5 July 1998) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Greek club PAOK and the Albania national team.

Enea Mihaj
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-07-05) 5 July 1998
Place of birth Rhodes, Greece
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 PAOK
Number 6
Youth career
2011 Olympic Arena Academy
2011–2017 Panetolikos Youth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Panetolikos 45 (0)
2019– PAOK 6 (1)
National team‡
2016 Albania U19 1 (0)
2016–2017 Albania U21 1 (0)
2018– Albania 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 July 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2020

Early life

Mihaj grow up in the principally in Thessaloniki and then in Rhodes, where Mihaj started his youth football. At age of 13 he was included in Olympic Arena Academy where stood out with his talent and caught the eyes of Panetolikos which approached him in their academy and after 3–4 days they invited him in their team. At age of 16 he broke away from the family to move in Aetolia-Acarnania to focus in his work for football.[1]

Club career

Panetolikos

Mihaj participated for the first time with Panetolikos on 14 December 2016 in a 2016–17 Greek Cup match against Kallithea where he was an unused substitute.[2] After two league matches as an unused substitute Mihaj made his professional debut on 11 January 2017 in a cup match against PAOK coming on as a substitute in the 87th minute in place of Giorgos Mygas.[3]

PAOK

On 21 June 2019, highly regarded Panetolikos centre-back, Enea Mihaj signed to champions PAOK with the player set to pen a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He will compete with José Ángel Crespo, Fernando Varela and Sverrir Ingi Ingason for a place in the PAOK defence.[4] On 12 July 2020 he scored his first goal with PAOK, in 1–0 away victory against Olympiacos at the 90th minute.

International career

Albania

Mihaj received his first call up to the Albania national under-19 team by coach Arjan Bellaj for the friendly tournament Roma Caput Mundi from 29 February–4 March 2016.[5]

He received a call up at the Albania national under-21 football team by coach Redi Jupi for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Israel U21 on 10 October 2016.[6] He debuted with Albania U21 against Israel U21 coming on as a substitute at half-time in place of Kostandin Kariqi.[7]

He was called up by a new coach Alban Bushi for a double Friendly match against Moldova U21 on 25 & 27 March 2017.[8]

Career statistics

Club
As of 5 October 2020 [9][10]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Panetolikos2016–17Superleague Greece 0010——10
2017–18 26030——290
2018–19 19000——190
Total 45040——490
PAOK2019–20Superleague Greece 4120——61
2020–21 2000——20
Total 612000—81
Career total 5116000—571
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

References
  1. "Grekët "përulen" para talentit të shqiptarit" [The Greeks "humble" in front of the Albanian talent] (in Albanian). Albsport. 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  2. "Kallithea vs. Panaitolikos - 14 December 2016". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. "Panaitolikos vs. PAOK - 11 January 2017". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  4. "Στον ΠΑΟΚ ο Enea Mihaj". sportsup.gr. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. "Kombëtarja U-19, në turneun "Roma Caput Mundi"" [The U-19 national team, in the tournament “Roma Caput Mundi”] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  6. "FSHF skandal me Shpresat, fshihet lista e Kombëtares U-21". Panorama.com.al. Panorama Sport. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  7. "Under-21 2017 - Israel-Albania Commentary". UEFA. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  8. "Kombëtarja U-21, pak risi në miqësoret ndaj Moldavisë" [Under-21 national team, less innovation against Moldova] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  9. Enea Mihaj at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  10. Enea Mihaj – UEFA competition record
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