Introduction
Valdet Skënder Rama (born 20 November 1987) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for SV Meppen. He also holds German citizenship.
Early life
Rama is a Kosovo Albanian and fled to Germany at the age of nine years. There he spent his youth in the Ruhr district and went through the ranks of three local clubs before joining former German champions Rot-Weiss Essen in 2004.
Club career
Early career
Rama made his debut on the professional league level in the 2. Bundesliga for FC Ingolstadt 04 on 17 August 2008 when he started a game against Greuther Fürth. He scored a goal on his debut.
Hannover 96
After Ingolstadt was relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season, his contract became invalid and he was able to join a new club on a free transfer. On 26 May 2009, he announced his move to Bundesliga side Hannover 96 where he signed a three-year contract.
Örebro
In February 2011, he signed for Swedish club Örebro SK. He made a big impact in his first year with the club, scoring eight goals from his position as a winger. During the second season he often found himself benched and his manager criticized his lack of defensive work.This caused his agent to lash out against the club, claiming that Rama was one of the best players in the league and that he had been humiliated by the managers comments. He also demanded that Örebro sell him during the summer. Rama however ended up staying with the club until the end of the 2012 Allsvenskan season, where Örebro was relegated.
Valladolid
After the 2012 Allsvenskan season ended, on 31 January 2013 he were loaned at Real Valladolid until the end of the 2012–13 La Liga's season. He made his debut on 9 March 2013, in a match against Málaga which finished 1–1 and he came on as a substitute in the 71st minute in place of Daniel Larsson.
His first goal with Valladolid came on 20 January 2014 in a match against Athletic Bilbao, where he scored in the last 90th minute and the match finished in the loss 4–2. With this goal, Rama became the first Albanian player ever to score in La Liga and in the entire Spanish football.
Rama finished the 2013–14 La Liga season with 26 appearances and 1 goal scored. His last match in which he played was early on 27 March 2014 against Real Sociedad and only as substitute in the 61st minute. Then he were called up only in 1 match on 3 May 2014 against Espanyol and did not play any minute.
On 11 July 2014 Rama left Valladolid as he interrupted his contract with the club, where the contract was valid until 30 June 2015.
1860 Munich
On 27 August 2014, Rama had started the medical tests with 2. Bundesliga side TSV 1860 Munich. Two days later, the transfer was made official with Rama joining on a two-year contract.
He made his competitive debut later on 14 September by starting in the week 5 match against St. Pauli which was won 1–2 away. In the next match he provided an assist to rescue his side a point against Ingolstadt. Rama's first score-sheet contributions came on 19 October where he scored his team's only goal in the 4–1 loss at Erzgebirge Aue.
He was on the scoresheet also in the DFB-Pokal round 2 tie against Freiburg which gave his side the temporary lead as the opponents bounced back to win 5–2, much to 1860 Munich elimination. He finished his first season with Die Löwen by making 28 league appearances, scoring three times.
In the 2015–16 season, Rama declined, scoring only once in 16 league appearances. His season was also marred by injuries. Following the end of the season, Rama's contract was not extended and left as a free agent. He described his spell with the club as "difficult" due to injuries.
Yanbian Funde
Rama transferred to Chinese Super League side Yanbian Funde on a two-year contract in July 2017. He made his debut on 13 August in a 1–1 draw against Changchun Yatai
Kukësi
On 31 January 2019, after more than a year without a club, Rama joined Albanian Superliga side Kukësi on a six-month contract with an option to renew for one more year; his monthly wage was reportedly 9,000 €, excluding bonuses.
He won his first trophy with Kukësi on 2 June following the 2–1 win at Elbasan Arena against Tirana in the Albanian Cup final. He participated in the build up that led to both two goals of his side, earning him praise from the media.
SV Meppen
On 20 August 2019, SV Meppen announced the signing of Rama on a two-year deal with an option for a third year.
International career
As soon as Rama moved to Spain to play in La Liga he declared that he was eager to play for Albania and was contacted by the Albanian Football Association in order to plan a call-up for the next matches. On 25 March 2013 he received the Albanian citizenship and became fully eligible to play for Albania.
He made his international debut on 26 March 2013 in a friendly match against Lithuania finished in the victory 4–1, where Rama played as a starter and substituted off in the 64th minute with Armando Vajushi. On 7 June 2013, he scored first goal against Norway finished in the 1–1 draw. He finished first year (2013) with Albania making a total of 8 appearances, all as a starter, and substituted off 3 times. In those 8 appearances he also scored 3 goals.
In August 2016, Rama opted to play for newly recognized Kosovo national team. However, in an interview in September 2017, Rama didn't exclude the opportunity to play for Albania once again.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 31 January 2019
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| VfL Wolfsburg II | 2005–06 | Oberliga Nord | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 4 | |
| 2006–07 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 6 | |||
| 2007–08 | Regionalliga Nord | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 35 | 0 | ||
| Total | 65 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | 65 | 10 | |||
| Ingolstadt 04 | 2008–19 | 2. Bundesliga | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | |
| Hannover 96 | 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |
| Hannover 96 II | 2009–10 | Regionalliga Nord | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| Total | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |||
| Örebro | 2011 | Allsvenskan | 29 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 8 |
| 2012 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 2 | |||
| Total | 50 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 10 | ||
| Real Valladolid | 2012–13 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |||
| 1860 Munich | 2014–15 | 2. Bundesliga | 28 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 29 | 4 | |
| 2015–16 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |||
| Total | 44 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | 45 | 5 | |||
| Würzburger Kickers | 2016–17 | 2. Bundesliga | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 2 | |
| Yanbian Funde | 2017 | Chinese Super League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| Kukësi | 2018–19 | Albanian Superliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 286 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 291 | 31 | ||
International
- As of match played 13 June 2015
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 2013 | 8 | 3 |
| 2014 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 3 | |
International goals
- As of match played 13 June 2015. Albania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rama goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 June 2013 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania | 2 |  Norway |
1–0 | 1–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 14 August 2013 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania | 3 |  Armenia |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 10 September 2013 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland | 5 |  Iceland |
1–0 | 1–2 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |