Shani Tarashaj
Personal information
Full name Shani Tarashaj[1]
Date of birth (1995-02-07) 7 February 1995
Place of birth Hausen am Albis, Switzerland
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
2005–2006 Hausen am Albis
2006–2008 Red Star Zürich
2008–2011 Grasshoppers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Grasshoppers U21 38 (11)
2014–2015 Grasshoppers 37 (9)
2016–2020 Everton 0 (0)
2016 → Grasshoppers (loan) 15 (3)
2016–2017 → Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 13 (1)
2018–2019 → Grasshoppers (loan) 9 (0)
2019–2020 → Emmen (loan) 0 (0)
2021–2022 Zürich U21 12 (1)
Total 124 (25)
International career
2010 Switzerland U15 1 (0)
2010–2011 Switzerland U16 10 (7)
2011–2012 Switzerland U17 10 (6)
2012 Switzerland U18 3 (3)
2013–2014 Switzerland U19 13 (11)
2014–2015 Switzerland U20 4 (1)
2014–2016 Switzerland U21 7 (5)
2016 Switzerland 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Shani Tarashaj (born 7 February 1995) is a Swiss retired professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Tarashaj was born in Hausen am Albis, Switzerland. He grew up in youth teams of Grasshopper Club Zürich.[2] Tarashaj made his Swiss Super League debut on 2 August 2014, coming on as a substitute for Alexander Merkel in a 0–0 draw against FC Sion.[3] Tarashaj started 2015–16 by scoring 5 goals in his first 4 games, including two braces against FC Zurich and FC Lugano. His contract with Grasshopper was renewed, extended to 2019.

On 7 January 2016, Tarashaj joined English club Everton on a 4+1⁄2-year deal. He was loaned back to Grasshopper, until the end of the season so that he could complete his national service.[4] He was loaned to German club Eintracht Frankfurt for the 2016–17 season.[5]

On 19 July 2018, Tarashaj returned to Grasshopper on a season-long loan deal with an option to make the deal permanent.[6]

Tarashaj moved to FC Emmen for a 2-season loan deal in July 2019.[7] His loan spell was cancelled in October 2020 and on his return, he was released by Everton.[8]

On 11 January 2021, Tarashaj joined Zürich, initially linking up with the club's under–21 side.[9]

On 7 October 2022, Tarashaj retired from football due to injuries.

International career

Switzerland

Tarashaj was eligible to represent three countries on international level, either Albania,[10] Kosovo or Switzerland. From 2010, until 2016, Tarashaj has been part of Switzerland at youth international level, respectively has been part of all youth teams and he with these teams played 48 matches and scored 33 goals.

On 18 March 2016, Tarashaj received a call-up from senior Swiss team for the friendly matches against Republic of Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[11] His senior debut came seven days later in the friendly match against Republic of Ireland after coming on as a substitute at 71st minute in place of Blerim Džemaili.[12] On 30 May 2016, Tarashaj was named as part of the Switzerland squad for UEFA Euro 2016,[13] but only made a single appearance, coming on as a late substitute against Romania.[14]

Proposed Kosovo switch

In July 2016, Tarashaj after the end of UEFA Euro 2016 applied for a Kosovo passport at the Kosovan Consulate in Zürich and after receiving the passport, he attempted to switch from Switzerland to Kosovo, but this switch was rejected by FIFA, because he had played competitive matches with Switzerland after Kosovo's admission to UEFA and FIFA.[15]

Return to Switzerland

On 7 October 2016, Tarashaj after not being able to switch to Kosovo, returned to Switzerland, where he played with under-21 team in a 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Norway after being named in the starting line-up.[16] Three days later, he was named as a senior team substitute in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Andorra.[17]

Personal life

Born and raised in Switzerland, Tarashaj is of Kosovo Albanian origin from Prizren.[18] In December 2019, he completes his military service in the Swiss Armed Forces.[19] On 28 June 2021, Tarashaj enters politics by becoming a member of the Diaspora branch of the Democratic Party of Kosovo in Zürich.[20]

Career statistics

As of 6 May 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Grasshopper Club Zürich 2014–15[21] Swiss Super League 19111004000242
2015–16[22] 18810000000198
2015–16 (loan)[22] 15300000000153
Total 5212210040005813
Everton 2016–17[23] Premier League 000000000000
Total 000000000000
Career total 5212210040005813

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Als kleiner Bub verehrte GCs Shani Tarashaj Ronaldo". 8 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Grasshoppers vs. FC Sion – 2 August 2014 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  4. ↑ "Everton sign Swiss midfielder Tarashaj". BBC Sport. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Tarashaj loaned to Frankfurt". Everton F.C. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "GC VERPFLICHTET TARASHAJ" (in German). Grasshopper Club Zürich. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "FC Emmen rents five-time Swiss international Tarashaj from Everton | tellerreport.com". www.tellerreport.com. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  8. ↑ "TARASHAJ LEAVES EVERTON". Everton F.C. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Shani Tarashaj hat Aufbautraining beim FC Zürich begonnen" (in German). FC Zürich. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "De Biasi: Manaj, Tarashaj dhe Kamberi, e ardhmja e Shqipërisë" [De Biasi: Manaj, Tarashaj and Kamberi, the future of Albania] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 7 August 2015.
  11. ↑ @nati_sfv_asf (March 18, 2016). "Vladimir #Petkovic verzichtet auf Gökhan Gökhan #Inler und bietet drei neue Spieler auf: Elvedi, Senderos & Tarashaj" [Vladimir #Petkovic renounces Gökhan Gökhan #Inler and offers three new players: Elvedi, Senderos & Tarashaj] (Tweet) (in German) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ "Republic of Ireland vs. Switzerland 1–0". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Liste des joueurs UEFA EURO 2016 FRANCE" [List of players UEFA EURO 2016 FRANCE] (PDF) (in French). Swiss Football Association. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Romania vs. Switzerland 1–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Një karrierë e shkëlqyer e Shani Tarashajt, por që përfundoi në moshën 27-vjeçare – Nga kërkesa në FIFA për të luajtur me Kosovën, te miqësia me Lukakun, golin në Bundesliga dhe paraqitja në evropian me Zvicrën" [A great career of Shani Tarashaj, but that ended at the age of 27 – From the request to FIFA to play with Kosovo, to the friendship with Lukaku, the goal in the Bundesliga and the European appearance with Switzerland] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 1 January 2023.
  16. ↑ @nati_sfv_asf (October 7, 2016). "Die Schweizer U21-Startelf gegen #Norwegen! @UEFAUnder21 #U21EURO #NORSUI #RoadtoPoland#HoppSchwiiz" [The Swiss U21 starting eleven against #Norway! @UEFAUnder21 #U21EURO #NORSUI #RoadtoPoland#HoppSchwiiz] (Tweet) (in German) – via Twitter.
  17. ↑ "Andorra vs. Switzerland 1–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  18. ↑ Thomas Kilchenstein (19 October 2016). "Eine Chance für Shani" [A chance for Shani] (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau.
  19. ↑ "E rrallë, futbollisti kosovar e kryen shërbimin ushtarak në Zvicër" [Rarely, the Kosovan footballer completes his military service in Switzerland]. IndeksOnline (in Albanian). 2 December 2019.
  20. ↑ "PDK-ja paraqet "super aderimin", ish-reprezentuesin e Zvicrës" [The DPK presents the "super accession", the former representative of Switzerland] (in Albanian). Koha Ditore. 28 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Games played by Shani Tarashaj in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  22. 1 2 "Games played by Shani Tarashaj in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Shani Tarashaj in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Das ist der neue Meisterpokal der Super League – Embolo und GC räumen bei SFL Award Night ab". watson.ch (in German). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
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