Cristian Shpendi (born 19 May 2003) is an Albanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Italian club

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

and the Albania national under-21 team.

Club career

Early life

Shpendi was born in

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

, Italy, along with his twin,

Stiven Stiven is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Stiven Bibo, Albanian footballer *Steve Burtt Jr. (Stiven Burtt), American-born Ukrainian basketball player * Stiven De Johnston, the founder of the Johnsons of Hilton * Stiv ...

. He is the son of Albanian parents who originate from

Pukë Pukë ( sq-definite, Puka) is a town and municipality in northern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjegjan, Pukë, Qelëz, Qerret and Rrapë, that became municipal units. Th ...

. The Shpendi family immigrated to Italy in 1997, thus Christian and Stiven both hold dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. Their first team was Real Metauro, from where they moved to Delfino Fano and then to

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

Academy until they went to

Early career - Cesena

The twins played their first competitive season for Cesena under-17 squad coached by

Filippo Masolini Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "horse lover".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filippa. Th ...

in Allievi Nazionali U17 team, where the attacking duo made each 16 appearances, with Cristian scoring 14 goals and Stiven 11. They then played for Cesena Primavera under coach Giovanni Ceccarelli in

Campionato Primavera 3 Campionato Primavera 3, formerly Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti (or simply ''Campionato Berretti''), is an Italian football competition played by youth teams (under 19) organized by the Lega Pro, and mainly composed by Serie C clubs but also ...

2020–21 with 15 goals for Cristian and 13 for Stiven. The duo helped the side to reach the final, losing only to

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

Primavera. For the following season, 2021–22, at Primavera 2, Cristian scored 15 goals in 17 matches and was helped by 23 goals from Stiven in just 20 games - this made Stiven the league's top-scorer. Cesena won the Championship, gaining promotion to Primavera 1 and the Primavera Supercup against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Primavera, beating them 4–1 with two goals from each twin. Meanwhile, the players were also promoted to the first team in the

2021–22 Serie C The 2021–22 Serie C was the 63rd season of the Serie C, the third tier of the Italian football league system, organized by the Lega Pro. Changes The league is composed by 60 teams, divided into three different groups. On 31 May 2021, the league ...

, where Cristian made his professional debut under coach

William Viali William Viali (born 16 November 1974) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a defender. He was most recently the head coach of club Reggiana. Playing career Viali was signed outright by Treviso in January 2006. He ...

on 25 September 2021 against

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

, starting and playing for 57 minutes before being replaced by Salvatore Caturano. On 25 February 2022, the twins extended their contract with Cesena until 2025.

International career

Shpendi was called up to the Albania national under-19 team by coach Armando Cungu for several friendlies during 2021. He started five matches and scored two goals. In November 2021, he was called to participate in the 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Group 7, where his side played against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. He made his competitive debut in the first match versus France, substituting in at halftime for his twin Stiven; his side was beaten 4–0. For the next game against Serbia three days later, Shpendi started from the bench and was brought in in the 72nd minute with Albania U19 down by a goal; Shpendi scored the equaliser to secure a draw that kept the Albanian team in contention for the next round. In the closing match against North Macedonia, he came on in the last few minutes with Albania U19 collecting a 3–1 victory. The team finished on 4 points, the same as Serbia U19 and failing to qualify due to the goal difference. Both Cristian and Stiven Shpendi debuted with Albania under-21 under coach

Alban Bushi Alban Bushi (born 20 August 1973) is an Albanian professional association football, football coach and former player who is the Manager (association football), manager of Albania national under-21 football team, Albania under-21 and Albania nati ...

on 16 November 2022, when they were included in the starting lineup.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shpendi, Cristian 2003 births Living people Footballers from Ancona Albanian men's footballers 21st-century Albanian sportsmen Men's association football forwards Serie C players Cesena FC players Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Italian people of Albanian descent