Valter Birsa

Valter Birsa
Personal information
Full name Valter Birsa[1]
Date of birth (1986-08-07) 7 August 1986
Place of birth Šempeter pri Gorici, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Chievo
Number 23
Youth career
1991–2004 Bilje
2004–2005 Gorica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 Primorje 1 (0)
2004 Bilje 7 (6)
2004–2006 Gorica 61 (26)
2006–2009 Sochaux 66 (8)
2009 → Auxerre (loan) 15 (1)
2009–2011 Auxerre 68 (8)
2011–2013 Genoa 9 (0)
2012–2013 → Torino (loan) 17 (2)
2013–2015 Milan 15 (2)
2014–2015 → Chievo (loan) 35 (0)
2015– Chievo 108 (17)
National team
2001 Slovenia U15 7 (1)
2004 Slovenia U19 1 (0)
2004–2005 Slovenia U20 2 (0)
2004–2006 Slovenia U21 12 (5)
2006 Slovenia B 1 (0)
2006–2018 Slovenia 90 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 September 2018

Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a winger for Chievo.

Club career

Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started playing for ND Bilje, the village club of Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to Primorje, then to Gorica at the age of 17. By the second season he was already the second best striker and one of the best in the Slovenian first league, scoring 29 goals for his home team, an outstanding goalscoring record for a midfielder.

Sochaux

In 2006, he signed for French club Sochaux in Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1. He was declared the best Slovenian player of 2006–2008 by the leading Slovenian football website.[2]

Auxerre (on loan)

On 22 January 2009, AJ Auxerre signed him on a loan deal until June 2009 from Sochaux.[3] He scored his first Auxerre goal against giants Lyon. On 29 May, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent.[4] In the 2010–11 season, Birsa scored a 23-yard free kick and his first Champions league goal against Ajax in the group stage, Ajax eventually won 2–1.

Genoa

On 2 February 2011, despite interest from big Premier league teams such as Liverpool and Fulham, Birsa signed a four-year contract with Serie A club Genoa.[5] He made just nine appearances in his maiden season in Italy.

Torino (on loan)

He joined Torino on the 31 August 2012 on loan. At Torino, Birsa played 17 games, scoring 2 goals but did not do enough to convince Torino to sign him on a permanent deal so he returned to Genoa at the end of the season.

A.C. Milan

Birsa made the switch to Milan on 31 August 2013, in what was a straight swap deal which saw Luca Antonini move in the opposite direction. He was handed the number 14 shirt at Milan. He scored his first goal for Milan on 28 September 2013 against Sampdoria to give the Rossoneri the win.

Chievo

He signed for Chievo on 9 July 2014 on loan.[6] On 2 July 2015, Chievo signed Birsa outright in a three-year contract.[7]

International career

He played for the Slovenian national football team between 2006 and 2018. He scored his first goal for the national team on 9 September 2009 in a World Cup qualifying match against Poland, which Slovenia won 3–0. At the 2010 World Cup finals, Birsa struck a long-range curling shot in Slovenia's second match against the United States. Slovenia drew that match 2–2.

Career statistics

As of 16 September 2018[8]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
2003–04Primorje1. SNL1000—10
2004–05Gorica2674020327
2005–06351940214120
Total 612680417327
2006–07SochauxLigue 131300—313
2007–082230020243
2008–0928330—313
Total 8193020869
2009–10AuxerreLigue 135340—393
2010–113352071426
Total 6886071819
2011–12GenoaSerie A9032—112
2012–13Torino17210—182
2013–14Milan1522040212
2014–15Chievo35010—360
2015–1635610—366
2016–1735720—377
2017–1835310—363
2018–193110—41
Total 14317600014917
Career total 3956429217244068

International goals

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.[9]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
19 September 2009Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia Poland3–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
210 October 2009Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia1–02–0
318 June 2010Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa United States1–02–22010 FIFA World Cup
47 June 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland2–24–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
519 November 2013Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia Canada1–01–0Friendly
69 October 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Lithuania1–01–1UEFA Euro 2016 Qualification
74 September 20174–04–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life

Birsa was born in Šempeter pri Gorici, present day Slovenia. In 2012, he married his long-time girlfriend Mateja, the couple has a son named Nolan.[10]

Honours

ND Gorica

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 27. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Največji slovenski nogometni portal - Nogomania". www.nogomania.com.
  3. ↑ "Valter Birsa prêté à Auxerre" (in French). FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  4. ↑ "Prolongation pour Stéphane Grichting et Benoît Pedretti, Valter Birsa auxerrois". Archived from the original on 11 November 2008.
  5. ↑ "Birsa štiri leta v Genovi" (in Slovenian). nogomania.com. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "Official: Valter Birsa coming to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Official: Birsa belongs to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Birsa Club statistics". Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "Birsa, Valter". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "Valter Birsa: Poroka je bila slavje brez primere". 11 June 2012.
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