Fabio Sakaj

Fabio Sakaj (born 2 February 1998) is an Italian-born Albanian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder and currently plays for Vis Artena in Serie D. He represents the Albania national under-21 team.

Fabio Sakaj
Personal information
Full name Fabio Sakaj
Date of birth (1998-02-02) 2 February 1998
Place of birth Alatri, Frosinone, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Vis Artena
Youth career
Virtus Pavullese
0000–2016 Modena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Modena 11 (0)
2017–2018 Racing Fondi 4 (0)
2018–2019 Pianese 17 (0)
2019– Vis Artena 13 (0)
National team
2016 Albania U19 1 (0)
2017–2018 Albania U21 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:13, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Early life & Youth career

Sakaj was born in Alatri, a comune of province of Frosinone in the Italian region of the Lazio, to Albanian parents originally from Lezhë, Albania.[1] He started his football at the Virtus Pavullese, a small football team in the town of Pavullo Nel Frignano, in the Italian province of Modena.[2] He moved at Modena academy and in 2014 became part of the Primavera team under coach Simone Barone.[3]

Club career

Modena

Sakaj gained entry with the first team of Modena F.C. as he was included in the team by the coach Simone Pavan to participate in the match against Brescia on 3 March 2015.[4] Then he continued to participate regularly in 6 another matches, until he managed to make its debut against Virtus Entella on 11 April 2015 by coming on as a substitute in the stoppage time 90'+2 minute in place of Pablo Granoche.[5]

On 5 November 2017, Modena declared bankrupt after failing to pay player wages or stadium bills which brought about a player strike and a stadium lockout.[6] The club had not attended the previous three Serie C matches, including not attending the match against Santarcangelo Calcio; with a total of four matches not attended, the club were officially excluded from "Lega Pro" on 6 November.[7]

Fondi

On 11 December 2017, he signed with Racing Fondi as a free agent.[8]

International career

Sakaj 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.[9]

Sakaj received his first call up at Albania national under-21 football team by coach Alban Bushi for a gathering in Durrës, Albania from 18 to 25 January 2017.[10]

He received his first call up for the Albania under-20 side by coach Alban Bushi for the double friendly match against Azerbaijan U-21 on 21 & 26 January 2018.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of 17 December 2017 [12]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Modena2014–15Serie B 40——2060
2015–16 4010——50
2016–17Serie C 1010——20
2017–18 ————00
Total 9020—20130
Racing Fondi 2017–18 Serie C 00———00
Career total 9020—20130
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

References
  1. "Juve, në gjurmët e talentit shqiptar Sakaj" (in Albanian). SuperSport. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. "Talenti Fabio Sakaj, udhëhoqi Modenan në debutimin e tij të parë në Serie B" (in Albanian). Gazeta KNN. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. Anton Cicani (7 November 2017). ""Zhduket" Modena, talenti shqiptar mbetet në mes të rrugës!" (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. Retrieved 8 November 2017. Dhe, pikërisht në Emilia nis aventura e Sakajt me topin, duke luajtur me Pavulezen, përpara se të kalojë te të rinjtë e Modenës, aty ku fërgohet nga Hernan Krespo, te Primavera, dhe më pas kalon te ekipi i parë.
  4. "Brescia vs. Modena - 3 March 2015". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  5. Fabio Sakaj matches Soccerway
  6. "Modena declared bankrupt". football-italia.net. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. "Official: Modena excluded from Lega Pro". Football Italia. 6 November 2017.
  8. "Arriva Fabio Sakaj" [Fabio Sakaj arrives] (in Italian). Racing Fondi. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  9. "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.
  10. "Alban Bushi: Ja emrat për grumbullimin e parë në Durrës" (in Albanian). FSHF. 17 January 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  11. "KOMBËTARJA U-20, DY NDESHJE MIQËSORE ME AZERBAJXHANIN, TRAJNERI ALBAN BUSHI SHPALL LISTËN!" [U-20 NATIONAL TEAM, TWO FRIENDLIES WITH AZERBAIJAN, COACH ALBAN BUSHI ANNOUNCES THE LIST!] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  12. Fabio Sakaj at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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