Fatmire Alushi
{{Short description|German footballer (born 1988)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Fatmire Alushi
| image = Fatmire Bajramaj 2013 1.jpg
| caption = Alushi in 2013
| full_name = Fatmire Alushi{{WorldFootball.net}}
| birth_name = Fatmire Bajramaj{{cite web |url=https://www.fifadata.com/document/FWWC/2011/pdf/FWWC_2011_SquadLists.pdf |title=FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011 – List of Players: Germany |publisher=FIFA |page=8 |date=28 July 2014 |access-date=18 February 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122041659/https://www.fifadata.com/document/FWWC/2011/pdf/FWWC_2011_SquadLists.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2019}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|4|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = Gjurakoc, Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia
| height = 1.70 m
| position = Midfielder
| youthyears1 = 1993–1998
| youthclubs1 = DJK/VfL Giesenkirchen
| youthyears2 = 1998–2004
| youthclubs2 = FSC Mönchengladbach
| years1 = 2004–2009 | caps1 = 84 | goals1 = 30 | clubs1 = FCR 2001 Duisburg
| years2 = 2009–2011 | caps2 = 40 | goals2 = 29 | clubs2 = 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam
| years3 = 2011–2014 | caps3 = 27 | goals3 = 10 | clubs3 = 1. FFC Frankfurt
| years4 = 2014–2016 | caps4 = 24 | goals4 = 8 | clubs4 = Paris Saint-Germain
| totalcaps = 175 |totalgoals = 77
| nationalyears1 = 2003
| nationalteam1 = Germany U15
| nationalcaps1 = 2
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2004
| nationalteam2 = Germany U17
| nationalcaps2 = 7
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 2005–2006
| nationalteam3 = Germany U19
| nationalcaps3 = 16
| nationalgoals3 = 1
| nationalyears4 = 2005–2015
| nationalteam4 = Germany
| nationalcaps4 = 79
| nationalgoals4 = 18
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's football }}
{{MedalCountry | {{GER}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|FIFA Women's World Cup}}
{{Medal|Gold|2007 China|Team}}
{{MedalOlympic}}
{{MedalBronze|2008 Beijing|Team}}
{{Medal|Competition|UEFA Women's Championship}}
{{Medal|Gold|2009 Finland|Team}}
{{Medal|Gold|2013 Sweden|Team}}
}}
Fatmire "Lira" Alushi ({{nee|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.{{cite web |url=https://www.dfb.de/frauen-nationalmannschaft/team/profil?_=r&spieledb_path=%2Fteams%2F27385%2Fnational_player%2F58509 |title=Nationalspielerin Fatmire Bajramaj |publisher=DFB.de |access-date=25 June 2011 |language=de}}
Club career
File:Fatmire Bajramaj.jpg in 2009]]
Alushi 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.{{cite web |url=http://en.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-1019/i.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714212306/http://en.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-1019/i.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |title=Portrait of the Footballer Fatmire Bajramaj: From Refugee to World Champion |publisher=En.qantara.de |access-date=1 June 2011}}{{cite web |author=VON CHRISTIAN SPOLDERS – zuletzt aktualisiert: 1 October 2007 |url=http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/moenchengladbach/485450/Weltmeisterin-aus-Giesenkirchen.html |title=Weltmeisterin aus Giesenkirchen |publisher=Rp-online.de |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915204951/http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/moenchengladbach/485450/Weltmeisterin-aus-Giesenkirchen.html |archive-date=15 September 2009 |url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.womensoccer.de/2011/04/18/fatmire-bajramaj-wechselt-zum-1-ffc-frankfurt/ |title=Fatmire Bajramaj wechselt zum 1. FFC Frankfurt |publisher=womensoccer.de |date=18 April 2011 |access-date=20 May 2011 |language=de |trans-title=Bajramaj transfers to FFC Frankfurt |archive-date=21 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421010348/http://www.womensoccer.de/2011/04/18/fatmire-bajramaj-wechselt-zum-1-ffc-frankfurt/ |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,696048,00.html |title=Turbine-Frauen gewinnen im Elfmeterschießen |publisher=Spiegel.de |date=20 May 2010 |access-date=18 June 2011 |language=de}} One year later, Potsdam again made it to the final, but lost against Olympique Lyonnais.
File:20150426 PSG vs Wolfsburg 194.jpg during a Champions League semi-final match against Wolfsburg in April 2015]]
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.womensoccer.de/2011/04/20/bajramaj-wechsel-lautet-neue-ara-ein/ |title=Bajramaj-Wechsel läutet neue Ära ein |publisher=womensoccer.de |date=20 April 2011 |access-date=20 May 2011 |language=de |trans-title=Bajramaj-transfer starts a new era |archive-date=4 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704024257/http://www.womensoccer.de/2011/04/20/bajramaj-wechsel-lautet-neue-ara-ein/ |url-status=dead }}
In 2014, she transferred to Paris Saint-Germain Féminines.{{Cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/womenschampionsleague/news/0216-0e15975338c8-791998506a7c-1000--alushi-enticed-by-paris/|title=Alushi enticed by Paris|date=10 June 2014}}
Alushi announced her retirement on 28 February 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/fatmire-alushi-beendet-ihre-karriere-162788/ |title=Weltmeisterin Alushi beendet ihre Karriere |date=28 February 2017 |work=dfb}}
International career
Alushi 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. 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=237704 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111221712/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=237704/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 November 2012 |title=Fatmire Bajramaj |publisher=FIFA.com |access-date=24 June 2011}}
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.
Personal life
Alushi's parents Ismet and Ganimete, who are Kosovo-Albanians, moved their family from Istok, Kosovo to Germany in 1993.{{cite news |date=23 June 2008 |title=Film ab! Jetzt spielen auch die Eltern mit |language=de |work=Der Tagesspiegel |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/film-ab-jetzt-spielen-auch-die-eltern-mit-1665076.html |access-date=23 March 2010}} 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"]).{{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?fbm=false&frm=true&sdi=true&edi=285024 |title=Lira Bajramaj – My Goal into Life |publisher=randomhouse.de |access-date=21 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723054237/http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?fbm=false&frm=true&sdi=true&edi=285024 |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}
In June 2011, Alushi began dating fellow footballer Enis Alushi. Both their fathers are working together as police officers in Kosovo.[http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/fatmire-bajramaj/liebt-zweitliga-profi-18591194.bild.html Schöne Lira liebt diesen Zweitliga-Profi] 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/fatmire-bajramaj/gemeinsamer-kreuzbandriss-26497850.bild.html |title=Liebe ist... ...ein gemeinsamer Kreuzbandriss |language=de |publisher=Bild.de |date=1 October 2012 |access-date=12 October 2012}} The couple got married in December 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.albinfo.ch/sq/e-diaspora/bajramaj-prej-dje-fatmire-alushi |title=Bajramaj, prej dje, Fatmire Alushi | albinfo.ch |access-date=14 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219015134/http://www.albinfo.ch/sq/e-diaspora/bajramaj-prej-dje-fatmire-alushi |archive-date=19 February 2014 }} 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".{{cite web |title=Fatmire Alushi ist schwanger und fehlt bei der WM |url=https://www.kicker.de/fatmire-alushi-ist-schwanger-und-fehlt-bei-der-wm-627122/artikel |website=Kicker |access-date=15 May 2015 |language=de |date=15 May 2015}}
Career statistics
:Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Alushi goal.
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"|1 | 29 July 2007 | Magdeburg, Germany | {{fbw|DEN}} | align="center"|3–0 | align="center"|4–0 | Friendly |
| align="center"|2 | rowspan="2"|21 August 2008 | rowspan="2"|Beijing, China | rowspan="2"|{{fbw|JPN}} | align="center"|1–0 | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|2–0 | rowspan="2"|2008 Summer Olympics |
| align="center"|3 | align="center"|2–0 | |||||
| align="center"|4 | rowspan="2"|24 August 2009 | rowspan="2"|Tampere, Finland | rowspan="2"|{{fbw|NOR}} | align="center"|2–0 | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|4–0 | rowspan="2"|UEFA Women's Euro 2009 |
| align="center"|5 | align="center"|4–0 | |||||
| align="center"|6 | 7 September 2009 | Helsinki, Finland | {{fbw|NOR}} | align="center"|3–1 | align="center"|3–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2009 |
| align="center"|7 | 17 February 2010 | Duisburg, Germany | {{fbw|PRK}} | align="center"|1–0 | align="center"|3–0 | Friendly |
| align="center"|8 | 15 September 2010 | Dresden, Germany | {{fbw|CAN}} | align="center"|2–0 | align="center"|5–0 | Friendly |
| align="center"|9 | rowspan="2"|17 September 2011 | rowspan="2"|Augsburg, Germany | rowspan="2"|{{fbw|SUI}} | align="center"|1–0 | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|4–1 | rowspan="2"|UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying |
| align="center"|10 | align="center"|2–0 | |||||
| align="center"|11 | 22 October 2011 | Bucharest, Romania | {{fbw|ROU}} | align="center"|2–0 | align="center"|3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying |
| align="center"|12 | 19 November 2011 | Wiesbaden, Germany | {{fbw|KAZ}} | align="center"|11–0 | align="center"|17–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying |
| align="center"|13 | 19 September 2012 | Duisburg, Germany | {{fbw|TUR}} | align="center"|8–0 | align="center"|10–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying |
| align="center"|14 | 21 September 2013 | Cottbus, Germany | {{fbw|RUS}} | align="center"|5–0 | align="center"|9–0 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| align="center"|15 | 26 October 2013 | Koper, Slovenia | {{fbw|SVN}} | align="center"|8–0 | align="center"|13–0 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| align="center"|16 | rowspan="3"|8 May 2014 | rowspan="3"|Osnabrück, Germany | rowspan="3"|{{fbw|SVK}} | align="center"|1–0 | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|9–1 | rowspan="3"|2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| align="center"|17 | align="center"|3–0 | |||||
| align="center"|18 | align="center"|6–0 |
Honours
Germany
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
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Fatmire Bajramaj}}
- {{FIFA|237704|Fatmire Alushi}}
- {{UEFA|99263|Fatmire Alushi}}
- {{Soccerway|fatmire-bajramaj/18053|Fatmire Alushi}}
- {{DFB|58509|Fatmire Alushi}}
- {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016213013/https://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=131&no_cache=1&action=showPlayer&player=bajramaj_fatmire |title=Fatmire Bajramaj at DFB}}
- {{Olympics.com profile|fatmire-bajramaj|Fatmire Bajramaj}}
- {{SR/Olympics|ba/lira-bajramaj-1|Lira Bajramaj}}
- {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031004541/http://www.lirab.com/cms/website.php |title=LiraB.com official website}}
{{German Women's Footballer of the Year}}
{{Navboxes
|bg= white
|fg= black
|title= Germany squads
|list1=
{{Germany squad 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup}}
{{Germany women's football squad 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{Germany squad 2009 UEFA Women's European Championship}}
{{Germany squad 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup}}
{{Germany squad 2013 UEFA Women's European Championship}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alushi, Fatmire}}
Category:German women's footballers
Category:Germany women's international footballers
Category:German expatriate women's footballers
Category:Expatriate women's footballers in France
Category:Women's association football midfielders
Category:Eintracht Frankfurt (women) players
Category:1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players
Category:Frauen-Bundesliga players
Category:2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Category:2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Category:Première Ligue players
Category:FCR 2001 Duisburg players
Category:FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players
Category:Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:German expatriate sportspeople in France
Category:German people of Albanian descent
Category:Sportspeople of Albanian descent
Category:Kosovan emigrants to Germany
Category:Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Germany
Category:Olympic medalists in football
Category:Olympic footballers for Germany
Category:Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players
Category:Footballers from the District of Peja
Category:UEFA Women's Championship–winning players
Category:Yugoslav emigrants to Germany
Category:Footballers from Peja