Fatmire "Lira" Alushi (née Bajramaj; born 1 April 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the Germany women's national team. She placed third in 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or competition, an annual award given to the world's best player.[3]
 Alushi in 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Fatmire Alushi[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Fatmire Bajramaj[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1 April 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gjurakoc, Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1998 | DJK/VfL Giesenkirchen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2004 | FSC Mönchengladbach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2009 | FCR 2001 Duisburg | 84 | (30) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam | 40 | (29) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | 1. FFC Frankfurt | 27 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Paris Saint-Germain | 24 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 175 | (77) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Germany U15 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Germany U17 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Germany U19 | 16 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2015 | Germany | 79 | (18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
editAlushi began her career at DJK/VfL Giesenkirchen. From 1997 to 2004, she played for FSC Mönchengladbach, before moving to the Bundesliga side and joining FCR 2001 Duisburg.[4][5] She made her Bundesliga debut in September 2004 for the club and scored her first goal one month later. Alushi immediately became a regular starter for Duisburg. She was runner-up with Duisburg for four seasons in a row from 2005 to 2008. During the 2008–09 season, Alushi won the UEFA Women's Champions League. She also claimed the 2009 German Cup title, where she scored in the final.
After five seasons at Duisburg, Alushi moved to league rivals 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam for the 2009–10 season.[6] At her new club, she won the Bundesliga title in 2010 and 2011. In the 2009–10 season, Potsdam also claimed the inaugural UEFA Women's Champions League title, with Bajramaj scoring during the penalty shoot-out in the final.[7] One year later, Potsdam again made it to the final, but lost against Olympique Lyonnais.
Alushi came in third place for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or award. She announced to move to 1. FFC Frankfurt for the 2011–12 season. The transfer was the most expensive in women's Bundesliga history at the time.[8]
In 2014, she transferred to Paris.[9]
Alushi announced her retirement on 28 February 2017.[10]
International career
editAlushi made her debut for Germany’s senior national team in October 2005 against Scotland. One year later, she won 2006 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship at junior level.[3] At the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship, the German team was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Alushi started in all four of the team's matches and scored three goals during the tournament.[11]
She won her first major international title at the 2007 FIFA World Cup. She was a reserve player for Germany, appearing in four games, including the tournament's final, in which she won the corner that let to Germany's second goal. One year later, Alushi claimed bronze with Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was brought on after 62 minutes in the third-place play-off and scored both goals in Germany's 2–0 win over Japan. In 2009, Alushi won her first European trophy at the 2009 European Championship, where Germany claimed its seventh title. She was also called up for Germany's 2011 FIFA World Cup squad.[3]
Personal life
editAlushi's parents Ismet and Ganimete, who are Kosovo-Albanians, moved their family from Istok, Kosovo to Germany in 1993.[12] In October 2009, she published her autobiography Mein Tor ins Leben – Vom Flüchtling zur Weltmeisterin (My Gate into Life – From Refugee to World Champion [wordplay: German "Tor" translates to both "Goal"/"Gate"]).[13]
In June 2011, Alushi began dating fellow footballer Enis Alushi. Both their fathers are working together as police officers in Kosovo.[14] The couple announced their engagement the following year. Shortly after, in September 2012, both suffered ACL injuries in matches within 72 hours of each other.[15] The couple got married in December 2013.[16] Following the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League Final, Alushi announced that she was pregnant and would be forced to miss the 2015 FIFA World Cup in Canada. She stated that she expected to get back to the pitch eventually but that "there are things in life that are simply more important than football".[17]
Career statistics
edit- Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Alushi goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 July 2007 | Magdeburg, Germany | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 21 August 2008 | Beijing, China | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2008 Summer Olympics | |
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 24 August 2009 | Tampere, Finland | 2–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2009 | |
| 5 | 4–0 | |||||
| 6 | 7 September 2009 | Helsinki, Finland | 3–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2009 | |
| 7 | 17 February 2010 | Duisburg, Germany | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | |
| 8 | 15 September 2010 | Dresden, Germany | 2–0 | 5–0 | Friendly | |
| 9 | 17 September 2011 | Augsburg, Germany | 1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying | |
| 10 | 2–0 | |||||
| 11 | 22 October 2011 | Bucharest, Romania | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying | |
| 12 | 19 November 2011 | Wiesbaden, Germany | 11–0 | 17–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying | |
| 13 | 19 September 2012 | Duisburg, Germany | 8–0 | 10–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying | |
| 14 | 21 September 2013 | Cottbus, Germany | 5–0 | 9–0 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification | |
| 15 | 26 October 2013 | Koper, Slovenia | 8–0 | 13–0 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification | |
| 16 | 8 May 2014 | Osnabrück, Germany | 1–0 | 9–1 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification | |
| 17 | 3–0 | |||||
| 18 | 6–0 |
Honours
editGermany
FCR 2001 Duisburg
- UEFA Women's Cup: 2008–09
- Bundesliga: runner-up 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
- DFB-Pokal: 2008–09; runner-up 2006–07
Turbine Potsdam
- UEFA Women's Champions League: 2009–10
- Bundesliga: 2009–10, 2010–11
FFC Frankfurt
- UEFA Women's Champions League: runner-up 2011–12
- DFB-Pokal: 2013–14
- FIFA World Cup: 2007
- UEFA European Championship: 2009, 2013
- Olympic bronze medal: 2008
- UEFA Women's U-19 Championship: 2006
- Algarve Cup: 2014
Individual
- Women's Footballer of the Year: 2011
- Silbernes Lorbeerblatt: 2007
- FIFA Ballon d'Or: third place 2010
References
edit- ^ Fatmire Alushi at WorldFootball.net
- ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011 – List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 28 July 2014. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Nationalspielerin Fatmire Bajramaj" (in German). DFB.de. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
- ^ "Portrait of the Footballer Fatmire Bajramaj: From Refugee to World Champion". En.qantara.de. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
- ^ VON CHRISTIAN SPOLDERS – zuletzt aktualisiert: 1 October 2007 (22 February 1999). "Weltmeisterin aus Giesenkirchen". Rp-online.de. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Fatmire Bajramaj wechselt zum 1. FFC Frankfurt" [Bajramaj transfers to FFC Frankfurt] (in German). womensoccer.de. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Turbine-Frauen gewinnen im Elfmeterschießen" (in German). Spiegel.de. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "Bajramaj-Wechsel läutet neue Ära ein" [Bajramaj-transfer starts a new era] (in German). womensoccer.de. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Alushi enticed by Paris". 10 June 2014.
- ^ "Weltmeisterin Alushi beendet ihre Karriere". dfb. 28 February 2017.
- ^ "Fatmire Bajramaj". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ "Film ab! Jetzt spielen auch die Eltern mit". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 23 June 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- ^ "Lira Bajramaj – My Goal into Life". randomhouse.de. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Schöne Lira liebt diesen Zweitliga-Profi
- ^ "Liebe ist... ...ein gemeinsamer Kreuzbandriss" (in German). Bild.de. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ "Bajramaj, prej dje, Fatmire Alushi | albinfo.ch". Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ^ "Fatmire Alushi ist schwanger und fehlt bei der WM". kicker.de (in German). 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
External links
edit- Fatmire Alushi – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Fatmire Alushi – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Fatmire Alushi at Soccerway
- Fatmire Alushi at DFB (also available in German)
- Fatmire Bajramaj at DFB at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-10-16)
- Fatmire Bajramaj at Olympics.com
- Lira Bajramaj at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- LiraB.com official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2013-10-31)