Mërgim Mavraj
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Mërgim Mustafë Mavraj[1] | ||
Date of birth | 9 June 1986 | ||
Place of birth | Hanau, West Germany | ||
Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Position(s) |
Centre-back | ||
Youth career | |||
1996–1997 | Sportfreunde Seligenstadt | ||
1997–2003 | Kickers Offenbach | ||
2003–2004 | SG Rosenhöhe Offenbach | ||
2004–2005 | Darmstadt 98 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2005–2007 | Darmstadt 98 | 38 | (2) |
2007–2008 | VfL Bochum II | 8 | (1) |
2007–2010 | VfL Bochum | 65 | (1) |
2011–2014 | Greuther Fürth | 105 | (3) |
2014–2016 | 1. FC Köln | 43 | (0) |
2015 | 1. FC Köln II | 4 | (0) |
2017–2018 | Hamburger SV | 31 | (0) |
2018 | Aris | 5 | (0) |
2019 | FC Ingolstadt | 12 | (0) |
2019–2021 | Greuther Fürth | 42 | (0) |
2021–2022 | Türkgücü München | 13 | (0) |
Total | 366 | (7) | |
International career | |||
2007 | Germany U20 | 1 | (0) |
2007–2009 | Germany U21 | 2 | (0) |
2012–2020 | Albania | 50 | (3) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Mërgim Mustafë Mavraj (born 9 June 1986) is a former professional
Club career
Early career
Mavraj was born in
Darmstadt 98
Mavraj was promoted to the senior SV Darmstadt 98 side during the 2005–06 season, making his professional debut on 18 March 2006 against SC Pfullendorf in the Regionalliga Süd. He started the game in defence, but was sent off in the 51st minute after receiving his second yellow card in the 3–1 away loss. In total during the 2005–06 season he made 13 appearances and scored two goals, helping his side finish fifth in the league. The next season would be his first as a professional footballer, where he played in 25 league games without scoring. His strong performances in the first half of the season did not go unnoticed as he was called up by Germany U21 coach Dieter Eilts for a friendly against Italy in February 2007. The 2006–07 season was a memorable one for Mavraj despite his side finished the campaign 16th in the table.
VfL Bochum
On 1 August 2007, signed to
Greuther Fürth
On 23 January 2011, Mavraj signed to SpVgg Greuther Fürth for 200,000 €. On 29 January 2011 he made his debut at the 2–2 draw against Alemannia Aachen at New Tivoli stadium, coming on as a substitute for Stephan Schröck in the 90th minute. He scored his first goal on 31 July 2011 in a DFB-Pokal game against Eimsbütteler TV finished in a 10–0 victory with Mavraj scoring the opening goal in the 17th minute.[4] On 2 October 2011, he scored his second goal for Greuther Fürth at the 2–2 draw against Karlsruher SC at the 91st of the game. At the 2011–12 season's end, Greuther Fürth got promoted to the Bundesliga.
On 7 August 2012, Mavraj took over from central defensive partner Thomas Kleine as the team captain for the 2012–13 Bundesliga season.[5] He was elected captain by his teammates in a secret ballot, finishing ahead of Thomas Kleine, Gerald Asamoah, Stephan Fürstner and Milorad Peković.[citation needed]
On 3 March 2014, Mavraj scored the victory goal for his team against FSV Frankfurt and Greuther Fürth managed to win three gold points that keep the race for the return to the Bundesliga. The match came from behind two times, as the home team managed to score the opening goal in the tenth minute with Niko Gießelmann, then Frankfurt jumped in attack and managed to overthrow Greuther Fürth in the final minutes of the first-half, where it was Denis Epstein, who scored the equalizer with a penalty, and later was the fellow Albania national striker Edmond Kapllani who managed to stop the ball in the net. Over minutes Greuther Fürth managed to make balance exactly from the penalty, and then Mavraj managed to score in the 87th minute the winning goal for his team.[6]
Greuther Fürth finished third in the 2013–14 2. Bundesliga, advancing to the play-off promotion with Hamburger SV as the 16th position of the Bundesliga.[7] They played in a two-legged game, were the first leg match played in Hamburg ended in a goalless draw with Mavraj playing the full 90-minutes[8] and the second-leg match finishing in the 1–1 draw with Mavraj playing another full 90-minute match, as the two-legged match finished 1–1 on aggregate with Greuther Fürth losing on the away goals rule.[9] Mavraj finished the season with a total of 30 appearances including one match played in the DFB-Pokal.
1. FC Köln
Mavraj had declared early that if Greuther Fürth didn't win promotion to the Bundesliga for the next season, he would leave the club after his contract expired on 30 June 2014[10] and on 19 May 2014, 2. Bundesliga winners and thus just recently promoted to the Bundesliga, 1. FC Köln announced to have signed Mavraj on a three-year contract until 30 June 2017.[11]
On 19 December 2015, Mavraj returned to the football fields after seven months absence, playing the last minutes in the 2–1 triumph over Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga.[12] That was his 100th Bundesliga appearance.
Hamburger SV
On 27 December 2016, Mavraj signed with fellow
On 31 January 2017, Mavraj was selected in the best eleven of the first half of the 2016–17 Bundesliga in a voting competition where he took 26% of total votes, one percent less than Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Borussia Dortmund, leaving behind centre-backs such as Bayern Munich duo Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng.[18]
In the start of the 2017–18 season, on 10 August 2017 Mavraj was named Vice-captain of Hamburger SV among fellow defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos.[19]
Aris
On 5 September 2018, Aris announced the signing of Mavraj, on a two-year contract. On 2 January 2019, after a rather mediocre season, he resolved his contract with the club, ahead of a move to 2. Bundesliga club FC Ingolstadt.[20] On 12 October 2018, Mavraj announced that he had obtained a Greek passport.[21]
FC Ingolstadt
On 3 January 2019, FC Ingolstadt 04 announced the signing of Mavraj, on a 1.5-year contract.[22]
International career
Germany youth national teams
Mavraj represented Germany at various youth levels.
Albania
Mavraj was eligible to play for Albania because his parents are ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. He started applying for the Albanian citizenship in September 2006 along with
Germany U21
Following his refusal to represent Albania in February 2007, he received German citizenship later the same month and immediately joined the German U21 national team.[25][26][27] He made his debut for the U21 side on 21 February 2007 against Italy in a friendly, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute for Torben Joneleit in the goalless draw. Following his debut for Germany U21, he had trouble breaking into the team and did not feature again for over two years. His next and final game for Germany U21 came on 31 March 2012 against Belarus in 1–1 draw, with Mavraj playing the full game at centre back.
Albania national team
Following good performances with new club Greuther Fürth he grabbed the attention of the FSHF for a third time, this time more reluctantly as Albania were in need of a quality defender. Despite making it clear that he would never play for Albania, the FSHF opened the door to Mavraj once again. He publicly announced in 2012 that he would make himself available for selection by the national team, which Gianni De Biasi did for friendlies against Qatar and Iran.[32]
He made his senior international debut against Qatar on 22 May 2012 at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas, Madrid, Spain in a game which ended in a 2–1 victory for Albania.
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
He made it his first official debut for Albania on 7 September 2012 in the opening match of the
Mavraj scored the first goal for the Albania team on 8 June 2014 against San Marino, where he played as a starter and scored in the 28th minute the opening goal of a 3–0 victory.[36]
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers
Mavraj started another qualification campaign, the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers, as on 7 September 2014 he played a full 90-minutes match in the 1–0 away victory against Portugal.[37] He made it a good performance in this opening match of the qualifiers and was included in the best eleven team of the first round matches of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[38]
On 14 November 2014, Mavraj scored his second goal for Albania during the "Group I" centralised
Euro 2016
On 21 May 2016, Mavraj was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016,[42] and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro squad on 31 May.[43] On 28 May, he captained his side for the first time during the Euro 2016 warm-up match against Qatar, which ended in a 3–1 win, becoming the youngest ever captain.[44]
Mavraj played every minute of all Group A matches as Albania were eliminated by ranking in the third place behind hosts France against which they lost 2–0 and Switzerland against which they also lost 1–0 in the opening match and ahead of Romania by beating them 1–0 in the closing match with a goal by Armando Sadiku.[45] Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference –2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.[46]
Personal life
His first name Mërgim means 'migration' in Albanian.[citation needed]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe[a] | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Darmstadt 98 | 2005–06 | Regionalliga Süd | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | |||
2006–07 | 25 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||||
Total | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | ||
VfL Bochum II | 2007–08 | Oberliga Westfalen | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
2008–09 | Regionalliga West | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
Total | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
VfL Bochum | 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | |||
2008–09 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 0 | ||||
2009–10 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||||
2010–11 | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
Total | 65 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 1 | ||
Greuther Fürth | 2010–11 | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
2011–12 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 3 | ||||
2012–13 | Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | |||
2013–14 | 2. Bundesliga | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
Total | 105 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 114 | 4 | ||
1. FC Köln II | 2015–16 | Regionalliga West | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
1. FC Köln | 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
2015–16 | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||||
2016–17 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
Total | 43 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
Hamburger SV | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||||
Total | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
Aris | 2018–19
|
Super League
|
5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
FC Ingolstadt | 2018–19 | 2. Bundesliga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
Greuther Fürth | 2019–20 | 2. Bundesliga | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | ||
2020–21 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||||
Total | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
Türkgücü München | 2021–22 | 3. Liga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
Career total | 366 | 7 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 390 | 8 |
- ^ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in 2013–14 Bundesliga relegation play-offs
- ^ Appearances in league play-offs
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Albania | 2012 | 8 | 0 |
2013 | 6 | 0 | |
2014 | 8 | 2 | |
2015 | 1 | 1 | |
2016 | 11 | 0 | |
2017 | 6 | 0 | |
2018 | 8 | 0 | |
2019 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 50 | 3 |
- Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mavraj goal.
No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 June 2014 | Serravalle , San Marino |
17 | San Marino | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
[50] |
2 | 14 November 2014 | Stade de la Route de Lorient, Rennes , France |
21 | France | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [39] |
3 | 29 March 2015 | Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, Albania | 23 | Armenia | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying | [51] |
Honours
Greuther Fürth
References
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- ^ Yjet e Istogut Archived 14 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine K.F. Istogu "Mërgim Mavraj - Greuther Fürth: Mërgim Mavraj është lojtarë me origjinë nga Istogu, prindërit i ka nga Starodrane i Istokut. U lind më 9 Qershor 1986 në Hanau."
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Kur i keni patur fillesat me futbollin? Kur keni filluar të luani si futbollist profesionist? Kam filluar të luaj kur isha rreth 10 vjec.
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- ^ a b "Mërgim Mavraj". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Mergim Mavraj - national football team player". EU-Football.info. 31 March 2016. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
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External links
- Mërgim Mavraj at Soccerway
- Mërgim Mavraj at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Mërgim Mavraj at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mërgim Mavraj at the Albanian Football Association(in Albanian and English)
- Mërgim Mavraj – Euro 2016 profile at FSHF.org