1. Hamdi Abdullah Salihi was born on 19 January 1984 and is an Albanian retired professional footballer who played as a forward.
38 Facts About Hamdi Salihi
1. 2.
An Albania international player, Hamdi Salihi won 50 caps and was a regular starter between 2009 and 2013.
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Hamdi Salihi finished his first full-season by netting 14 goals in 33 league appearances, with Vllaznia finishing third.
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In January 2005, Hamdi Salihi moved for the first time outside the country by joining Panionios in then Alpha Ethniki on a three-year contract.
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Hamdi Salihi left the club following the end of the season and came back to Albania.
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Hamdi Salihi's was followed by another brace one week later against Skenderbeu Korce.
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Hamdi Salihi had a very successful season winning the Albanian Cup and the Golden Boot as the highest scorer of the Albanian Superliga.
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Hamdi Salihi continued with Tirana for another half season, again being the highest scorer in the league before he left to purchase a career outside Albania.
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Hamdi Salihi finished eighth in The IFFHS World's best Top Division Goal Scorer 2006.
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In January 2007, Hamdi Salihi completed a transfer to SV Ried of the Austrian Bundesliga.
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On 31 August 2009, Hamdi Salihi completed a transfer to Austrian giants SK Rapid Wien by penning a three-year contract.
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On 2 February 2012, Hamdi Salihi signed with Major League Soccer side DC United as a designated player.
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Hamdi Salihi forced Guangzhou's Zhang Linpeng to score an own goal in the 18th minute.
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On 1 February 2014, Hamdi Salihi joined Hapoel Ironi Acre on a free transfer by penning an 18-month contract.
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Later on 1 March 2014, Hamdi Salihi scored an overhead bicycle kick inside the zone to beat goalkeeper Amir Edri for his side only goal in the home draw against Maccabi Haifa.
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Hamdi Salihi ended the season with 13 matches played on where scored in total 6 goals.
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On 2 February 2015, Hamdi Salihi signed with Israeli club Hapoel Haifa becoming one of the highest paid players in the domestic league, with a salary of $20,000 per month.
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Hamdi Salihi closed recent disputes between manager Niki Vaknin and club managers, who then agreed and he signed for a year and a half.
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Hamdi Salihi scored 4 goals in 10 games helping the club to ensure survival in the Israeli Premier League.
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In July 2015, it was reported that Hamdi Salihi joined Skenderbeu Korce for their UEFA Champions League campaign, taking the vacant number 14.
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Hamdi Salihi finished the season with 35 goals from 42 match across all competitions, setting a new personal best.
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Hamdi Salihi ended the season winning the Albanian Superliga Golden Boot for the second time, finishing six goals ahead of Xhevahir Sukaj with 21 goals.
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Hamdi Salihi did not play any European football match due to Skenderbeu ban over match-fixing allegations.
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In December 2016, Hamdi Salihi was named Albanian Footballer of the Year, becoming the third Skenderbeu player to win it.
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Hamdi Salihi notably was caught tearing the referee's red card and insulting him in the process he was not seen by the referee.
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On 30 June 2017, following a season full of ups and down on individual aspect, adding the ban, Hamdi Salihi officially left Skenderbeu after two seasons.
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On 30 June 2017, Hamdi Salihi completed a transfer to Austrian First League club Wiener Neustadt for an undisclosed fee.
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Hamdi Salihi reached double figures and took the lead of goalscoring table with 13 goals; it was his second "poker" in career, first being in November 2010.
29.
On 4 May 2018, Hamdi Salihi netted his 20th goal of the season with a 96th minute free-kick to give Neustadt the win over Floridsdorfer AC and to keep their hopes for a top flight spot alive.
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Hamdi Salihi finished the regular campaign as joint-top scorer along with Ried's Seifedin Chabbi, bagging 22 goals from 33 appearances, all of them as starter, as Wiener Neustadt achieved a play-off spot by finishing third in the championship with 62 points.
31.
On 28 March 2019, Hamdi Salihi announced that the league game against Wacker Innsbruck two days later would be the last of his career, adding that he would retire afterwards.
32.
Hamdi Salihi was sent in the game on the 22nd minute replacing Erjon Bogdani.
33.
In opening group game of the qualifiers, Albania took on Cyprus at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana, Hamdi Salihi started the game upfront alongside 21-year-old Armando Sadiku who was making his competitive debut, having featured in three friendly games prior to the game against Cyprus.
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Hamdi Salihi started the game upfront with Cani and immediately created problems for the Norwegians with a shot on target from an overhead kick in the third minute.
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Hamdi Salihi scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute following a clever run inside the box to put the ball in the right hand corner of the net.
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Hamdi Salihi was called up regularly by the coach Gianni De Biasi in the team's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
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Hamdi Salihi was not called up in the provisional 27-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad.
38.
On 2 May 2019, Hamdi Salihi was appointed assistant manager of SC Wiener Neustadt, where he at the time was playing for.