Besart Berisha^[1] (born 29 July 1985 in Pristina) is a Kosovar Albanian^[2] footballer who plays for Arminia Bielefeld of the Bundesliga 2 and internationally as a striker for the Albania national football team.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Youth and Hamburger SV

Berisha began his youth career at German NOFV-Oberliga club Tennis Borussia Berlin in 2003 where he stayed for just a year before being spotted by Fußball-Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. After signing for Hamburg he was immediately loaned to Danish Superliga team Aalborg Boldspilkub where he spent a rather unsuccessful spell, playing only 3 games and scoring no goals. ^[3] The following season he was loaned out to fellow Superliga side AC Horsens, where he scored 11 goals in 31 appearances becoming the team's top scorer that season.

For the 2006/2007 football season he remained at Hamburg and was given his chances in the first team. On 6 December 2006 Berisha became the first Albanian ever to score a goal in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League^[3] by scoring his first goal for Hamburg in the match against CSKA Moskva at home in Hamburg, Germany. He went on to make 12 appearances for Hamburg in the 06/07 season, 9 of which were as a substitute.

[edit] Burnley

On 3 July 2007, Burnley purchased Berisha from Hamburg SV for £340,000, this followed his impressive performance for Albania against England B on Burnley's home ground Turf Moor. ^[4] After his performance many European clubs were interested in signing the player ^[3] but Berisha was eventually signed to Burnley on a 3 year deal, subject to the player being granted a work permit. The permit was eventually granted on 3 July 2007 and the deal was completed. ^[5]

Berisha was ruled out for the 2007–2008 season when he picked up an injury whilst playing for his country in an International friendly against Malta.^[6] It was originally believed to be a minor knock to the knee but it was later discovered that the injury was more serious and was likely to keep the player out for 5–6 weeks.^[7] After seeing a surgeon it was further revealed that the player had in fact snapped his cruciate ligament in his knee and would not return to football for a year.^[8] The reason that doctors had originally failed to discover the damaged ligament was due to a build up of fluid in the knee which distorted the scans image.^[6]

10 months after suffering his serious kee injury, Berisha made his return to football in a pre-season friendly match in the USA against Carolina Railhawks, He came on in the 71st minute for Joey Gudjonsson. Berisha had just flown to America 24 hours earlier from Albania which proved to be the reason for him not making an impact in the 20 minutes that he spent on the field. The match ended in defeat for Burnley with a 2-1 loss to the American side.

Despite failing to make a single competitive start for Burnley, on the 31st of July 2009 it was announced that Burnley had agreed the sale of Berisha to German Bundesliga 2 team Arminia Bielefeld for a fee believed to be £75,000.

[edit] Rosenborg

He was loaned out to Rosenborg in the autumn of 2008, scoring twice on his debut against against rivals Molde FK.

[edit] Horsens

Berisha joined AC Horsens on loan on 8 January 2009 and was released to an return to Burnley F.C. on 26 May 2009^[9]. AC Horsens dissolved the loan contract after an incident in training involving Berisha and Kenneth Emil Petersen. Despite scoring some important goals for AC Horsens Berisha returned prematurely to Burnley, where he has a contract still to 2010.

[edit] Arminia Bielefeld

On 5 August 2009, Berisha completed a move back to Germany^[10], joining Second Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld.^[11]

[edit] International football

Besart Berisha received Albanian citizenship in September 2006. He played his first game for the Albania national football team on 11 October 2006, against the Netherlands. He scored his first international goal for Albania on 25 May 2007, during a friendly match with England B played at Turf Moor, in Burnley, England, where he showed impressive form and was the Albanian man of the match.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website (German)
• Burnley Football Club profile
• Besart Berisha career stats at Soccerbase
• Besart Berisha at UEFA.com