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Finnish footballer (born 1987) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987) is a Finnish football commentator and a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Yugoslavia, he has represented both Finland national team and Kosovo national football team. He started his football career in HJK youth team.
|
Hetemaj with SJK in 2018. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 December 1987 | ||
| Place of birth |
Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo) | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2006 | HJK | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2007 | HJK | 17 | (1) |
| 2007 | → Viikingit (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Panionios | 11 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Thrasyvoulos (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | → AlbinoLeffe (loan) | 23 | (1) |
| 2010–2014 | AlbinoLeffe | 76 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Reggina (loan) | 29 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Honka (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2014 | Monza | 17 | (0) |
| 2015–2022 | SJK | 156 | (14) |
| International career | |||
| 2007–2009 | Finland U21 | 18 | (2) |
| 2014 | Kosovo | 1 | (0) |
| 2009–2017 | Finland | 6 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Hetemaj started his career in Finland in HJK Helsinki where he made 17 appearances between 2006 and 2007. During 2007 season he was loaned to Viikingit for 9 matches.
In 2008, he agreed a move to Greek club Panionios F.C. In June 2009 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit AlbinoLeffe, where he established himself as a regular.
In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios.[2][3] He signed a four-year contract. In July 2012 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit Reggina Calcio.[4] The loan contract with Reggina ended after the 2012–13 season and Hetemaj returned to AlbinoLeffe.[5] In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.[6][7]
Hetemaj joined SJK in January 2015.[9] Since then he has become a fan favorite and scored many important goals for the club. Hetemaj has been the clubs captain since 2019.[10] Hetemaj announced his retirement from playing in December 2022.[11]
Hetemaj, along with his older brother Përparim Hetemaj, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[12]
Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland against Japan in February 2009. After a convincing season in AlbinoLeffe he was called up again on 21 May 2010 for a match against Estonia.
Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against Turkey in May 2014, a friendly match.[13] However, he lost his eligible to switch for Kosovo in competitive match after accepting the call-up from Finland in 2016, after Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA.[14]
Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland with his family as refugees in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having asthma. He has an older brother, the footballer Përparim, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.[15][16]
After his playing career, Hetemaj has worked as a studio commentator in Veikkausliiga matches in Ruutu+ broadcasts since 2023,[17] in European final tournament matches for Yle, and in UEFA Champions League matches for MTV since 2024.[18]
| Club | Season | Division | League | Domestic Cups | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Klubi-04 | 2005 | Kakkonen | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 16 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Ykkönen | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 13 | 2 | ||
| Total | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 2 | ||
| HJK Helsinki | 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Viikingit (loan) | 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
| Panionios | 2007–08 | Super League Greece | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | |
| Thrasyvoulos (loan) | 2008–09 | Super League Greece | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
| AlbinoLeffe | 2009–10 | Serie B | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 24 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie B | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 38 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Serie B | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Lega Pro | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 99 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 1 | ||
| Reggina (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie B | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 31 | 0 | |
| Honka (loan) | 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| Monza | 2014–15 | Lega Pro | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | |
| SJK | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 8 | |
| 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 3 | 6 | 1 | – | 29 | 4 | ||
| 2019 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | 26 | 2 | ||
| 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 17 | 4 | 5 | 0 | – | 22 | 4 | ||
| 2021 | Veikkausliiga | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 14 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| Total | 156 | 14 | 40 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 206 | 22 | ||
| Career total | 384 | 19 | 53 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 451 | 28 | ||
| Finland national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2009 | 1 | 0 |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 1 |
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 June 2017 | Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland |  Liechtenstein | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
HJK Helsinki
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