Iljasa Zulfiu

Iljasa Zulfiu
Personal information
Full name Iljasa Zulfiu[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-27) 27 March 1998 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth Miratovac, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia[3]
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[4]
Position(s) Second striker[4]
Team information
Current team
 Drita
Number 20
Youth career
2008–2015 Lugina
2015–2017 Radnik Surdulica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Radnik Surdulica 1 (0)
2017 → Pukovac (loan) 6 (0)
2017–2018 → Ozren Sokobanja (loan) 29 (6)
2018–2019 Flamurtari 1 (2)
2019–2021 Malisheva
2021–2022 Laçi 30 (2)
2022–2024 Dukagjini 51 (7)
2024 Zhenis 12 (1)
2024– Drita 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 September 2024

Iljasa Zulfiu[1] (Serbian: Иљаса Зулфији, romanized: Iljasa Zulfiji,[5] Albanian: Ilaz Zylfiu;[6] born 27 March 1998) is a Serbian professional footballer of Albanian descent who plays as a second striker for Kosovo Superleague club Drita.[2]

Club career

Radnik Surdulica

Born in Miratovac, a small town in the municipality of Preševo as a member of Albanian ethnic group,[3] Zulfiu started playing football at the age of 10.[7] He was playing with football club Lugina, based in Aliđerce,[4] until he joined Radnik Surdulica as a youngster.[3] After almost two years with youth team, Zulfiu signed a one-year scholarship contract with Radnik in February 2017.[8] He was also loaned on dual registration to the Serbian League East side Pukovac,[9] making six appearances until the end of the 2016–17 campaign.[10]

In summer 2017, Zulfiu joined the first team of Radnik Surdulica under coach Simo Krunić,[11] but moved on new loan deal to Ozren Sokobanja shortly after.[12] He scored his premier goal for the first season victory of Ozren over Timok on 16 September 2017.[4] After the whole first-half season in the third-ranked league, a loan deal was terminated and Zulfiu returned to Radnik ending of November same year.[13]

On 29 November 2017, Zulfiu made his official debut for Radnik Surdulica, replacing Miloš Stanković in 69 minute of the Serbian SuperLiga match against Red Star Belgrade.[14] He has been reported as the first Albanian footballer in the club history since finding in 1926.[15] In February 2018, Zulfiu signed his first four-your professional contract with Radnik,[16] after which he extended his loan deal to Ozren until the end of 2017–18 campaign.[17]

Returning from loan deal in summer 2018, Zulfiu started new season preparing under coach Mladen Dodić,[18] but after being excluded from the 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga player list, Zulfiu mutually terminated the contract and left Radnik as a free agent on the last day of July same year, along with teammate Krsta Đorđević.[19]

Playing style

Zulfiu is a 1.67 m high attacker, who usually plays as a second striker or attacking midfielder.[4] He is characterized by speed and lucidity, affirmed as a goalscorer in the Serbian League East.[20] He has also promoted himself as a free kick taker, scoring in a match against Jedinstvo Paraćin.[21][22] He is often compared with Fadil Vokrri, a former Kosovo Albanian football forward.[4][12][20]

Career statistics

As of 3 August 2023[1]
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Radnik Surdulica 2016–17[10] Serbian SuperLiga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2017–18[23] 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
Pukovac (loan) 2016–17[10] Serbian League East 6 0 0 0 — 6 0
Ozren Sokobanja (loan) 2017–18[10] 29 6 0 0 — 29 6
Flamurtari 2018–19 Kosovo Superleague 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
Malisheva 2019–20 Kosovo First League Not available
2020–21
Total 36 6 0 0 — 36 6
Laçi 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore 9 0 0 0 — 9 0
2021–22 21 2 5 0 5 0 31 2
2022–23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 30 2 5 0 5 0 40 2
Dukagjini 2022–23 Kosovo Superleague 34 4 1 0 — 35 4
2023–24 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4
Total 34 4 1 0 4 4 39 8
Career total 101 12 6 0 9 4 116 16

References

  1. ^ a b c Iljasa Zulfiu at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ a b "Zulfiji Iljasa". FK Radnik Surdulica official website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Islami, Agon (16 December 2017). "Albanac u elitnom fudbalu Srbije nakon tri decenije" [Albanian in the elite football of Serbia after three decades] (in Serbian). Al Jazeera Balkans. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "НОВИ ФАДИЉ ВОКРИ: Први Албанац у Суперлиги Србије од деведесетих" [NEW FADIL VOKRRI: The first Albanian in the Serbian SuperLiga since the 1990s] (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  5. ^ Iljasa Zulfiji – UEFA competition record (archive) Edit this at Wikidata
  6. ^ Ilaz Zylfiu at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ "Iljasa Zulfiu iz Preševa, prvi Albanac u dresu surduličkog Radnika" [Iljasa Zulfiu from Preševo, the first Albanian in Radnik Surdulica] (in Serbian). bujanovacke.co.rs. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  8. ^ ""FUDBAL" 8/17, page 473" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 17 February 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Pukovac napada "Cariće" supertalentovanim Iljasom Zulfijom" [Pukovac is attacking "Emperors" by supertalent Iljasa Zulfiu] (in Serbian). koprijanradio.com. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "Zulfiu, Iljasa". srbijafudbal.com (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Први Албанац у редовима тима из Сурдулице: Радник моја будућност" [The first Albanian in the team from Surdulica: Radnik is my future] (in Serbian). Sportski žurnal. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Iljasa Zulfiu, futbollisti preshevar qe po konsiderohet Fadil Vokrri i ri" [Iljasa Zulfiu, a footballer who is being considered as successor of Fadil Vokrri] (in Albanian). presheva.com. 29 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  13. ^ ""FUDBAL" 48/17, page 2187" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 27 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Crvena zvezda - Radnik 5:0" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Futbollisti i pare preshevar qe luan ne ekipin "Radnik" te Surdulices" [The first footballer from Preševo in the team of Radnik Surdulica] (in Albanian). presheva.com. 22 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  16. ^ ""FUDBAL" 7/18, page 376" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 17 February 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  17. ^ ""FUDBAL" 8/18, page 501" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 11 February 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  18. ^ Jovanović, M. (27 June 2018). "Leskovčanin Stanković ponovo u Radniku" [Stanković from Leskovac returned to Radnik] (in Serbian). juznevesti.com. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  19. ^ ""FUDBAL" 31/18, page 983" (PDF). Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 31 July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Da li imamo novog Vokrija? Brzonogi Albanac igra u Superligi i sanja dres južnih komšija!" [Do we have a new Vokrri? A brilliant Albanian plays in the SuperLiga and dreams of a southern neighbors jersey!] (in Serbian). espreso.rs. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  21. ^ "ФК Озрен - ФК Јединство Параћин" [FK Ozren - FK Jedinstvo Paraćin]. YouTube (in Serbian). 26 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Српска лига Исток: Синђелић и Трајал наставили трку, Дунав славио у гостима" [Serbian League East: Sindjelić and Trajal continued the race, Dunav celebrated away] (in Serbian). Sportski žurnal. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  23. ^ "Zulfiu, Iljasa 2017–18 season". Serbian SuperLiga official website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.