Ilaz_Zylfiu

Iljasa Zulfiji

Iljasa Zulfiji

Albanian footballer

Iljasa Zulfiji (Serbian Cyrillic: Иљаса Зулфији; Albanian: Ilaz Zylfiu; born 27 March 1998) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Kazakhstani club Zhenis.[2]

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Club career

Radnik Surdulica

Born in Miratovac, a small town in the municipality of Preševo as a member of Albanian ethnic group,[3] Zulfiji started playing football at the age of 10.[5] 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, Zulfiji signed a one-year scholarship contract with Radnik in February 2017.[6] He was also loaned on dual registration to the Serbian League East side Pukovac,[7] making six appearances until the end of the 2016–17 campaign.[8]

In summer 2017, Zulfiji joined the first team of Radnik Surdulica under coach Simo Krunić,[9] but moved on new loan deal to Ozren Sokobanja shortly after.[10] 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 Zulfiji returned to Radnik ending of November same year.[11]

On 29 November 2017, Zulfiji made his official debut for Radnik Surdulica, replacing Miloš Stanković in 69 minute of the Serbian SuperLiga match against Red Star Belgrade.[12] He has been reported as the first Albanian footballer in the club history since finding in 1926.[13] In February 2018, Zulfiji signed his first four-your professional contract with Radnik,[14] after which he extended his loan deal to Ozren until the end of 2017–18 campaign.[15]

Returning from loan deal in summer 2018, Zulfiji started new season preparing under coach Mladen Dodić,[16] but after being excluded from the 2018–19 Serbian SuperLiga player list, Zulfiji mutually terminated the contract and left Radnik as a free agent on the last day of July same year, along with teammate Krsta Đorđević.[17]

Playing style

Zulfiji 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.[18] He has also promoted himself as a free kick taker, scoring in a match against Jedinstvo Paraćin.[19][20] He is often compared with Fadil Vokrri, a former Kosovo Albanian football forward.[4][10][18]

Career statistics

As of 3 August 2023[1]
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References

  1. [1]
    Iljasa Zulfiji at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. [2]
    "Zulfiji Iljasa". FK Radnik Surdulica official website (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. [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. [4]
    "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. [5]
    "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.
  6. [6]
    ""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.
  7. [7]
    "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.
  8. [8]
    "Zulfiu, Iljasa". srbijafudbal.com (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. [9]
    "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.
  10. [10]
    "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.
  11. [11]
    ""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.
  12. [12]
    "Crvena zvezda - Radnik 5:0" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  13. [13]
    "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.
  14. [14]
    ""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.
  15. [15]
    ""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.
  16. [16]
    Jovanović, M. (27 June 2018). "Leskovčanin Stanković ponovo u Radniku" [Stanković from Leskovac returned to Radnik] (in Serbian). juznevesti.com. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  17. [17]
    ""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.
  18. [18]
    "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.
  19. [19]
    "ФК Озрен - ФК Јединство Параћин" [FK Ozren - FK Jedinstvo Paraćin]. YouTube (in Serbian). 26 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  20. [20]
    "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.
  21. [21]
    "Zulfiu, Iljasa 2017–18 season". Serbian SuperLiga official website (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 December 2017.
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