Fatos Bećiraj Explained

Fatos Bećiraj
Birth Date:5 May 1988
Birth Place:Peć, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia[1]
Height:1.88m
Position:Striker
Youthyears1:2005–2007
Youthclubs1:Shqiponja
Years1:2007
Clubs1:Besa Pejë
Years2:2008–2010
Clubs2:Budućnost
Caps2:81
Goals2:39
Years3:2010–2014
Clubs3:Dinamo Zagreb
Caps3:90
Goals3:30
Years4:2014
Clubs4:Changchun Yatai
Caps4:28
Goals4:7
Years5:2015
Clubs5:Dinamo Minsk
Caps5:23
Goals5:9
Years6:2016–2017
Clubs6:Dynamo Moscow
Caps6:60
Goals6:13
Years7:2018
Clubs7:Mechelen
Caps7:4
Goals7:0
Years8:2018–2020
Clubs8:Maccabi Netanya
Caps8:54
Goals8:20
Years9:2020–2021
Clubs9:Wisła Kraków
Caps9:10
Goals9:0
Years10:2021
Clubs10:Bnei Yehuda (loan)
Caps10:13
Goals10:2
Years11:2021
Clubs11:Astana
Caps11:7
Goals11:2
Years12:2022
Clubs12:Dečić
Caps12:32
Goals12:6
Years13:2023
Clubs13:Mornar
Caps13:16
Goals13:2
Totalcaps:418
Totalgoals:130
Nationalyears1:2009–2010
Nationalteam1:Montenegro U21
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:2009–2021
Nationalteam2:Montenegro
Nationalcaps2:86
Nationalgoals2:15
Pcupdate:3 June 2023
Ntupdate:16 November 2021

Fatos Bećiraj (Фатос Бећирај, Albanian: Fatos Besim Beqiraj; born 5 May 1988) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career and Budućnost

Bećiraj began his career in his hometown of Peja with the local club Shqiponja at 17 years of age, before joining their city rivals Besa Pejë in July 2007. After spending the first half of the 2007–08 season with Besa Pejë, his good performances in the Kosovar Superliga attracted attention from several clubs in the region, and in January 2008, Bećiraj moved to the Montenegrin First League side Budućnost Podgorica.

He immediately established himself as a first team regular at Budućnost, scoring 9 goals in 15 appearances in the second half of the 2007–08 season, helping the club win the Montenegrin championship title and finish runners-up in the 2007–08 Montenegrin Cup. In the following two seasons, Bećiraj scored 28 league goals in 62 matches for the club, becoming league top scorer in the 2008–09 season with 18 goals scored.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 30 August 2010, it was announced that Bećiraj signed for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.[2] He played well in his debut season with Dinamo and became regularly called up to the Montenegro national team. He played in 22 league matches and scored 8 goals, most notably a beautiful goal against Rijeka and a fine header against Hajduk Split.

Bećiraj struggled to find his goalscoring form at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, finally scoring after eight matches without a goal, netting the fifth goal in a 5–0 win against Karlovac. He then scored the last goal in a 4–1 win against Malmö in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League Play-off. Bećiraj then continued his goalscoring form in domestic competition, scoring against Varaždin, Istra 1961, Zadar, Šibenik and Split.On 22 November 2011, Bećiraj scored Dinamo's first goal in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, netting a header in the club's 6–2 away loss to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.[3]

Bećiraj was the first choice striker throughout the 2011–12 season and became top scorer of the Prva HNL with 15 goals in 28 appearances, becoming the first foreign player to accomplish that feat.

Changchun Yatai

In February 2014, Bećiraj transferred to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai.[4] On 8 March 2014, he made his debut for Yatai in a 1-0 away defeat against Beijing Guoan. On 23 April 2014, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3-1 away win against defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande. He made 28 appearances for Yatai in the 2014 season and scored 7 goals.

Dinamo Minsk

In January 2015, Bećiraj transferred to Belarusian Premier League side Dinamo Minsk. On 6 August 2015, he scored a 118th-minute winner in a 1–1 extra-time (2–1 aggregate) win over Swiss side Zürich in the second leg of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.[5]

Dynamo Moscow

On 18 February 2016, Bećiraj signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian side Dynamo Moscow.[6] He scored his first goal for Dynamo Moscow on 19 March 2016, giving his club a 1–0 win against Ufa.[7] On 11 January 2018, Bećiraj's Dynamo contract was dissolved by mutual consent, making him a free agent.[8]

Mechelen

The day after leaving Dynamo Moscow, on 12 January 2018, Bećiraj signed a contract with the Belgian First Division A club Mechelen.[9] [10]

Maccabi Netanya

On 5 September 2018, Bećiraj signed with Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Netanya. He was the top goalscorer for the club in his debut season scoring 15 goals in all club competitions. His second season with Netanya wasn't as successful, scoring only 7 times in the league and once in the Toto Cup. On 7 June 2020, Bećiraj requested to be released from the club.[11] In the two seasons with the club, he scored a total of 23 goals in 63 appearances for the club.

Wisła Kraków

On July 25, 2020 Bećiraj signed with Polish side Wisła Kraków on a two-year contract after leaving Maccabi Netanya by contract termination.

Bnei Yehuda

On February 11, 2021 Bećiraj signed for Bnei Yehuda of the Israeli Premier League.[12]

International career

Bećiraj was first called up for the Montenegro U21 national team by head coach Dušan Vlaisavljević in 2009, winning his first cap in a 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan on 7 June 2009.[13] He went on to earn five caps for the U21 team before receiving his first call-up for the senior team in March 2009, for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Italy.[14] Bećiraj made his international debut in that match, coming on as a substitute for Radomir Đalović in the 70th minute of the game.[15] He scored his first goal for Montenegro on 17 November 2010 in a friendly match against Azerbaijan.[16] On 7 June 2019, Bećiraj captained Montenegro in a 1–1 draw against Kosovo.[17] In November 2022, Bećiraj announced the end of his national team career, after 86 appearances and 15 scored goals.

Career statistics

Club

[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Budućnost Podgorica2007–08Montenegrin First League159159
2008–09Montenegrin First League32182[18] 23420
2009–10Montenegrin First League30102[19] 03210
2010–11Montenegrin First League424284
Total8139848943
Dinamo Zagreb2010–111. HNL22866603414
2011–121. HNL2815511224518
2012–131. HNL27411102387
2013–141. HNL133324[20] 200207
Total903015103260013746
Changchun Yatai2014Chinese Super League28700287
Dinamo Minsk2015Belarusian Premier League239761244219
Dynamo Moscow2015–16Russian Premier League12210172
2016–17Russian Football National League309313310
2017–18Russian Premier League18200182
Total6013416414
Mechelen2017–18Belgian First Division A400040
Maccabi Netanya2018–19Israeli Premier League3013323315
2019–20Israeli Premier League24761308
Total5420936323
Wisła Kraków2020–21Ekstraklasa10010110
Bnei Yehuda (loan)2020–21Israeli Premier League13200132
Astana2021Kazakhstan Premier League72704[21] 0182
Dečić2021–22Montenegrin First League14130171
2022–23Montenegrin First League185113420
Total32641367
Mornar2022–23Montenegrin First League1622[22] 1183
career total4181304721561421519165

International

National teamYearAppsGoals
Montenegro
200930
201071
201140
201252
201360
201450
201572
201672
201762
201890
2019100
202061
202195
Total8415

International goals

Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.[23]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
scope=colNo.scope=col data-sort-type=dateDatescope=colVenuescope=colCapscope=colOpponentscope=colScorescope=colResultscope=colCompetition
scope=row117 November 2010Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro102–02–0Friendly
scope=row211 September 2012Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino186–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
scope=row33–0
scope=row45 September 2015Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro331–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
scope=row59 October 2015352–12–3
scope=row68 October 2016424–05–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
scope=row711 October 2016Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark431–01–0
scope=row810 June 2017Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro474–1
scope=row91 September 2017Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan482–03–0
scope=row108 September 2020Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg711–01–02020–21 UEFA Nations League C
scope=row1127 March 2021Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro771–04–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
scope=row125 June 2021801–21–3Friendly
scope=row138 October 2021Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar812–03–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
scope=row143–0
scope=row1516 November 2021Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro841–01–2

Honours

Budućnost Podgorica[1]

2007–08

Dinamo Zagreb[1]

2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13

2010–11, 2011–12

2013

Dynamo Moscow[1]

2016–17

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: F. Bećiraj: Summary. 2 June 2020. en. Soccerway. Perform Group.
  2. Web site: Modre redove pojačao i Bećiraj!. 30 August 2010. NK Dinamo Zagreb. hr. 30 August 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101125082329/http://www.nk-dinamo.hr/vijest/prikaz/2564/Default.aspx. 25 November 2010. dead.
  3. http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/nogomet/beqiraj-tomecak-zabili-realu-dinamo-ublazio-poraz-madridu-clanak-34908
  4. News: http://sports.sohu.caom/20140301/n395877518.shtml . zh:亚泰已敲定签约贝奇拉耶 黑山国脚将成进攻核心 . Sohu Sports . 2014-03-01 . zh-cn . 2014-03-02.
  5. Web site: Match Report. UEFA. 25 August 2015. 6 August 2015.
  6. Web site: FC Dynamo Moscow. http://fcdynamo.ru/news/events/?id_4=11973. ru:Бечирай и Хольмен - в «Динамо». 18 February 2016. ru.
  7. Web site: Russian Football Premier League. Ufa-Dynamo game report. ru. 19 March 2016.
  8. Web site: FC Dynamo Moscow. http://fcdynamo.ru/news/events/?id_4=13223. ru:Фатос Бечирай покидает «Динамо». 11 January 2018. ru.
  9. News: De Standaard. KV Mechelen rond (sic) transfer af en haalt met Montenegrijnse international broodnodige spits. 13 January 2018. nl.
  10. Web site: KV Mechelen. NIEUWE SPITS BIJ KVM: FATOS BECIRAJ TEKENT. 12 January 2018. nl. 13 January 2018. 31 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220331223520/https://www.kvmechelen.be/nieuws/a-kern/nieuwe-spits-bij-kvm-fatos-beciraj-tekent/. dead.
  11. Web site: עקב בקשתו: פאטוס בצ'יראי עוזב את מכבי נתניה. 7 June 2020.
  12. Web site: פאטוס בצ'יראי חתם בבני יהודה עד לסיום העונה. Maor. Rahmani. 11 February 2021. 11 February 2021. Hebrew. ONE.
  13. Web site: About Fatos Bećiraj . . cnr . 30 August 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005184547/http://fscg.co.me/index.php?option=com_joomleague&view=player&p=15&tid=79&pid=136&Itemid=180 . 5 October 2011 . dmy .
  14. Web site: Filipović pozvao Bašu i Bećiraja. 22 March 2009. Football Association of Montenegro. cnr. 30 August 2010. 20 November 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101120043424/http://fscg.co.me/20090322365/Vijesti-Selekcije/filipovi-pozvao-bau-i-beiraja.html. dead.
  15. Web site: Montenegro – Italy Match Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20090406034854/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=250471/match=300041118/report.html. dead. 6 April 2009. 28 March 2009. FIFA. 30 August 2010.
  16. Web site: Pobjeda za kraj uspješne godine . sr . 17 November 2010 . 18 November 2010 . fscg.co.me.
  17. Web site: Bondscoach Montenegro weigert te werken tegen Kosovo. 7 June 2019. Goal. nl. 7 June 2019.
  18. Appearances in the Champions League
  19. Appearances in the Europa League
  20. One appearance and a goal in the Champions League, three appearances and a goal in the Europa League
  21. Appearances in the Europa Conference League
  22. Appearances in the Montenegrin First League relegation play-offs
  23. Web site: Fatos Bećiraj . European Football . 19 November 2019.