Jetmir Sefa (born 30 January 1987) 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Tirana

2005–06 season

Sefa is a product of the KF Tirana academy and joined the club in 2000 as a 13-year-old, where he rose through the ranks before eventually reaching the first team in 2005. He was promoted to the first team ahead of the 2005–06 campaign by Leonardo Menichini, who was the head coach at the club at the time, and he joined a competitive midfield which included

Ervin Bulku Ervin Bulku (, born 3 March 1981) is an Albanian former professional footballer and current caretaker manager of the Albania national team. He was a utility player and played in many positions such as central midfielder, defensive midfielder, ...

, Sajmir Patushi, Devi Muka,

Klodian Duro Klodian Duro (; born 21 December 1977) is an Albanian retired professional football and current coach of Lushnja of the Kategoria e parë. He was a versatile midfielder who usually played in an attacking role. His brother Albert Duro was also ...

and Cristiano Muzzachi. He made his league debut on 7 September 2005 in an away game against

Shkumbini Peqin KF Shkumbini is an Albanian football club based in the city of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in the early 1920s af ...

as an 18-year-old, where he started the game in a midfield made up of Devi Muka,

and

Engert Bakalli Egert Bakalli (born 22 January 1976) is an Albanian football retired midfielder, who last played for KF Partizani Tirana in Albania. He has previously played for KS Elbasani, Dinamo Tirana and KF Tirana. Honours * Winner of the Albanian Superl ...

. His debut ended in 1–1 draw, in a game which saw Sefa being one of 4 players to be cautioned and his teammate

Arjan Pisha Arjan Pisha (born 18 January 1977) is an Albanian retired footballer. Club career 2011-present Pisha signed for KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The ...

receiving a straight red card. He made 14 league appearances throughout the 2005–06 Albanian Superliga, starting 8 of them and competing the full 90 minutes on 4 occasions. KF Tirana finished runners-up in the league to

KF Elbasani Klubi i Futbollit Elbasani is an Albanian professional football club based in the city of Elbasan, that last competed in the Kategoria e Dytë, the third tier of football in the country. History The club was formed in 1913 as Klubi Futbollit ...

, who won their first

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

title since 1984. He was also part of the

2005–06 Albanian Cup 2005–06 Albanian Cup () was the fifty-fourth season of Albania's annual cup competition. It began on 28 August 2005 with the First Round and ended on 10 May 2006 with the Final match. The winners of the competition qualified for the 2006-07 fir ...

winning squad, which was his first ever professional title.

2006–07 season

He began the following season in a UEFA Cup qualifier against Croatian NK Varteks, where he travelled with the squad to

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

only to make a cameo appearance on his European debut, as he came on as a 90th-minute substitute for Vioresin Sinani in the 1–1 draw. He did not feature in the return leg, which saw his side progress to the next round following a 2–0 victory. He did not feature in the first leg of KF Tirana's next UEFA Cup fixture against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fin ...

, but he did play in the second leg as KF Tirana were knocked out of the competition by the Turkish side. He featured in 21 league games during the 2006–07 Albanian Superliga campaign as KF Tirana won the league after finishing runners-up the season before.

2007–08 season

Following the departure of

FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Football Club Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih () was a professional Ukrainian football club based in Kryvyi Rih. Until 2013 the club participated in professional competitions. In June 2013 the club went bankrupt and was expelled from the Ukrainian Premie ...

in the summer of 2007, Sefa was given the number 8 shirt, which was seen as a great privilege by the club to give the young midfielder the number of a departing legend. He scored his first league goal for the club on 1 September 2007 in a home match against

, in a season where he featured in 13 league games and scored 3 goals in the process as his side finished in a disappointing 6th place, and Albanian cup runners-up.

Laçi

On 6 June 2014, Sefa completed a transfer to Laçi as a free agent by penning a contract until the end of 2014–15 season. However, he left the team on 5 January of the following by terminating his contract with the club.

Return to KF Tirana

He rejoined

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

in January 2015 after agreeing terms with his previous club Laçi in order to complete the transfer, for a reported nominal fee of 300,000

Albanian lek The lek (; indefinite singular ''lek'', definite plural ''lekët'', indefinite plural ''lekë''; sign: Lekë in Albanian or Lek in English, sometimes L; code: ALL) is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided 100 ''qintars'' (; ...

(around €2,150). He made his return debut for the club on 24 January against

Apolonia Fier KF Apolonia is an Albanian football club based in Fier. The club was founded on 17 June 1925 and took its name from the nearby ruins of the ancient city of Apollonia. The club currently compete in the Kategoria e Parë and they play their hom ...

, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Mario Morina in the 2–0 win.

Vllaznia Shkodër

On 1 September 2015, in the last day of summer transferts window, Sefa left Tirana and signed with Vllaznia Shkodër for an undisclosed fee, taking the vacant number 24 for the 2015–16 season. On 3 October 2015, Sefa scored his first goal for the club, a last-minute equaliser from a free kick against Kukësi, giving the team the first point of the season after five consecutive loses.

Kamza

On 2 August 2016, Sefa agreed personal terms and joined

Albanian First Division Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: ** Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the countr ...

side Kamza as a free agent, signing a one-year contract. He was presented on the same day along with Valdan Nimani and Elton Basriu, and was handed squad number 8.

Liria Prizren

On 5 July 2017, Sefa signed a contract with

Liria Prizren Klubi Futbollistik Liria Prizren (), commonly known as Liria, is a professional football club based in Prizren, Kosovo. The club plays in the First Football League of Kosovo, which is the second tier of football in the country. The club is one of ...

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

, rejoining his former teammate

Bledi Shkëmbi Bledi Shkëmbi (born 13 August 1979) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player. A former Albanian international, he has previously played for Ethnikos Asteras in Greece, Rijeka and Kamen Ingrad in Croatia, Metalurh Zaporizhz ...

now as coach.

International career

Senior team

He received his first call up for the Albania national team by

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing ...

for a friendly against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

on 12 August 2009, which ended in a record breaking 6–1 win for Albania as Sefa had a debut to remember.

Style of play

Sefa mainly operates as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

but he can also play in a more advances role, as well as having played on both the left and right sides of the midfield.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Tirana *

: 2006–07, 2008–09 *

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War s ...

: 2005–06 *

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Supercup final was not played in the occasions when the champion team won the Double. However, after y ...

: 2007, 2009 Skënderbeu Korçë *

: 2010–11

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sefa, Jetmir 1987 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's international footballers KF Tirana players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players KF Laçi players KS Kastrioti players KF Bylis players KF Vllaznia Shkodër players FC Kamza players KF Liria Prizren players FC Dinamo City players KF Besa Kavajë players Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Parë players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Kosovo Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo