Blendi Idrizi

Blendi Idrizi
Idrizi with Schalke 04 in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-05-02) 2 May 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Bonn, Germany
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
2011–2012 Blau-Weiß Friesdorf
2012–2014 Bonner SC
2014–2015 TSC Euskirchen
2015–2017 1. FC Köln
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Blau-Weiß Friesdorf 25 (16)
2018–2019 Alemannia Aachen 28 (4)
2019–2020 Fortuna Köln 13 (1)
2020–2023 Schalke 04 II 39 (9)
2021–2024 Schalke 04 41 (3)
2022–2023 → Jahn Regensburg (loan) 18 (0)
International career‡
2019–2020 Kosovo U21 3 (0)
2021– Kosovo 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 June 2024

Blendi Idrizi (born 2 May 1998) is a Kosovan professional footballer who most recently played as a attacking midfielder for Schalke 04. Born in Germany, he plays for the Kosovo national team.

Club career

Early career and return to Blau-Weiß Friesdorf

Idrizi at the age of 13 started playing football in Blau-Weiß Friesdorf, where after one year it was transferred to Bonner SC. He besides being was part of Bonner SC, he was part even of TSC Euskirchen (2014–2015) and 1. FC Köln (2015–2017).[2] In the 2017–18 season, Idrizi returns to his former team, Blau-Weiß Friesdorf, but now as a senior team's player and scores 16 goals in 25 games.[2]

Alemannia Aachen

On 14 May 2018, Idrizi joined Regionalliga West side Alemannia Aachen.[3] On 29 July 2018, he made his debut in a 2–1 away defeat against Viktoria Köln after coming on as a substitute at 58th minute in place of Mahmut Temür.[4]

Fortuna Köln

On 25 June 2019, Idrizi joined Regionalliga West side Fortuna Köln.[5] On 10 August 2019, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against Wattenscheid 09 after being named in the starting line-up.[6]

Schalke 04

On 29 January 2020, Idrizi joined Regionalliga West side Schalke 04 II.[7] Three days later, he made his debut in a 2–0 home win against his former club Bonner SC after coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute in place of Jason Ceka.[8]

On 12 May 2021, Idrizi made his first team debut in a 2–1 away defeat against Hertha BSC, starting the match before being substituted off in the 77th minute for Steven Skrzybski.[9] Three days after debut, he scored his first goal for Schalke 04 in his second appearance for the club in a 4–3 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt in Bundesliga.[10]

Loan to Jahn Regensburg

On 30 August 2022, Idrizi joined 2. Bundesliga side Jahn Regensburg on a season-long loan.[11]

International career

Under-21

On 22 May 2017, Idrizi received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a three-day training camp.[12] On 9 October 2019, he received again a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Albania U21,[13] and made his debut after coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute in place of Gezim Pepsi.[14]

Senior

On 25 May 2021, Idrizi received a call-up from Kosovo for the friendly matches against San Marino and Malta.[15] Seven days later, he made his debut with Kosovo in a friendly match against San Marino after being named in the starting line-up.[16]

Personal life

Idrizi was born in Bonn, Germany to Kosovo Albanian parents from Gjilan.[2]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2024[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Blau-Weiß Friesdorf 2017–18 Oberliga Mittelrhein 25 16 — 1[a] 0 26 16
Alemannia Aachen 2018–19 Regionalliga West 28 4 — 5[a] 2 33 6
Fortuna Köln 2019–20 Regionalliga West 13 1 — 1[a] 0 14 1
Schalke 04 II 2019–20 Regionalliga West 5 2 — — 5 2
2020–21 Regionalliga West 31 6 — — 31 6
2023–24 Regionalliga West 3 1 — — 3 1
Total 39 9 — — 39 9
Schalke 04 2020–21 Bundesliga 3 1 0 0 — 3 1
2021–22 2. Bundesliga 22 1 2 0 — 24 1
2023–24 2. Bundesliga 16 1 0 0 — 16 1
Total 41 3 2 0 — 43 3
Jahn Regensburg (loan) 2022–23 2. Bundesliga 18 0 1 0 — 19 0
Career total 164 33 3 0 7 2 174 35
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in Mittelrheinpokal[18]

International

As of match played 5 June 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Kosovo 2021 3 0
2022 3 0
2023 0 0
2024 3 0
Total 9 0

Honours

Schalke 04

References

  1. ^ "Blendi Idrizi". FC Schalke 04. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Blendi Idrizi | Spielerprofil | Bundesliga" [Blendi Idrizi | Player profile | Bundesliga] (in German). Bundesliga. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Alemannia Aachen verpflichtet mit Blendi Idrizi und Marcel Kaiser zwei Offensivspieler" [Alemannia Aachen signed two offensive players with Blendi Idrizi and Marcel Kaiser]. Fussball.com (in German). 14 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Viktoria Köln vs. Alemannia Aachen 2–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Blendi Idrizi wechselt zu Fortuna Köln" [Blendi Idrizi is moving to Fortuna Cologne] (in German). SC Fortuna Köln. 25 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Unentschieden gegen Wattenscheid: Fortuna erkämpft sich ersten Punkt" [Draw against Wattenscheid: Fortuna fights for the first point] (in German). SC Fortuna Köln. 10 August 2019.
  7. ^ "U23: Blendi Idrizi wird ein Königsblauer" [U23: Blendi Idrizi will be a royal blue] (in German). FC Schalke 04. 29 January 2020.
  8. ^ "2:0 – U23 holt drei Punkte gegen Bonn" [2-0 – U23 get three points against Bonn] (in German). FC Schalke 04. 1 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Frühes Harit-Tor reicht nicht: S04 unterliegt Hertha BSC" [Early Harit goal is not enough: S04 is subject to Hertha BSC] (in German). FC Schalke 04. 12 May 2021.
  10. ^ "S04 beat Frankfurt 4–3 at home". FC Schalke 04. 15 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Blendi Idrizi joins SSV Jahn Regensburg on loan". FC Schalke 04. 30 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Përfundoi grumbullimi treditor i Kombëtares U-21" [The three-day gathering of the national U-21 team is over] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 25 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Prekazi e Kastrati shfaqen optimistë për ndeshjen me Shqipërinë" [Prekazi and Kastrati appear optimistic about the match against Albania] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 9 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Albania U21 vs. Kosovo U21 2–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Challandes e publikon listën e futbollistëve për miqësoret kundër San Marinos e Maltës" [Challandes publishes the list of footballers for the friendlies against San Marino and Malta] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 25 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Formacionet zyrtare: Kosova-San Marino, debutime dhe taktika të reja nga Challandes" [Official formations: Kosovo-San Marino, new debuts and tactics from Challandes] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 1 June 2021.
  17. ^ Blendi Idrizi at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  18. ^ "20 Blendi Idrizi (Angriff) – Regionalliga West 2018/19" [20 Blendi Idrizi (Forward) – 2018/19 Regionalliga West] (in German). Alemannia Aachen. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Blendi Idrizi". eu-football.info. 1 June 2021.
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