Furtuna Velaj (born 8 March 1990) is a Kosovan-born[2] Albanian footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Albania national team.[3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Furtuna Velaj[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 8 March 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Gllogjan, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2012 | Quinnipiac Bobcats | 63 | (39) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012 | Boston Breakers | 0 | (0) |
| 2012 | Afturelding | 5 | (1) |
| 2013 | Toronto Lady Lynx | 9 | (4) |
| 2013 | PK-35 Vantaa | 11 | (7) |
| 2014 | Kolbotn IL | 8 | (5) |
| 2015 | SC Sand | ||
| 2015 | SC Sand II | 13 | (20) |
| 2016 | SC Sand | 10 | (2) |
| 2017 | NY Surf | 9 | (5) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011– | Albania | 25 | (8) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 April 2017 | |||
Club career
Velaj played for four years at Quinnipiac University, scoring 39 goals in 63 appearances and receiving many conference and regional accolades.[citation needed] After graduation, Velaj joined Boston Breakers in the WPSL as a forward winger, but missed the season due to an injury.[citation needed] Her team was the 2012 WPSL regular-season champions.[citation needed]
Velaj continued overseas, first joining Afturelding in Iceland for the second half of the Icelandic Urvalsdeild.[citation needed] Velaj tried to return to play in the new NWSL league as a trialist with the Portland Thorns, but did not make the squad and settled for the amateur team, Toronto Lady Lynx in the USL W-League.[citation needed]
After a good season for Lady Lynx she signed a contract from the former Finnish champions and was meant as a reinforce before the UEFA Women's Champions League.[citation needed] She made her debut in the 4–1 loss against Åland United on 27 July 2013, where she came in as a substitute.[citation needed] After finishing the season in Finland at second place and winning the 2013 Finnish Cup with her team, she transferred to Kolbotn IL in the Norwegian Toppserie at the beginning of 2014.[citation needed]
Velaj played for Albania in Sarpsborg, Norway in late 2013, and shortly afterwards she signed a contract with the Norwegian club Kolbotn IL.[citation needed] She received a shoulder injury playing for the club at La Manga.[4]
After a successful season with Kolbotn IL she transferred to German club SC Sand, where she played for the first and second team.[citation needed] Velaj helped SC Sand II win the Sud Regional Championship, helping the team get promoted to 2nd Bundesliga in 2015 and finishing as top goalscorer in the league with 20 goals.[citation needed] Velaj played one season with the 2nd team and two half season with the first team.[citation needed]
International career
Velaj helped the Albania national team qualify twice in the world cup preliminary qualifiers in Malta and to advance to the UEFA World Cup group stage in 2013 and 2017.[citation needed] She is the top goal scorer for the Albanian Women's National team with 6 goals and 2 assists.[citation needed] She has featured for Albania 21 times.[citation needed] Her first stint as captain came in 2016 in the last match of the UEFA European group stage qualifiers against France.[citation needed]