Fabio Sakaj
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 2 February 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Alatri, Frosinone, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Progresso | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Virtus Pavullese | |||
| –2016 | Modena | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | Modena | 11 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Racing Fondi | 4 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Pianese | 17 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Vis Artena | 24 | (0) |
| 2021 | Sestri Levante | 11 | (0) |
| 2022 | Cattolica | 13 | (0) |
| 2023 | Bagnolese | 5 | (0) |
| 2023– | Progresso | 3 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | Albania U19 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 October 2023 | |||
Fabio Sakaj (born 2 February 1998) is an Italian-born Albanian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie D club Progresso. He represented the Albania national under-19 team.
Early life and youth career
[edit]Sakaj was born in Alatri, a comune of province of Frosinone in the Italian region of the Lazio, to Albanian parents originally from Lezhë, Albania.[1] He started his football at the Virtus Pavullese, a small football team in the town of Pavullo Nel Frignano, in the Italian province of Modena.[2] He moved at Modena academy and in 2014 became part of the Primavera team under coach Simone Barone.[3]
Club career
[edit]Modena
[edit]Sakaj gained entry with the first team of Modena F.C. as he was included in the team by the coach Simone Pavan to participate in the match against Brescia on 3 March 2015.[4] Then he continued to participate regularly in 6 another matches, until he managed to make its debut against Virtus Entella on 11 April 2015 by coming on as a substitute in the stoppage time 90'+2 minute in place of Pablo Granoche.[5]
On 5 November 2017, Modena declared bankrupt after failing to pay player wages or stadium bills which brought about a player strike and a stadium lockout.[6] The club had not attended the previous three Serie C matches, including not attending the match against Santarcangelo Calcio; with a total of four matches not attended, the club were officially excluded from "Lega Pro" on 6 November.[7]
Fondi
[edit]On 11 December 2017, he signed with Racing Fondi as a free agent.[8]
International career
[edit]Sakaj received his first call up to the Albania national under-19 team by coach Arjan Bellaj for the friendly tournament Roma Caput Mundi from 29 February–4 March 2016.[9]
Sakaj received his first call up at Albania national under-21 football team by coach Alban Bushi for a gathering in Durrës, Albania from 18 to 25 January 2017.[10]
He received his first call up for the Albania under-20 side by coach Alban Bushi for the double friendly match against Azerbaijan U-21 on 21 & 26 January 2018.[11]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of 17 December 2017 [12]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe[a] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Modena | 2014–15 | Serie B | 4 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Serie C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Racing Fondi | 2017–18 | Serie C | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
- ^ Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
References
[edit]- ^ "Juve, në gjurmët e talentit shqiptar Sakaj" (in Albanian). SuperSport. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Talenti Fabio Sakaj, udhëhoqi Modenan në debutimin e tij të parë në Serie B" (in Albanian). Gazeta KNN. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Anton Cicani (7 November 2017). ""Zhduket" Modena, talenti shqiptar mbetet në mes të rrugës!" (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
Dhe, pikërisht në Emilia nis aventura e Sakajt me topin, duke luajtur me Pavulezen, përpara se të kalojë te të rinjtë e Modenës, aty ku fërgohet nga Hernan Krespo, te Primavera, dhe më pas kalon te ekipi i parë.
- ^ "Brescia vs. Modena - 3 March 2015". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Fabio Sakaj matches Soccerway
- ^ "Modena declared bankrupt". football-italia.net. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Official: Modena excluded from Lega Pro". Football Italia. 6 November 2017.
- ^ "Arriva Fabio Sakaj" [Fabio Sakaj arrives] (in Italian). Racing Fondi. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Kombëtarja U-19, në turneun "Roma Caput Mundi"" [The U-19 national team, in the tournament “Roma Caput Mundi”] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "Alban Bushi: Ja emrat për grumbullimin e parë në Durrës" (in Albanian). FSHF. 17 January 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "KOMBËTARJA U-20, DY NDESHJE MIQËSORE ME AZERBAJXHANIN, TRAJNERI ALBAN BUSHI SHPALL LISTËN!" [U-20 NATIONAL TEAM, TWO FRIENDLIES WITH AZERBAIJAN, COACH ALBAN BUSHI ANNOUNCES THE LIST!] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ Fabio Sakaj at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
External links
[edit]- Fabio Sakaj at Soccerway
- 1998 births
- Living people
- People from Alatri
- Italian people of Albanian descent
- Albanian men's footballers
- Albania men's youth international footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Men's association football forwards
- Modena FC 2018 players
- SS Racing Club Fondi players
- Serie B players
- Serie C players
- Serie D players
- Footballers from the Province of Frosinone
- 21st-century Albanian sportsmen