Përparim Hetemaj

Përparim Hetemaj
Hetemaj in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-12-12) 12 December 1986 (age 36)
Place of birth Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
HJK
Number 56
Youth career
1993–2003 HJK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004 Klubi 04 21 (6)
2004–2006 HJK 33 (1)
2006–2009 AEK Athens 19 (0)
2008Apollon Kalamarias (loan) 11 (1)
2009–2010 Twente 0 (0)
2010–2011 Brescia 34 (2)
2011–2019 Chievo 239 (6)
2019–2021 Benevento 64 (0)
2021–2022 Reggina 30 (1)
2022– HJK 32 (2)
International career
2004–2005 Finland U-19 4 (2)
2005–2009 Finland U-21 16 (3)
2009–2017 Finland 50 (4)
Medal record
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 October 2017

Përparim Hetemaj (born 12 December 1986) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club HJK. Born in Kosovo, Hetemaj arrived in Finland when he was 6 years old and played for HJK's youth teams; signing a professional contract in 2004 at age 17. He joined Greek side AEK Athens in 2006, and moved to Twente in 2009. Subsequently, in 2010, he was signed by Brescia and was transferred to Chievo in 2011. Hetemaj played 300 matches in the Serie A before returning to Finland in 2022 after a season with Reggina in the Serie B.

Hetemaj made his international debut for Finland in February 2009, at the age of 22, and made 50 appearances, including appearing in 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications, before his retirement from international football in 2018.

Early and personal life

Of Kosovo Albanian ethnicity, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki due to his father Miftar suffering from asthma. He has a younger brother, the footballer Mehmet, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe. In 2004, he acquired Finnish citizenship.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Hetemaj started his career at the youth academy of HJK Helsinki, and in 2004 played for its second team, Klubi-04, in 26 Ykkönen—the second tier of Finnish football—matches, in which he scored six goals. He played 26 matches and scored a goal in the 2005–06 season of Veikkausliiga—the premier division of Finnish football. After playing seven matches for HJK during the 2006–07, he was sold to AEK Athens for a fee of €450.000.

AEK Athens

Hetemaj made his AEK Athens debut on 26 September 2006 in a 1–1 draw against Anderlecht in the UEFA Champions League. After seven matches, Hetemaj's 2006–07 season ended on 8 February 2007, when he suffered a fractured leg after a tackle by Kevin Thomson during a friendly match between the Finnish and Scottish national teams.

He was again on playing condition in October 2007, but he did not play for AEK and in January 2008 he was loaned to Apollon Kalamarias until the end of the season to gain more playing experience. He scored his first goal in the Superleague Greece on 23 February 2008 against Asteras Tripoli. He played a total of eight matches for Apollon Kalamarias in the 2007–08, and for the following season Hetemaj played nine league matches with AEK. Unsatisfied, Hetemaj asks to be transferred,

Twente

On 31 August 2009, Hetemaj signed a 1+1 year contract with Dutch club FC Twente as part of an exchange deal for Youssouf Hersi. Hetemaj started the season 2009–10 in the reserve team but was unable to break through to the first team that won the Eredivisie.

Brescia

Even before having played a match for Twente, On 1 February 2010, Hetemaj was signed by Italian club Brescia on a free transfer. Hetemaj only played four matches in 2009–10 Serie B; Brescia was promoted to Serie A and he signed a three-year contract. He made his Serie A debut on 12 September 2010, playing the full minutes in a 3–2 home victory over Palermo. He scored his first Serie A goal on 22 September 2010 against Roma, becoming the first Finnish footballer to score in Serie A and arousing Roma's interest in him. Hetemaj went on to score again in a 3–1 victory against Bologna.

Chievo

On 30 June 2011, Hetemaj signed for Serie A side Chievo in a co-ownership deal for €1.4 million. As a result, he chose the number 56 shirt number at the club. He made his debut for Chievo on 11 September 2011 against Novara, when he provided an assist to Cyril Théréau score the second goal of Chievo in the drawn. At the end of the season and after 32 league matches, Chievo bought Hetemaj's full rights on 18 June 2012 for an additional €800,000. In the 2012–13 season and the 2013–2014, Hetemaj played 30 and 32 league matches respectively and did not score in any competition. Hetemaj marked his 100th appearance for Chievo on 22 August 2014 in a 1–0 defeat against Pescara in the Coppa Italia. After four years at Chievo and 130 Serie A matches, he scored his first goal for the club on 12 September 2015 in a 1–1 draw against Juventus.

Benevento

On 2 September 2019, Hetemaj signed a two-year contract with the Serie B club Benevento.

Reggina

On 28 July 2021, Hetemaj joined Serie B side Reggina on a one-year deal.

Return to HJK

On 21 April 2022, Hetemaj returned to HJK and signed a two-year contract with an option for a third. During the 2022 season, Hetemaj played in 29 games in all competitions combined and recorded four goals, including both of HJK’s goals in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

International career

Youth

Hetemaj was first drafted to play for Finland U19 on 7 September 2004 for a match against Sweden in Vihti. He made four appearances in the U19 team and scored two goals. Hetemaj made his debut for the U21 side on 13 April 2005 against Estonia. Hetemaj, along with his brother Mehmet, was called up to represent Finland at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and he played in all the three matches which Finland played.

Senior

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland as an 84th-minute substitute against Japan on 4 February 2009 in a 5–1 loss. He gained his first UEFA European Championship qualifying game on 3 June 2011 when Mixu Paatelainen chose him to the starting line up against San Marino. On 26 May 2012, he scored his first national goal—a last-minute goal—against Turkey in a friendly match, which assured a 3−2 victory for Finland.

Përparim Hetemaj was part of Finland squad in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. Thus, despite having a chance to switch to represent Kosovo, his Finland cap in the qualification effectively locked him to represent Finland only. His brother Mehmet played once for Kosovo before the Football Federation of Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA. However, he also lost the eligibility for Kosovo after played for Finland after Kosovo became a member.

On 8 January 2018, Hetemaj announced that he would retire from international duty.

Outside football

Charity work

As of 2015, Hetemaj occasionally helps football club of his birthplace, Drenica, and he usually helps with different monetary means as well as technical means.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Klubi-04 2004 Ykkönen 21 6 21 6
HJK Helsinki 2005 Veikkausliiga 26 1 26 1
2006 7 0 7 0
Total 33 1 33 1
AEK Athens 2006–07 Superleague Greece 7 0 1 0 4 0 12 0
2007–08 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2008–09 12 0 2 0 1 0 15 0
Total 19 0 4 0 5 0 28 0
Apollon Kalamarias (loan) 2007–08 Superleague Greece 11 1 11 1
Twente 2009–10 Eredivisie 0 0 1 0 1 0
Brescia 2009–10 Serie B 4 0 4 0
2010–11 Serie A 30 2 1 0 31 2
Total 34 2 1 0 35 2
Chievo 2011–12 Serie A 32 0 3 0 35 0
2012–13 30 0 0 0 30 0
2013–14 32 0 2 0 34 0
2014–15 32 0 1 0 33 0
2015–16 28 1 1 0 29 1
2016–17 23 0 1 0 24 0
2017–18 32 3 1 0 33 3
2018–19 30 2 1 0 31 2
Total 239 6 10 0 249 6
Benevento 2019–20 Serie B 33 0 0 0 33 0
2020–21 Serie A 31 0 1 0 32 0
Total 64 0 1 0 65 0
Reggina 2021–22 Serie B 31 1 1 0 32 0
HJK Helsinki 2022 Veikkausliiga 16 2 1 0 12 2 29 4
2023 16 0 5 0 10 0 31 0
Total 32 2 6 0 22 2 60 4
Career total 481 19 24 0 27 2 534 20

International

As of matches played on 9 October 2017
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Competitive Friendly Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Finland 2009 0 0 2 0 2 0
2010 0 0 0 0 0 0
2011 4 0 4 0 8 0
2012 2 0 6 3 8 3
2013 5 0 2 0 7 0
2014 4 0 5 1 9 1
2015 4 0 1 0 5 0
2016 1 0 5 0 6 0
2017 4 0 1 0 5 0
Total 24 0 26 4 50 4
Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hetemaj goal.
List of international goals scored by Përparim Hetemaj
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 26 May 2012 Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria  Turkey 3–2 3−2 Friendly
2 15 August 2012 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 3–2 3−3 Friendly
3 14 November 2012 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 2−0 3−0 Friendly
4 31 May 2014 Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions, Ventspils, Latvia  Estonia 1–0 2–0 2014 Baltic Cup

Honours

HJK Helsinki

Benevento

Finland


This page was last updated at 2023-11-13 16:02 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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