Introduction
Odise Roshi (born 22 May 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Russian club Terek Grozny and the Albania national team. His main position is midfielder but he can also play as a forward.
Club career
Childhood and early career
Roshi was born in Fier, Albania. Growing up in Fier, Roshi joined city based club Apolonia Fier. During his youth career, he had try outs with the youth team of Paris Saint-Germain but failed to secure a contract with them. Roshi made his way through the ranks of Apolonia and broke into the senior team at the age of sixteen.
Apolonia Fier
Roshi made five appearances for Apolonia in the 2006–07 season. He showed promise despite Apolonia being relegated to the Albanian First Division. Getting regular time in the first division, Roshi was crucial in helping his club gain a spot in the top two positions of the table, hence promoting the team to the Albanian Superliga.
Roshi's season in the Superliga showcased his talent, earning him call-ups to the youth levels of the national team. He helped Apolonia maintain a mid-table position.
Flamurtari Vlorë
In the winter transfer window, Roshi moved to Flamurtari Vlorë. With Flamutari, Roshi helped the club win the Albanian Cup. During the qualification rounds of the UEFA Europa League, Flamurtari came up against Scottish side Motherwell. He played well in both legs and scored a goal in the away leg despite Flamurtari being eliminated. Roshi made 56 appearances and scored 9 times for Flamurtari Vlorë.
Köln
At the end of the 2010–11 season, there was speculation surrounding Roshi that Belgian club Anderlecht, as well as German club 1. FC Köln, were interested in signing the Albanian. On 19 May 2011, Roshi moved to Köln on a free transfer. Cologne director Volker Finke stated that Roshi is a "highly talented" player with a promising future as an attacking midfielder.
On 5 February 2012, Roshi scored his first goal for Köln 99 seconds after coming on in the 72nd minute in a 1–0 victory over Kaiserslautern. Köln ended its three-game losing streak and this was Köln's first victory over Kaiserslautern in over 22 years. Roshi also assisted a goal against Nuremberg two weeks later. Roshi made 20 appearances for Köln, scoring once.
FSV Frankfurt
On 6 August 2012, it was announced that the 21-year-old winger would be joining FSV Frankfurt on a one-year loan. Fellow Albanian Edmond Kapllani had joined the club a month earlier. Uwe Stöver, the sports director of FSV Frankfurt, stated that Roshi had demonstrated his qualities in the previous season in the Bundesliga for Köln and that he was convinced that Roshi's addition would boost the offensive play of Frankfurt.
Roshi assisted a goal against FC Erzgebirge Aue in the third game of the 2012–2013 season. On 21 September 2012, Roshi scored his first goal for Frankfurt against FC St.Pauli. He scored from outside the far corner of the box. On 27 April 2013, he scored Frankfurt's second goal in a 3–1 victory against Dynamo Dresden.
On 4 April 2014, in the absence of his compatriot team-mate Edmond Kapllani due to an injury, Roshi played up front and scored in the 61st minute in a 2–1 loss against VfR Aalen. As a result of that goal, Roshi was included in the 2. Bundesliga team of the week.
After suffering from some muscular problems, on 8 February 2015, Roshi returned and scored in the match against 1. FC Nürnberg. He started up front alongside Mohamed Amine Aoudia and scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory. Roshi scored again in the next fixture against Red Bull Leipzig on 15 February 2015 to earn his side a 1–0 away victory.
HNK Rijeka
After Roshi refused to extend his contract with FSV Frankfurt, on 6 June 2015 he signed as a free agent on a three-year deal with Croatian First League side HNK Rijeka, who had qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League after finishing as runners-up in the 2014–15 season. Roshi returned from injury for the league game against Slaven Belupo Koprivnica on 19 July 2015 and started from the bench. He was an unused substitute for the match. Roshi made his debut for Rijeka in the Europa League away fixture against Aberdeen on 23 July 2015. He scored his first goal for the club in their 4–1 home win against Zagreb on 4 October 2015.
FC Terek Grozny
On 21 July 2016, press reports confirmed that Roshi had signed for FC Terek Grozny in Russia.
International career
Albania U17
Roshi was capped 3 times for the Albania under-17 team in the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying campaign under coach Shpëtim Duro, making his debut on 27 October 2007 in the 3–0 loss against Netherlands. Albania U17s were eliminated from the qualifying round, collecting only 1 draw and 2 losses with 1 goal scored and 10 conceded.
Albania U21
Roshi was called up for the first time to the Albania under-21 team by the coach Artan Bushati for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Azerbaijan U21s on 5 September 2009. He made his debut against Azerbaijan U21s coming on as a substitute at half-time in place of Hair Zeqiri. Albania U21s won the match 1–0 with an own goal scored by Eshgin Guliyev in the 63rd minute. Following his good second-half performance, in the next match four days later against Austria U21s, Roshi started the match and scored his first under-21 goal in the 41st minute. Austria U21s won that match 3–1 after scoring all 3 of their goals in the first 13 minutes of the match. Roshi played in four of the next six qualifying matches and scored 2 more goals. Albania U21s finished in fourth place out of five teams, managing 1 win, 1 draw and 6 losses with 11 goals scored and 20 conceded.
Roshi was called up again and under the same coach Artan Bushati he played in the two opening 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Poland U21s in a 3–0 loss on 2 September 2011 and in a 4–3 victory against Moldova U21s on 6 September, both for the full 90 minutes.
Albania senior team
Following his good performances for Albania U21s in two qualifying tournaments, Roshi received his first call-up from the Albania national team coach Josip Kuže for the matches against France and Romania on 7 October and 11 October 2011 respectively.
UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
He made his senior international debut against France on 7 October 2011, by playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 loss. Roshi played again four days later against Romania in a 1–1 draw.
Roshi then played in several friendly matches against Azerbaijan and Macedonia in November 2011, in February 2012 against Georgia and in August 2012 against Moldova.
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
For the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Roshi was called up by the new coach of the Albania national team, Gianni De Biasi, for the two opening matches against Cyprus and Switzerland on 7 and 11 September 2012. On these two occasions, De Biasi left Roshi on the bench as he preferred to start with Emiljano Vila for the right midfielder position. In the match against Switzerland he came on as a substitute for Vila in the second-half. Roshi scored his first goal for Albania on 16 October 2012 in the fourth qualification match against Slovenia in the 36th minute in a 1–0 Albanian victory.
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
Roshi provided the assist for Bekim Balaj in the 1–0 away victory for Albania on 7 September 2014 against Portugal in their opening UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. Roshi swung in a cross from the right which went behind Balaj, but on the turn he managed to get his foot to the ball and his right-footed volley found the bottom corner from 15 yards.
Euro 2016
On 21 May 2016, Roshi was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May.
Roshi played as a starter against Switzerland in the opening match in a 0–1 loss then played as a substitute in both next matches against hosts France where they lost 2–0 and against Romania in an Albania's historical 1–0 win with a goal scored by Armando Sadiku. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference –2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 16 July 2016
| Season | Club | League country | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 2006–07 | Apolonia Fier | Albanian Superliga | 4 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | Albanian First Division | ? | 5 | ? | 0 | – | ? | 5 | ||
| 2008–09 | Albanian Superliga | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 21 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5 | ||
| 2009–10 | Flamurtari Vlorë | Albanian Superliga | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 4 |
| 2010–11 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | 24 | 5 | |||
| Total | 51 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 9 | ||
| 2011–12 | 1. FC Köln | Bundesliga | 20 | 1 | – | – | 20 | 1 | ||
| Total | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | FSV Frankfurt | 2. Bundesliga | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 2 | |
| 2013–14 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2014–15 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 22 | 3 | |||
| Total | 74 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 6 | ||
| 2015–16 | HNK Rijeka | Prva HNL | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| 2016–17 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 21 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 187 | 21 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 206 | 23 | ||
International
- As of 19 June 2016
| Albania national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 |
| 2012 | 6 | 1 |
| 2013 | 8 | 0 |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | 7 | 0 |
| 2016 | 7 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | 1 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 October 2012 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania |  Slovenia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier |
Nickname
Roshi earned the nickname Raketa (Rocket) due to his fast pace on the football pitch. Raketa is Albanian for Rocket. In his physical test at Köln, Roshi ran 30 metres in 3.7 seconds and 100 metres in 10.9 seconds, achieving the highest score in his team.
Honours
- Flamurtari
- Albanian Superliga runners-up: 2010–11