Valmir Matoshi is on the verge of celebrating the title with Thun in the Swiss football elite.
The 22-year-old midfielder has been one of the best in the Thun team's successes this season. He wears the number 78 on his shirt, and there is a reason for that. He even has a painful story.
Matoshi signed his first professional contract with Thun in 2022, aged 19 at the time. He immediately requested the number 78 on his shirt. It was the year his father was born, to whom he attributes every success.
Fortunately, Thuni agreed to this request. But, just six months after signing the contract, Matoshi's father died at the age of 45. He did not win the eight-year battle with the serious illness, cancer.
Matoshi shared his painful story in an interview with the Swiss media outlet "Bluesport".
"It's been three years now and the pain is still great. But I've learned to cope with it, to live with it," he says.
Just a minute before speaking out on the matter, Matoshi was joking and laughing with his teammates at an autograph session. Now the talented midfielder is fighting back tears. “He wasn’t just a father, he was my best friend. He always supported me. He loved football maybe more than I did. I thank God that the father was able to see his son sign his professional contract and score his first goal in a match against Switzerland’s U20s shortly after,” says Matoshi. “I don’t think he could have imagined a better departure.”
Matoshi in particular remembers the conversation shortly before his father died. It was the day after his 20th birthday. “We were alone. He told me he couldn’t see me from the stands anymore, but he said he would have the best seat and he would see him from above.”
Matoshi promised his father at the time that he would give his best. And he kept his word.
Now Thun is on the verge of the title in Switzerland.
"This would be the most beautiful thing!" says Matoshi, knowing that his mother and other family members would watch from the stands, and his father from above.
"He would be proud that I continued the journey we started together and that I gave it my all."
22-year-old Matoshi is a central midfielder and hails from Kosovo, specifically Suhareka.
He has five goals and four assists in 30 appearances this season. With Thun he celebrated the team's rise to the Swiss Super League, and is now close to enjoying the first title in the club's history.
Matoshi has developed at Thun, the club of his hometown.
He has a contract with Thun until 2027. Matoshi has played eight matches for Switzerland's U21 team and scored two goals. In an interview with KOHA in March of this year, he said that he has not closed the door to Kosovo.
Another Albanian midfielder, Kastriot Imeri, also plays for Thun. Thun legend is Milaim Rama.