Fatmire Alushi

Fatmire "Lira" Alushi (née Bajramaj; 1 April 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. She placed third in 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or competition, an annual award given to the world's best player.[1]

Fatmire Alushi
Alushi in 2013
Personal information
Full name Fatmire Alushi
Birth name Fatmire Bajramaj
Date of birth (1988-04-01) 1 April 1988
Place of birth Istok, Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1993–1998 DJK/VfL Giesenkirchen
1998–2004 FSC Mönchengladbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2009 FCR 2001 Duisburg 84 (30)
2009–2011 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 40 (29)
2011–2014 1. FFC Frankfurt 27 (10)
2014–2016 Paris Saint-Germain 24 (8)
Total 175 (77)
National team
2003 Germany U15 2 (0)
2004 Germany U17 7 (0)
2005–2006 Germany U19 16 (1)
2005–2015 Germany 79 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Club
Alushi at practice with Potsdam in 2009

Alushi began her career at DJK/VfL Giesenkirchen. From 1997 to 2004, she played for FSC Mönchengladbach, before moving to the Bundesliga side and joining FCR 2001 Duisburg.[2][3] She made her Bundesliga debut in September 2004 for the club and scored her first goal one month later. Alushi immediately became a regular starter for Duisburg. She was runner-up with Duisburg for four seasons in a row from 2005 to 2008. During the 2008–09 season, Alushi won the UEFA Women's Champions League. She also claimed the 2009 German Cup title, where she scored in the final.

After five seasons at Duisburg, Alushi moved to league rivals 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam for the 2009–10 season.[4] At her new club, she won the Bundesliga title in 2010 and 2011. In the 2009–10 season, Potsdam also claimed the inaugural UEFA Women's Champions League title, with Bajramaj scoring during the penalty shoot-out in the final.[5] One year later, Potsdam again made it to the final, but lost against Olympique Lyonnais.

Alushi with PSG during a Champions League semi-final match against Wolfsburg in April 2015

Alushi came in third place for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or award. She has announced to move to 1. FFC Frankfurt for the 2011–12 season. The transfer is the most expensive in women's Bundesliga history.[6]

In 2014, she transferred to Paris.[7]

International

Alushi made her debut for Germany’s senior national team in October 2005 against Scotland. One year later, she won 2006 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship at junior level.[1] At the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship, the German team was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Alushi started in all four of the team's matches and scored three goals during the tournament.[8]

She won her first major international title at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She was a reserve player for Germany, appearing in four games, including the tournament's final, in which she won the corner that let to Germany's second goal. One year later, Alushi claimed bronze with Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was brought on after 62 minutes in the third-place play-off and scored both goals in Germany's 2–0 win over Japan. In 2009, Alushi won her first European trophy at the 2009 European Championship, where Germany claimed its seventh title. She was also called up for Germany's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup squad.[1]

International goals

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first:

Source:[1]

Retirement

Alushi announced her retirement on 28 February 2017.[9]

Personal life

Alushi's parents Ismet and Ganimete, who are Kosovo-Albanians, moved their family from Istok, Kosovo to Germany in 1993.[10] In October 2009, she published her autobiography Mein Tor ins Leben – Vom Flüchtling zur Weltmeisterin (My Gate into Life – From Refugee to World Champion [wordplay: German "Tor" translates to both "Goal"/"Gate"]).[11]

In June 2011, Alushi began dating fellow footballer Enis Alushi. Both their fathers are working together as police officers in Kosovo.[12] The couple announced their engagement the following year. Shortly after, in September 2012, both suffered ACL injuries in matches within 72 hours of each other.[13] The couple got married in December 2013.[14] Following the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League Final, Alushi announced that she was pregnant and would be forced to miss the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. She stated that she expected to get back to the pitch eventually but that "there are things in life that are simply more important than football".[15]

Honours

Club

FCR 2001 Duisburg

Turbine Potsdam

FFC Frankfurt

International

Individual

References
  1. "Nationalspielerin Fatmire Bajramaj" (in German). DFB.de. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  2. "Portrait of the Footballer Fatmire Bajramaj: From Refugee to World Champion". En.qantara.de. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  3. VON CHRISTIAN SPOLDERS – zuletzt aktualisiert: 1 October 2007 (22 February 1999). "Weltmeisterin aus Giesenkirchen". Rp-online.de. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  4. "Fatmire Bajramaj wechselt zum 1. FFC Frankfurt" [Bajramaj transfers to FFC Frankfurt] (in German). womensoccer.de. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  5. "Turbine-Frauen gewinnen im Elfmeterschießen" (in German). Spiegel.de. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  6. "Bajramaj-Wechsel läutet neue Ära ein" [Bajramaj-transfer starts a new era] (in German). womensoccer.de. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  7. http://www.uefa.com/womenschampionsleague/news/newsid=2114922.html
  8. "Fatmire Bajramaj". FIFA.com. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  9. "Weltmeisterin Alushi beendet ihre Karriere". dfb. 28 February 2017.
  10. "Film ab! Jetzt spielen auch die Eltern mit". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 23 June 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  11. "Lira Bajramaj – My Goal into Life". randomhouse.de. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  12. Schöne Lira liebt diesen Zweitliga-Profi
  13. "Liebe ist... ...ein gemeinsamer Kreuzbandriss" (in German). Bild.de. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Fatmire Alushi ist schwanger und fehlt bei der WM". kicker.de (in German). 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
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