The most passionate fans of Kosovo have hardly forgotten Arbër Zeneli's beautiful goals. The winger himself remembers them with great fondness.
"The match with Azerbaijan is one of the moments that I get excited about when I remember it. The stadium was packed and everyone in the national team was ready for one goal, to win that group," Arbër Zeneli told KOHË on Sunday.
Now 30, Zeneli scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Azerbaijan in November 2018.
With the victory, Kosovo secured promotion to League C of the Nations League. He was the first player to score a hat-trick for Kosovo.
He scored the first goal with a right-footed shot, sending the ball to the other corner of the goal. He scored the other two goals in a similar manner. Penetrations from the left wing and shots with the right foot have been frequent from Zeneli in Kosovo.
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He is third on the list of Kosovo's top scorers with nine goals in 33 matches. The list is convincingly led by Vedat Muriqi with 32 goals, while Milot Rashica is second with 12 goals.
Muriqi and Rashica have been regularly recruited for Kosovo, while Zeneli's last match is on March 28, 2023. However, he may return to play for Kosovo again.
There are already positive signals after the meeting that Arbër Zeneli had with the president of the Kosovo Football Federation, Agim Ademi.
The conversation with the president of the FFK, according to Arbëri, was good.
"We had a good conversation," he says.
Supporters of the national team welcomed Adem's meeting with Zenel. Many expect him to return to the national team.
Even Zeneli himself is eagerly awaiting the invitation.
"Let's see if I get an invitation for next month. I'm ready."
Zeneli joined Kosovo in 2016. Before joining Kosovo, he was part of Sweden's U21 team. He has been playing for Elfsborg in Sweden for several years.
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Zeneli was injured in his right knee in 2019 in the Euro 2020 qualifying match against Montenegro.
Before his injury, he won the hearts of many Kosovo fans with his goals. He was one of the best, but then suffered a major decline in his career.
He says he had good moments wearing the "Dardan" jersey.
"Of course I missed Kosovo a lot. I had very good moments there and I hope I will have the opportunity to play again," says Zeneli.
He was recently invited to Kosovo for the Euro 2024 qualifying matches. In the draw against Switzerland, he was on the bench.
Kosovo has Switzerland in the group again. Also in the group is Sweden, the country where Arbëri developed as a player.
"I watched the matches this month. The match with Switzerland was not good and I believe that all the players had this feeling. With Sweden we showed that we are a strong team and that all the players have confidence in their qualities. If we are united, anything is possible," says Arbër Zeneli.
The "Dardans" host Slovenia in Pristina next month, while they play in Gothenburg against Sweden.
"They are two very strong teams and I believe they will be two difficult matches, but we as a national team must do our job."
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Arbër's brother, Besforti, was recently invited to Sweden. In the match that Kosovo won 2:0 on September 8, Besforti was not part of Sweden. But he may be included in the team in the next training camp.
"We pray for Besi every day that he will be invited and that we will be on the field against each other," said Arbër Zeneli.
