Iljasa Zulfiu
Personal information
Full name Iljasa Zulfiu[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-27) 27 March 1998[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
 Dukagjini
Number 23
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 (0)
2019–2021 Malisheva
2021–2022 Laçi 30 (2)
2022– Dukagjini 34 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 August 2023

Iljasa Zulfiu (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 Kosovan club Dukagjini.[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
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Radnik Surdulica 2016–17[10] Serbian SuperLiga 0000—00
2017–18[23] 1000—10
Total 1000—10
Pukovac (loan) 2016–17[10] Serbian League East 6000—60
Ozren Sokobanja (loan) 2017–18[10] 29600—296
Flamurtari 2018–19 Kosovo Superleague 1000—10
Malisheva 2019–20 Kosovo First League Not available
2020–21
Total 36600—366
Laçi 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore 9000—90
2021–22 2125050312
2022–23 00000000
Total 3025050402
Dukagjini 2022–23 Kosovo Superleague 34410—354
2023–24 00004444
Total 3441044398
Career total 10112609411616

References

  1. 1 2 Iljasa Zulfiu at Soccerway
  2. 1 2 "Zulfiji Iljasa". FK Radnik Surdulica official website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "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) 
  6. ↑ Ilaz Zylfiu at WorldFootball.net
  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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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). Retrieved 16 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.