Mirlind Daku (born 1 January 1998) is a 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

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for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

. At international level, he played for the Kosovo national team in 2020 and 2021, before switching his national allegiance to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

in 2023.

Club career

Llapi

On 24 January 2017, Daku signed a five-year contract with

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo (), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo () for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Football in Kosovo#Men's, Kosovar football league system. The Superleague is organized by t ...

club Llapi. On 18 February 2017, he made his debut with Llapi in the 2016–17 Kosovar Cup fifth round against Feronikeli after coming on as a 95th-minute substitute in place of Berat Hyseni and scoring his side's second goal during a 4–2 away win after penalties.

Osijek

First season at second team

On 20 July 2018, Daku joined Croatian Second League side

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

II, on a four-year contract. On 25 August 2018, he made his debut in a 2–2 away draw against

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

after being named in the starting line-up. Eight days later, he scored his first goal for Osijek II in his second appearance for the club in a 1–0 home win over

Sesvete Sesvete () is the easternmost city district of Zagreb, Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwe ...

in Croatian Second League.

=Loan at Kukësi

= On 24 July 2019, Daku joined

Kategoria Superiore Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

side Kukësi, on a season-long loan. On 18 August 2019, he made his debut with Kukësi in the 2019 Albanian Supercup against

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's home ground is the newly built sta ...

after coming on as a 66th-minute substitute in place of Vasil Shkurtaj. A month later, Daku scored his first goal for Kukësi in his sixth appearance for the club in a 3–1 away win over

Shkumbini The Shkumbin (; ), also known as Shkembi, is a river in Albania. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Etymology It derives from Latin ''Scampinus'' (recorded alternatively as ), which replaced the Illyrian name o ...

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...

=Loan at Ballkani

= On 11 January 2020, Daku was loaned out to

club Ballkani until the end of the 2019–20 season. On 29 February 2020, he made his debut in a 0–0 away draw against

Prishtina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

after coming on as a 59th-minute substitute in place of Artur Magani.

Return from loan as first team player

On 24 June 2021, Daku returned to

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

side

. On 8 August 2021, he made his debut in a 2–1 away win against Hrvatski Dragovoljac after coming on as a 78th-minute substitute in place of Antonio Mance. A day after debut, he signed a four-year contract extension with Osijek. Three days later, Daku made his continental debut in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round against Bulgarian side

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

after coming on as a second-half substitute in place of Yevhen Cheberko. On 15 September 2021, he scored his first goal for Osijek in his fifth appearance for the club in a 3–0 away win over Bednja Beletinec in

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

=Loan at Mura

= On 7 February 2022, Daku was loaned out to

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

club Mura until the end of the 2021–22 season. Six days later, he made his debut against

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after being named in the starting line-up, and assisted his side's two goals during a 2–2 home draw. After scoring 5 goals in 16 league appearances, his loan was extended for another season in June 2022.

Rubin Kazan

On 11 July 2023, Daku signed a three-year contract with

club

International career

Kosovo

On 21 March 2017, Daku received a call-up from the Kosovo national under-21 team for a

UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, ...

match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. He made his debut for the side on 9 November, in a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, coming on as a 54th-minute substitute in place of Ardit Gashi. On 22 January 2018, Daku received his first call-up from the Kosovo national senior team for a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. The match, however, was cancelled two days later. He won his first cap for Kosovo on 11 November 2020, in a friendly match against

, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute in place of Florent Hadergjonaj.

Albania

In June 2023, Daku obtained the

Albanian passport The Albanian passport () is a travel document issued by the Ministry of the Interior to Albanian citizens to enable them to travel abroad. They are also used as proof of identity within the country, alongside national identity cards (). The pa ...

, making him eligible to play for the Albania national team. On 1 September 2023, he received a call-up from Albania for the

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

matches against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He made his debut against the former on 7 September, coming on as a second-half substitution in a 1–1 draw. On 8 June 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. On 19 June, after a 2–2 draw with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, he shouted "fuck

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

" and "fuck

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

" with fans using a

megaphone A megaphone, speaking trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped horn (acoustic), acoustic horn used to amplifier, amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. ...

at the

Volksparkstadion Volksparkstadion () is a football stadium in Hamburg, Germany, with a capacity of 57,000, which makes it the eighth largest stadium in Germany. It has served as the home ground of Bundesliga side Hamburger SV since 1953. The Volksparkstadion ...

. He later apologized for his actions. However, he was handed a two-game ban following the incident.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Daku goal.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daku, Mirlind 1998 births Living people Footballers from Gjilan Men's association football forwards Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Kosovo Albanians Dual internationalists (men's football) Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Russia Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia SC Gjilani players FC Hajvalia players KF Llapi players FK Kukësi players FC Ballkani players NK Osijek players NŠ Mura players FC Rubin Kazan players Football Superleague of Kosovo players First Football League (Croatia) players Kategoria Superiore players Croatian Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Russian Premier League players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Albanian sportsmen