1. Besart Selim Berisha was born on 29 July 1985 and is a Kosovan professional football coach and former player who is the current assistant manager of Kosovo Superleague club Prishtina.
36 Facts About Besart Berisha
1. 2.
Besart Berisha then moved to various German teams, such as Berliner FC Dynamo, TSV Lichtenberg, SV Lichtenberg 47 until 2003, when he moved to NOFV-Oberliga club Tennis Borussia Berlin, where a 17-year-old Berisha won the national youth league's golden boot, outclassing future Germany strikers, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski.
3.
Besart Berisha stayed for just a year before being spotted by Bundesliga club Hamburger SV.
4.
On 6 December 2006, Besart Berisha became the first Albanian ever to score a goal in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League by scoring his first goal for Hamburg in the match against CSKA Moscow at home in Hamburg.
5.
Besart Berisha did not exert an influence in the 20 minutes that he spent on the field having just flown to America 24 hours earlier from Albania.
6.
Besart Berisha played only once, against Club Brugge on 23 October 2008, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute.
7.
Besart Berisha joined AC Horsens on loan on 8 January 2009 but returned prematurely to Burnley FC on 26 May 2009 despite having scored some important goals for AC Horsens.
8.
Besart Berisha finished the season with a total of 19 appearances, 12 as a starter.
9.
Besart Berisha scored his first goal for Brisbane in round two against Sydney FC.
10.
On 14 January 2012, Besart Berisha was involved in an on-field melee with Sydney FC defender Pascal Bosschaart.
11.
Besart Berisha became the first Albanian to score in two different Champions Leagues when he scored against FC Tokyo in the Asian Champions League.
12.
Besart Berisha finished the season with 23 goals from 35 games, a record for a player in a season for Brisbane.
13.
Besart Berisha scored a number of important goals for Brisbane as they struggled to find the form that won them two consecutive championships; he scored the sole goal in Round 9 as ten man Brisbane saw off Newcastle Jets at home.
14.
Besart Berisha scored on his return from suspension, netting a 90th-minute winner against Central Coast Mariners.
15.
Besart Berisha made his A-League debut for the Victory in their first round clash with the Western Sydney Wanderers.
16.
At this point of his Melbourne Victory career, Besart Berisha had played a combined total of five games for the club, scoring seven goals and giving one assist.
17.
Besart Berisha's goal scoring tally went up to 13 goals in the regular part of season, thus helping Melbourne Victory to win Premiership.
18.
In November 2016, Besart Berisha was announced as seeking Australian citizenship, after spending the required five years in the country, to be naturalised.
19.
Besart Berisha will be eligible for citizenship in October 2017.
20.
On 17 December 2016, Besart Berisha scored the winning goal in the 22nd Melbourne Derby.
21.
In June 2018, Melbourne Victory confirmed Besart Berisha left the club to join J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
22.
Besart Berisha is officially presented after signing a year and a half contract.
23.
On 27 September 2019, Besart Berisha returned to the A-League, joining expansion club Western United, who are a rival of his old club Melbourne Victory.
24.
In July 2021, following two years at the club, Besart Berisha left at the end of his contract.
25.
On 15 September 2021, Besart Berisha joined Football Superleague of Kosovo side Prishtina.
26.
Seven days later, the club confirmed that Besart Berisha's transfer was permanent and received squad number 33.
27.
On 27 January 2022, Besart Berisha announced through his Instagram account that he has retired from football.
28.
Besart Berisha started applying for Albanian citizenship in September 2006 along with Mergim Mavraj, Genc Mehmeti and Alban Dragusha, this following the recommendations of Hans-Peter Briegel before he resigned from his role as the manager of the Albania national team.
29.
Besart Berisha received the Albanian citizenship on 7 September 2006 along with Mavraj.
30.
Besart Berisha scored his first 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.
31.
Besart Berisha was in the starting line up and managed to score in the 46th minute of the second half.
32.
On 5 April 2014, he was asked by Albania national team coach Gianni De Biasi to play again for Albania only for the official matches valid for UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers and Besart Berisha asked just ten days for final response.
33.
In January 2016, Besart Berisha declared that he was interested in representing Albania in UEFA Euro 2016.
34.
On 16 August 2016, it was announced that Besart Berisha had accepted an invitation to represent Kosovo, after it was officially recognized by UEFA and FIFA in May 2016.
35.
Besart Berisha said he would be available for selection again should Bunjaki leave his role as coach of the Kosovo national team.
36.
Besart Berisha was born in Pristina and raised in Germany and he is the brother-in-law of Kosovan footballers Enis Fetahu and Kosovo international Samir Ujkani.