Albanian Rogue: The Curious Story of Valon Ahmedi

If you type the name Valon Ahmedi into YouTube, you can't avoid clicking on a three-minute video showing a young, not very tall footballer with bright red shoes and longer hair. An inconspicuous footballer, one might think from the first images, as this boy casually juggles the ball during a training session, briskly bounces around the goal posts or casually sets about doing stretching exercises. But then the image suddenly shifts from the training ground to the stadium - and off we go: Rabona cross, fluffy, delicate ball handling, quick start, precise shot, pop music in the background, dribbling, stepovers - yes, wouldn't there be a few on the screen Cut together scenes from Valon Ahmedi's appearances in the Slovenian Prva League flicker, one might think that it is a pure street footballer at work, whose joy in the game is clearly visible. Now, a street football-like player is nothing unusual in the professional game. And so-called compilations with an actor's best scenes are no longer uncommon in the Internet age. The story only becomes special when you consider that this very same Valon Ahmedi played in the Kastelbell Tschars first team five years ago. 2nd amateur league. A professional career about as far away as Leicester City from the Premiere League title. Actually.

An enrichment for Kastelbell football Gerhard Eberhöfer, who is very familiar with the Kastelbell football scene, can still remember Valon very clearly. “He started with us at U-10 age because his family had moved from Macedonia to Vinschgau. Valon was a cabin guy, got along well with everyone - and last but not least, he also had huge talent." With the Vinschgers, Ahmedi won an A youth national championship title, made his debut in the 16nd amateur league team at the tender age of 2 and was heard for the first time in the summer of 2012 FC Südtirol came knocking on his door, whereupon he followed the professional club's call. But the professional business is a tough business. Valon had to admit that too. Although he always stood out in preparation and promoted himself from the Beretti team to the professional team with daring dribbling and great goals, he was never able to really gain a foothold in the third highest Italian league. “The boy lacks bite,” said FCS managing director Dietmar Pfeifer in an interview with SportNews after Ahmedi’s contract was not extended in the summer of 2014.

A rascal Some players' egos would be bitten by such words like a fast food lover's double cheeseburger. But not that of Valon Ahmedi. The boy with Albanian and Macedonian roots didn't pay much attention to this tam-tam and lived up to his name as an eccentric, often simply called a "rogue" in this country, by taking an unusual route to Eastern Europe to the Slovenian first division club NK Celjie. “The Slovenian league,” replied Ahmedi in a written questionnaire, “offers the young players a lot of space to mature, and at the same time the level is also high – that convinced me.” The offensive midfielder was also able to impress himself: after just a few weeks in the jersey of the traditional club, he became a crowd favorite, a newcomer star, so to speak, in a city with a population of 48.000: 19 games, five goals, tricks that drove the opposing defense crazy - and a market value that has skyrocketed from the original 75.000 to a staggering 500.000. The recipe for this sudden explosion of form? “The club trusted me from the start, I was even allowed to carry the number 10 on my back. That’s why I was able to develop my qualities,” was the simple answer of the otherwise bright Albanian.

Christmas and Easter together It's only too understandable that other clubs also became aware of him, including the Dutch first division club Heerenveen. “But the two clubs couldn't come to an agreement.” A thigh injury slowed Ahmedi down later in the season, but at the start of the new 2015/16 season he returned to his old strength - and fulfilled two childhood dreams: Firstly, he ran with Celje in the Euro League qualification, and on the other hand he moved to the most successful Slovenian club of all time, NK Maribor, in the winter. A big step that of course requires a lot of stamina. This also became clear to Ahmedi: a new muscle injury prevented him from taking part in the winter preparations. In the second half of the season he only played two games - “the competition is tough, I know that.” Valon is still fighting for his place in the team this year. And yet he is confident in himself. “Work on yourself – then the results will come.”

From rung to rung By the way: There is a second video on the Internet. Albania versus Belgium is on the top left edge of the picture. A U-19 game. And after countless dribbles, tunnels and moves in which the opponents look no better than extras, a slender 10 leaves the pitch to a standing ovation after the job is done. It's Valon Ahmedi. He is currently playing in Albania's U-21 team - but he knows that the rungs on the career ladder can still lead very far up.

Thomas Debelyak, Sports News

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Albanian Rogue: The Curious Story of Valon Ahmedi

He grew up both as a footballer and as a person in Kastelbell, speaks the South Tyrolean dialect like his native language and has been a professional footballer in the highest Slovenian league for two years: Valon Ahmedi's career has something unique about it.

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