Etrit Berisha

He remained on the bench until the 9th game week on 28 April where he was handed his professional debut by Nanne Bergstrand against Örebro SK, in a game which his side won 4–1.

He experienced a run of six games in goal for Kalmar, and his side went unbeaten during these games.

Towards the end of the season he cemented his spot as the first choice goalkeeper with some impressive displays, losing just once during the 14 league games he played in, and keeping seven clean sheets in the process.

He also featured in the semi-final of the Svenska Cupen against Hammarby, with the game going to penalties following a 2–2 draw.

Kalmar ended up losing 6–5 on penalties, as Berisha failed to save any penalties.

Etrit Fadil Berisha (born 10 March 1989) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Empoli and captains the Albania national team.

At 2 Korriku he remained until the club ceased operations during the Kosovo War between 1998 and 1999.

He returned to the club after the war once the club was reorganised.

The club was experiencing financial difficulties so the youth players, including Berisha, moved to KF KEK in nearby Obilić/Kastriot in 2004, where he would remain until 2 Korriku was able to take in youth players once again in 2007.

He soon began training with the first team at 2 Korriku and he was also invited to train with FK Bashkimi in Kumanovo, Macedonia by fellow Kosovar Albanian Bylbyl Sokoli, who was the club's head coach at the time, in order to enjoy better facilities than those found in Kosovo.

Berisha went on trial at Swedish side Kalmar in 2007, and this was made possible by Albert Bunjaki, who was the head coach of the unofficial Kosovo national team as well as being part of the coaching staff at Kalmar.

Berisha began his career at local club KF 2 Korriku as a youngster, as well also playing youth football with KF KEK, before joining Kalmar in 2008, initially as part of their youth setup.

His trial was successful and he was offered a contract by the club, and he initially joined the under-19s side at Kalmar in January 2008 as he was considered too young and inexperienced for first team football at the time and was later during the 2009 season loaned out for a short stint with local Division II club Lindsdals IF to gain first team experience.

He was promoted to the first team in 2010, and soon made his debut for the club, establishing himself as a first team player with fourteen league appearances in his debut season.

He impressed in the youth side and was eventually promoted to the first team ahead of the 2010 Allsvenskan, where he was initially regarded as backup to veteran goalkeeper and Kalmar legend, Petter Wastå.

His first taste of first team football came in the first game of the season on 13 March 2010 against IFK Göteborg, where he was an unused substitute in the 3–0 home loss.

Berisha debuted for Kalmar on 28 April 2010 against Örebro SK and won 4–1.

After making fourteen appearances in his debuting season, he became Kalmar's starting goalkeeper.

He cemented his position as the club's first choice keeper during the 2011 Allsvenskan campaign, helping his side achieve a mid-table finish as well as reach the 2011 Svenska Cupen final, which he did not play in as his side lost.

Berisha is from Kosovo but is able to represent Albania through his Albanian ethnicity, and he was first called up to the Albania national team in 2012 by Italian head coach Gianni De Biasi, where he made his international debut against Iran on 27 May 2012.

Berisha scored his first goal for Kalmar against Cliftonville in the Europa League qualification rounds and scored his first goal in the Allsvenskan against champions Helsingborgs IF, scoring from the penalty spot in the 38th minute in 2012.

But the game resulted in Berisha's worst ever result, with the final score at 7–2.

Berisha became a penalty taker at Kalmar and would score all of his goals from the penalty spot.

Berisha remained the club's first choice goalkeeper, and his performances earned him the Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year award for the 2013 campaign.

In the summer of 2013, Italian club Chievo announced that they had a pre-contract agreement in place with Berisha, but he instead joined their Serie A rivals Lazio on a four-year deal, which caused controversy and led to the player being faced with a six-month suspension, although the case was eventually dropped against him.

He competed with Italy international Federico Marchetti for the first choice goalkeeper spot at Lazio.

Berisha played his last game for Kalmar against Halmstads BK on 1 September 2013 and scored from a penalty to give his team the 1–0 victory.

During his time at Kalmar, Club Manager Svante Samuelsson stated that Etrit had developed into a very good goalkeeper during his time at Kalmar, and had worked very determinedly along with the skilled goalkeeper trainer Donald Arvidsson.

Berisha was liked by the fans, especially in the 2013 season as he was the main factor in keeping the club at fifth place with a chance for winning the league.

On 2 September 2013, Etrit Berisha officially signed for S.S. Lazio in the summer transfer period.

During his debut season for Lazio, Berisha was named as the second choice behind Federico Marchetti by the coach Vladimir Petković.

He managed to make his debut on 7 November 2013 in a 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage match against Apollon Limassol which resulted in a 2–1 victory for Lazio and Berisha played as a starter to complete the full 90-minutes match although Federico Marchetti was present on the bench.

His impressive performance convinced the coach Vladimir Petković to give him another starting place in the next Europa League fixture against Legia Warszawa three weeks later, and Berisha managed to keep the clean-sheet by making some notable saves to help his team to take an away 2–0 win.

Once again Berisha played in the Europa League for the third consecutive match, played on 12 December 2013 against Trabzonspor, keeping also another clean sheet in a 0–0 draw.

He was initially a backup for Samir Ujkani, but after just a few matches became Albania's first choice goalkeeper, with Ujkani switching allegiances to represent Kosovo in 2014.

In December 2013 the first choice Federico Marchetti got injured and Berisha gained the chance to make his league debut on 6 January 2014 against Inter Milan under a new coach Edoardo Reja which was appointed on 4 January 2014.

Against Inter Milan Berisha played the full 90-minutes match and kept a clean sheet to help Lazio to win 1–0.

Beridha played an instrumental role in Albania qualifying for its first major international tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, becoming a fan favourite in the process.

Berisha was born in Pristina, in present-day Kosovo, to ethnic Albanian parents.

He began his youth career aged eight in local side KF 2 Korriku as a midfielder before switching to a goalkeeper.