Ilir Berisha


Ilir Berisha is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as an defender for Kosovan club Feronikeli, he previously represented Albania at full international level.

Club career

Early career - Prishtina

He started his youth career with hometown club Prishtina.

Örebro

On 20 February 2012 he signed for Swedish side Örebro SK in Allsvenskan.

2012 Allsvenskan

First call up for Örebro first team was on 13 May 2012 for the 9th week match of the 2012 Allsvenskan against Norrköping, but he was an unused substitute for the entire match, finished in the loss 3–0. Berisha made it his first debut on 16 May 2012 as he included in the starting line up for match against AIK, finished in the draw 2–2. He scored first goal on 9 July 2012 against Malmö FF, a match finished in the victory 2–1 coming from behind 0–1, were berisha scored winning goal in the 65th minute. He scored more than a month later, on 24 August 2012 against Gefle IF in the loss 1–2, were berisha scored in the 55th minute latest goal of fixed result. Berisha scored one more time on 4 November 2012 against GAIS in the victory 4–0, were Berisha scored the opening goal in the 12th minute, continued by Alhassan Kamara in the 22nd minute and double-goals by his fellow Kosovan compatriot Shpëtim Hasani in the 26th and 91st minute.
He finished the 2012 season with a total of 20 appearances, in where 18 was as a starter and also with a total of 3 goals. However his performance and goals weren't enough, as the team were relegated to Superettan.

2013 Superettan

He made it his debut in the Supperetan on 15 April 2013 in the victory 3–0 against GIF Sundsvall, were Berisha came in as a substitute in the 81st minute in place of Ayanda Nkili. On 13 May 2013 he scored against Degerfors in a match finished in the victory 2–0, were Berisha scored the last goal in the 79th minute. The latest match of the 2013 season, was on 26 June 2013 against Ljungskile finished in the victory 1–0, as Berisha injured and finished the season, where he registered a total of 12 appearances and scoring 1 goal and the team gained promotion to the Allsvenskan after they were placed as runners-up.

2014 Allsvenskan

After being 10 months time injured, Berisha returned on 25 April 2014 for the match against Åtvidaberg. He included in the team for the match against Åtvidaberg and started from the bench but didn't came in, as the Örebro's coach Per-Ola Ljung didn't made any substitute for the entire match, which finished in the victory 3–2. He continued to be included regularly in the team but only as an unused substitute for 4 consecutive matches. The first match after long-time injury, came on 30 May 2014 were Berisha came in as a substitute for Ayanda Nkili in the 71st minute of the match against Djurgården finished in the 0–1 loss. His first match as a starter after the long-injury came on 13 July 2014 in the 4–1 loss against Häcken where he played 84 minutes, as he substituted off for Ayanda Nkili.
On 31 October 2014 Berisha announced that will left Örebro at the end of the season, which finishes with the last week match of the 2014 Allsvenskan against Häcken. He played as a substitute in his last match for Örebro a day later by coming on in the 89th minute for Magnus Wikström where the match finished as a 5–2 victory over Häcken.
Berisha finished the 2014 season with 5 matches played – 2 as a starter and other 3 as a substitute of the second half and also played a full 90-minutes match valid for the Swedish cup. He left the club with total of 38 matches appearance in which he scored 4 goals, in all the entire 3 seasons.
On 29 January 2015 Berisha was seen at training with the fellow Sweden Allsvenskan club Helsingborg as he had a trial with the club managed by a new coach, the Sweden national football team "legend" Henrik Larsson, which had to decide for the future of Berisha. Berisha also played a test match and then the coach Henrik Larsson said that he is extremely professional, is like the 'mad' to exercise and also that he can play since on the Saturday of 7 February with us if agreement is reached.

Gefle

In March Berisha suddenly signed for Gefle IF.

International

Berisha received Albanian citizenship on 24 May 2013, among other compatriots, Amir Abrashi, Vullnet Basha, Azdren Llullaku and Jurgen Gjasula, so he was able to play for Albania on international games.
After an emergency for replacing Lorik Cana due to a suspend cause of number cards, Berisha had given the interest of coach Gianni De Biasi for him as choice for the game against Norway on 7 June 2013. He received a call-up by the national team's coach Gianni De Biasi for the match against Norway on 7 June 2013, but he was unused for that match and sat on the bench.
Due to an accord between the Albania's coach Gianni De Biasi and the Kosovo national football team's coach Albert Bunjaki, Berisha were called up for the first time at his birthplace country Kosovo for the friendly match against Oman on 7 September 2014. Berisha debuted for Kosovo by playing full 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory against Oman at Pristina City Stadium.

Career statistics

Club

International