Ledian Memushaj

Ledian Memushaj

Memushaj with Pescara in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth	(1986-12-07) 7 December 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth	Vlorë, PSR Albania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Youth career
2003–2006	Sarzanese
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2008	Sarzanese	84	(10)
2008–2009	Valle d'Aosta	34	(3)
2009–2010	Paganese	28	(1)
2010–2011	Chievo Verona	0	(0)
2011	→ Portogruaro (loan)	15	(2)
2011–2012	Carpi	31	(8)
2012–2014	Lecce	29	(3)
2013–2014	→ Carpi (loan)	33	(8)
2014–2022	Pescara	214	(27)
2017–2018	→ Benevento (loan)	17	(0)
Total		485	(62)
International career
2010–2021	Albania	44	(1)
Managerial career
2022–2023	Pescara U19
2023	Dinamo City (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ledian Memushaj (born 7 December 1986) is an Albanian professional football coach and a former central midfielder. He is the head coach of the Under-19 squad of the Italian club Pescara. ^[1]

Club career

Early career

Memushaj joined A.S.D. Sarzanese Calcio 1906 when he was 17 years old. ^[2] He helped the team finish second in Eccellenza Liguria in 2006 and gain promotion to Serie D. In the summer of 2008, he moved to fellow Serie D side Valle d'Aosta, where he played 34 games and scored 3 goals. ^[3] On 10 September 2009, he signed for Paganese to play in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione ^[4] after a trial. ^[5]

Chievo and Portogruaro (loan)

On 21 June 2010, he was signed by Serie A side Chievo Verona on a free transfer. ^[6] He was loaned out to Serie B side Portogruaro on 29 January 2011.

Lecce

On 27 July 2012, Memushaj left Carpi and moved to Serie B side Lecce on a three-year contract. ^[7] However, before he even kicked a ball for his new club, they were relegated to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione after being expelled from Serie B for their part in the Calcio Scommesse scandal.

Memushaj scored his first goal for Lecce on 3 September 2012 in a 3–2 victory against Cremonese. He scored his team's 3rd goal of the match in the 31st minute with a shot from 20 meters out. ^[8] On 23 September 2012, he scored Lecce's third goal in its 1–3 victory at Treviso, which took them to the top of the 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione League table. ^[9]

Loan to Carpi

On 27 July 2013, Carpi announced that they had signed Memushaj on loan from Lecce for the 2013–14 season of Serie B. This transfer happened shortly after Carpi signed the fellow Albania national team player, Edgar Çani. This was his second spell with Carpi. ^[10]

He became a key player for Carpi and made crucial contributions each week, scoring regularly. His first goal during this spell at Carpi came in extra time of the 0–1 away victory against Reggina on 28 September 2013. ^[11] On 26 October 2013, he scored a goal against Latina from the penalty spot at the start of the second half to give his team a 1–1 draw. ^[12] On 21 December 2013, he scored from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute to give his team a narrow 1–0 victory against Palermo. This victory resulted in Palermo surrendering first place to Empoli. ^[13] On 26 December 2013 he scored an equaliser at Virtus Lanciano before two further goals from teammates left Carpi three points away from the play-off zone for promotion to Serie A. ^[14] He started 2014 with a goal to continue his excellent form from the first half of the season. He scored in the 20th minute of the first half against Ternana at home on 25 January 2014, but this was not enough to avoid defeat. It was his fifth goal of the season and despite this defeat, his team were only three points away from the play-off zone for promotion. ^{[15] [16]}

In the 2013–14 season, Memushaj played in total 33 Serie B matches in where he scored 8 goals. He also played in a single match for the 2013–14 Coppa Italia.

On 6 May 2014, Memushaj tore a right knee ligament in a match against Pescara and had to undergo surgery. He was unable to play for 6 months. ^[17]

Return to Lecce

Carpi did not accept the request of Lecce to buy Memushaj for a fee of €400,000, so he returned to Lecce. ^[18]

Pescara

On 1 September 2014 Memushaj signed for the Serie B club Pescara on 1-year contract. ^[19]

Due to the injury he suffered in May 2014, he missed Pescara's first 7 matches of the 2014–15 Serie B season. ^[20] He made it his debut on 12 October 2014 by coming on as a substitute for Gabriel Appelt Pires in the 87th minute against Crotone; Pescara won the match, 1–4. ^[21] He was an unused substitute for the next week match on 17 October 2014 against Vicenza (1–1), ^[22] but a week later Memushaj started in the match against his previous team Carpi, but the match finished as a bad loss with a 0–5 result. ^[23] A week later, Memushaj scored his first goal for Pescara in a 1–1 draw against Bari. ^[24] On 27 December 2015, Memushaj scored the winning goal in the game against U.S. Latina Calcio, but was subsequently sent off the pitch after kicking a microphone on the sidelines as part of his goal celebration. ^[25]

Benevento

On 28 August 2017, Memushaj was signed on loan with Serie A club Benevento until the end of the 2017–18 season with a purchase obligation at the end of loan. ^[26]

International career

Memushaj was called for the first time to the Albania national team in November 2010 by manager Josip Kuže for a friendly against Macedonia. ^[27] He made his international debut during the match at Qemal Stafa Stadium, replacing Klodian Duro in the second half as the match ended in a goalless draw. ^[28] He returned on the team on 9 February 2011 for their next friendly against Slovenia, ^[29] earning his second cap in the process, again as a substitute, as Albania was defeated 1–2. ^[30]

In November 2013, after a long absence, Memushaj returned to the team with De Biasi as their manager for the friendly match against Belarus following the end of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. ^[31] He was again used as a substitute in place of Valdet Rama in another scoreless draw. ^[32]

UEFA Euro 2016 campaign

Memushaj missed the first two UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers matches against Portugal and Denmark due to an injury suffered in May 2014 while representing Carpi, an injury which sidelined him for 6 months. ^[33] He also missed the notorious match against Serbia in October 2014. As soon as he was declared fit, he was called up for the friendlies against France and Italy in November 2014. ^[34] He played his first match as a starter against France as Albania earned a historic 1–1 draw at Roazhon Park. ^[35] He also featured as starter in Albania's first ever match against Italy, missing an opportunity to score in the first half as Albania slumped into a 1–0 away defeat. ^[36]

Memushaj continued to be part of Albania in their historic UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. In the final decisive match against Armenia, he assisted the second goal via a set piece as Albania won 3–0 to secure a spot at UEFA Euro 2016, its first ever appearance at a major men's football tournament. ^[37] On 21 May 2016, he was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, ^[38] and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May. ^[39]

In the tournament, he did not play in the Albania's first Group A match against Switzerland, which finished in a 0–1 loss. ^[40] However, he returned to the lineup in the second match against hosts France, hitting the post before Albania conceded two goals in the last minutes. ^[41] In the final match against Romania, he assisted Armando Sadiku's header for the only goal of the match, ^[42] helping earn Albania's first win at a major men's football tournament and beating Romania for the first time since 1948. ^[43] Albania was eliminated from the tournament after finishing third in its group with three points and a goal difference of –2, ranking last among third-placed teams. ^[44]

2018 FIFA World Cup campaign

Memushaj scored his first international goal on 11 June 2017 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Israel, netting the third in an eventual 3–0 away win. ^[45]

Post-playing career

Memushaj retired from playing at the end of the 2021–22 season and he was appointed as head coach of the Under-19 squad of Pescara until June 2023. ^[46] In August 2023, he was appointed as assistant coach in Dinamo City under Luigi di Biagio, until October 2023.

Personal life

He and his family migrated to Italy in 1997 due to civil war in Albania. ^[2]

Career statistics

Club

As of 8 September 2020 ^{[47] [48] [49]}

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe [lower-alpha 1]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sarzanese	2003–04	Eccellenza Liguria	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
	2004–05		29	2	—		—		—		29	2
	2005–06		0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2006–07	Serie D	31	3	—		—		—		31	3
	2007–08		22	5	—		—		—		22	5
	Total		84	10	—		—		—		84	10
Valle d'Aosta	2008–09	Serie D	34	3	—		—		—		34	3
Paganese	2009–10	Lega Pro Prima Divisione	28	1	—		—		2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	30	1
Chievo Verona	2010–11	Serie A	0	0	3	0	—		—		3	0
Portogruaro	2010–11	Serie B	15	2	—		—		—		15	2
Carpi	2011–12	Lega Pro Prima Divisione	31	8	2	1	—		4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	37	9
Lecce	2012–13	Lega Pro Prima Divisione	29	3	2	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	0	34	3
Carpi	2013–14	Serie B	33	8	1	0	—		—		34	8
Pescara	2014–15	Serie B	30	6	1	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 3]	1	36	7
	2015–16		30	11	1	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	33	11
	2016–17	Serie A	36	1	2	0	—		—		38	1
	2018–19	Serie B	36	2	2	0	—		—		38	2
	2019–20		37	4	2	0	—		—		39	4
	Total		169	24	8	0	—		7	1	184	25
Benevento (loan)	2017–18	Serie A	17	0	—		—		—		17	0
Career total			440	59	16	1	—		14	1	470	61

1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
2. All appearance(s) in play-out
3. All appearance(s) in play-off

International

As of 27 September 2020 ^{[48] [50]}

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Albania	2010	1	0
	2011	1	0
	2012	1	0
	2013	1	0
	2014	3	0
	2015	5	0
	2016	8	0
	2017	9	1
	2018	5	0
	2019	6	0
Total		40	1

As of 27 September 2020 ^[48]

Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Memushaj goal.

List of international goals scored by Ledian Memushaj

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 June 2017	Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel	Israel	3–0	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

1. Lajme: Memushaj merr ftesen per ne Kombetare Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine FutbolliShqiptar.net
2. Fation Shehu (26 June 2016). "Rrëfehet "Labi" Memushaj, nga gomonet, te shkëlqimi në Euro 2016" (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
3. Ledjan Memushaj zyrtarisht lojtar i Paganezes AlbaniaSoccer
4. "UFFICIALE: TESSERATO MEMUSHAJ" (in Italian). Paganese Calcio 1926. 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
5. "TREDICI GOL NEL PRIMO TEST AMICHEVOLE" (in Italian). Paganese Calcio 1926. 18 July 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
6. "MERCATO: TESSERATO IL CENTROCAMPISTA MEMUSHAJ, SVINCOLATO DALLA PAGANESE" (in Italian). AC ChievoVerona. 9 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
7. "Zyrtare: Memushaj kalon te Lecce" (in Albanian). aSport.al. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
8. "Memushaj shënon golin e parë me Lecce-n (video)" (in Albanian). aSport.al. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
9. "Memushaj shënon dhe çon në krye të tabeles Leccen" (in Albanian). Sport.al. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
10. Zyrtare: Memushaj i bashkohet Çanit, transferohet te FC Carpi Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
11. "Reggio Calabria vs. Carpi - 28 September 2013 - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
12. Memushaj shënon nga penalltia dhe i jep një pikë Carpit Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
13. Memushaj mposht Ujkanin dhe Palermon Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
14. Memushaj nuk ndalet, shënon përsëri Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
15. "Carpi vs. Ternana - 25 January 2014 - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
16. Memushaj e nis me gol vitin 2014 Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
17. Dëmtohet rëndë Memushaj, 6 muaj jashtë Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
18. "Karpi s'paguan kartonin, Memushaj kthehet te Leçe". Panorama Sport. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
19. Zyrtare: Ledian Memushaj te Pescara Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
20. "Summary - Serie B - Italy - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
21. "Crotone vs. Pescara - 12 October 2014 - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
22. "Vicenza vs. Pescara - 17 October 2014 - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
23. "Pescara vs. Carpi - 25 October 2014 - Soccerway" . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
24. Memushaj dhe Vajushi, golat e kuqezinjve Archived 30 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Panorama Sport
25. "Serie B Pescara batte Latina con un gol di Memushaj". www.tuttosport.com. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
26. "Memushaj al Benevento". Corriere dello Sport . 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
27. "Ledian Memushaj, risia e kombëtares shqiptare këtë muaj" [Ledian Memushaj, the national team's innovation this month] (in Albanian). ikub.al. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
28. "Albania vs. FYR Macedonia 0 – 0". Soccerway. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
29. "Publikohet lista e lojtareve per miqesoren me Sllovenine" [The players list for the friendly with Slovenia is unveiled] (in Albanian). Albania Soccer. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
30. "Albania vs. Slovenia 1 – 2". Soccerway. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
31. "Lista anti-Bjellorusi: De Biazi rikthen Memushajn, Sadikun e Mehën, Vajushi e Salihi jashtë" [The anti-Belarus list: De Biasi returns Memushaj, Sadiku and Meha, Vajushi and Salihi out]. aSport.al. 9 November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
32. "Belarus vs. Albania 0 – 0". Soccerway. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
33. "Dëmtohet rëndë Ledjan Memushaj, 6 muaj jashtë" [Ledjan Memushaj injured heavily, 6 months out] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
34. "De Biazi: Të vazhdojmë punën e nisur" [De Biasi: Let's continue the work started] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 8 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
35. "Griezmann earns France draw with Albania". UEFA.com. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
36. "Një "Super" Berisha, por autogoli i jep fitoren Italisë" ["Super" Berisha, but the owngoal gives Italy the win]. aSport.al. 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
37. "Armenia 0-3 Albania - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 11 October 2015.
38. Fatjon Pandovski (21 May 2016). "De Biasi leaves out Albanian top scorer Salihi". UEFA. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
39. "De Biasi shpall listën zyrtare të Euro 2016". FSHF.org. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
40. Alistair Magowan (11 June 2016). "Albania 0-1 Switzerland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
41. Jurejko, Jonathan (15 June 2016). "France 2–0 Albania". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
42. James Ducker (19 June 2016). "Euro 2016: Romania 0 Albania 1 - Armando Sadiku scores the only goal to seal his country's first ever win at a major competition". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
43. "Albania national football team: record v Romania". 11v11.com. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
44. "Albania out of Euro 2016 after Portugal draw with Hungary". Fourfourtwo.com. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
45. Ervin Lisaku (12 June 2017). "World Cup campaign: Albania avenge Israel with stunning 3-0 away victory". Tirana Times. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
46. "TABELLINO: Pescara Primavera – Notaresco 1-0" (in Italian). Pescara. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
47. Ledian Memushaj at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
48. "Ledian Memushaj". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
49. Ledian Memushaj – UEFA competition record ( archive )
50. "Ledian Memushaj - national football team player". EU-Football.info. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.

External links

• Ledian Memushaj at Soccerway
• Ledian Memushaj at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ledian Memushaj – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Ledian Memushaj at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
• "Player Profile". Paganese Calcio 1926 (in Italian). September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
• Football.it Profile (in Italian)^{[ dead link ]}
• Ledian Memushaj at the Albanian Football Association (in Albanian and English) (archive)