Mehmet Hetemaj

Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987) is a Finnish football commentator and a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Yugoslavia, he has represented both Finland national team and Kosovo national football team. He started his football career in HJK youth team.

Mehmet Hetemaj

Hetemaj with SJK in 2018.
Personal information
Date of birth	(1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder[1]
Youth career
1996–2006	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	HJK	17	(1)
2007	→ Viikingit (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2010	Panionios	11	(0)
2009	→ Thrasyvoulos (loan)	9	(0)
2009–2010	→ AlbinoLeffe (loan)	23	(1)
2010–2014	AlbinoLeffe	76	(0)
2012–2013	→ Reggina (loan)	29	(0)
2014	→ Honka (loan)	16	(1)
2014	Monza	17	(0)
2015–2022	SJK	156	(14)
International career
2007–2009	Finland U21	18	(2)
2014	Kosovo	1	(0)
2009–2017	Finland	6	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Hetemaj started his career in Finland in HJK Helsinki where he made 17 appearances between 2006 and 2007. During 2007 season he was loaned to Viikingit for 9 matches.

Panionios

In 2008, he agreed a move to Greek club Panionios F.C. In June 2009 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit AlbinoLeffe, where he established himself as a regular.

AlbinoLeffe

In June 2010 AlbinoLeffe announced to have completed a bid to sign the player on a permanent basis from Panionios.^[2][3] He signed a four-year contract. In July 2012 he was loaned out to Serie B outfit Reggina Calcio.^[4] The loan contract with Reggina ended after the 2012–13 season and Hetemaj returned to AlbinoLeffe.^[5] In January 2014 it was announced that Hetemaj had signed a loan contract with a Finnish Premier League team Honka.^[6][7]

Monza

In July 2014 he joined Italian club Monza.^[8]

SJK

Hetemaj joined SJK in January 2015.^[9] Since then he has become a fan favorite and scored many important goals for the club. Hetemaj has been the clubs captain since 2019.^[10] Hetemaj announced his retirement from playing in December 2022.^[11]

International career

Finland Under-21

Hetemaj, along with his older brother Përparim Hetemaj, was called up to represent Finland U-21 at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.^[12]

Finland

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Finland against Japan in February 2009. After a convincing season in AlbinoLeffe he was called up again on 21 May 2010 for a match against Estonia.

Kosovo

Hetemaj made his senior debut for Kosovo in a 6–1 loss against Turkey in May 2014, a friendly match.^[13] However, he lost his eligibility to switch over to Kosovo for competitive matches after accepting new call-ups from Finland in 2016, precisely when Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA that year.^[14]

Personal life

Of Kosovar Albanian descent, Hetemaj was born in Skenderaj, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and moved to Finland with his family as refugees in 1992. His family first arrived at Oulu but they moved to Helsinki, looking for a milder climate, due to his father, Miftar, having asthma. He has an older brother, the footballer Përparim, and two sisters, Fatlume and Fatbardhe.^[15][16]

Later career

After his playing career, Hetemaj has worked as a studio commentator in Veikkausliiga matches in Ruutu+ broadcasts since 2023,^[17] in European final tournament matches for Yle, and in UEFA Champions League matches for MTV since 2024.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of 25 July 2016^[19][20]

Club	Season	Division	League		Domestic Cups		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Klubi-04	2005	Kakkonen	16	0	0	0	–		16	0
	2006	Ykkönen	13	2	0	0	–		13	2
	Total		29	2	0	0	0	0	29	2
HJK Helsinki	2006	Veikkausliiga	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	2007	Veikkausliiga	8	1	0	0	0	0	8	1
	Total		17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
Viikingit (loan)	2007	Veikkausliiga	9	0	0	0	–		9	0
Panionios	2007–08	Super League Greece	5	0	0	0	–		5	0
Thrasyvoulos (loan)	2008–09	Super League Greece	9	0	0	0	–		9	0
AlbinoLeffe	2009–10	Serie B	23	1	1	0	–		24	1
	2010–11	Serie B	36	0	2	0	–		38	0
	2011–12	Serie B	35	0	2	0	–		37	0
	2013–14	Lega Pro	5	0	0	0	–		5	0
	Total		99	1	5	0	0	0	104	1
Reggina (loan)	2012–13	Serie B	29	0	2	0	–		31	0
Honka (loan)	2014	Veikkausliiga	16	1	3	1	2	0	21	2
Monza	2014–15	Lega Pro	17	0	2	0	–		19	0
SJK	2015	Veikkausliiga	31	2	4	0	2	0	37	2
	2016	Veikkausliiga	17	1	4	0	2	0	23	1
	2017	Veikkausliiga	22	2	8	6	2	0	31	8
	2018	Veikkausliiga	23	3	6	1	–		29	4
	2019	Veikkausliiga	22	2	4	0	–		26	2
	2020	Veikkausliiga	17	4	5	0	–		22	4
	2021	Veikkausliiga	10	0	4	0	–		14	0
	2022	Veikkausliiga	14	0	5	1	4	0	23	1
	Total		156	14	40	8	10	0	206	22
Career total			384	19	53	9	12	0	451	28

International

As of 7 June 2017^[21]

Finland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	1	0
2010	1	0
2011	0	0
2012	0	0
2013	0	0
2014	1	0
2015	0	0
2016	2	0
2017	1	1
Total	6	1

International goals

Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.^[20]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	7 June 2017	Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland	Liechtenstein	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Honours

HJK Helsinki

• Finnish Cup: 2006