Dren Hodja

Dren Hodja (Albanian: Dren Hoxha; born 27 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for German club FC Gießen.[1] Born in Germany, he represented Albania at under-21 international level.

Dren Hodja
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994
Place of birth Offenbach am Main, Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Gießen
Number 10
Youth career
2002–2013 Kickers Offenbach
2013–2015 Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Schalke 04 II 31 (3)
2015–2016 VfR Aalen 2 (0)
2016–2019 Kickers Offenbach 109 (33)
2019–2020 Bayern Alzenau 18 (3)
2020– FC Gießen 7 (0)
International career
2014 Albania U21 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:45, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Early life and youth career

Hodja was in born in Offenbach am Main, Germany from Kosovo Albanians parents from Kosovo, who migrated in Germany due to the Kosovo War in 1992. His father also was a footballer who played as a forward and was a successful goalscorer. He started his youth career at hometown club Kickers Offenbach in 2002. Following the bankruptcy of Kickers Offenbach he decided to sign with FC Schalke 04 in 2013.[2]

Club career

Hodja started playing with FC Schalke 04 II where he debuted on 28 July 2013 against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen as substitute in the 73rd minute for Olivier Caillas.[3] He scored his first goal for Schalke 04 II on 30 November 2013 in the opening moments of the match which finished as 2–4 loss.[4]

He concluded the first season with 23 appearances, 16 as a starter and 2 goals scored.

On 19 July 2014, Hodja played a friendly match with the Schalke 04 first team and scored a goal in a 3–1 win over Hansa Rostock.[5]

Hodja started with goal in another season with Schalke 04 II the 2014–15 where he played 8 matches and in October 2014 he suffered an injury which kept him out of play until the end of the season.[6]

VfR Aalen

On 7 July 2015, Hodja signed with a one-year contract with fellow German club VfR Aalen in 3. Liga.[7] He made it his professional debut for VfR Aalen on 5 December 2015 against Werder Bremen II coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute in place of Fabian Menig in a 1–1 draw.[8]

Kickers Offenbach

On 29 January 2016, Hodja signed a contract with Kickers Offenbach, the club where he started playing football at the age of 8.[9]

International career

Following his goal with the first team of Schalke 04 in a friendly against Hansa Rostock he declared in an interview for Albanian media that he wanted to play for Albania in international level.[2]

Hodja was called up for the friendly match against Romania U21 on 8 October 2014,[10] but among with two other players based in Germany, Valmir Sulejmani and Leart Paqarada, withdrew because of a possible counter-attack by Germany.[11]

Hodja was called up to participate in the international tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 12–18 November 2014 he would have been unable to join the U-21 national team due to an injury.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of 12 November 2017[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Schalke 04 II 2013–14 Regionalliga West 232———232
2014–15 81———81
Total 313———313
VfR Aalen 2015–16 3. Liga 2000——20
Kickers Offenbach 2015–16 Regionalliga Südwest 14421——144
2016–17 341221——3613
2017–18 188——10198
Total 662442—106826
Kickers Offenbach II 2015–16 Landesliga 10———10
Career total 1002742—1010529

References
  1. "Sieben Leistungsträger fehlen" (in German). Schwaebische Post. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  2. Intervista ekskluzive/ Dren Hoxha : "Pres Shqipërinë" Archived 10 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
  3. Schalke 04 II vs. Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 28 July 2013 Soccerway
  4. Schalke 04 II vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf II - 30 November 2013 Soccerway
  5. Dren Hoxha shënon në fitoren e Schalkes Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine Borozani.com
  6. Dren Hodja matches Soccerway
  7. Dren Hoxha braktis Shalke 04 dhe i bashkohet Aalenit Archived 7 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine Telesport
  8. Werder Bremen II vs. Aalen - 5 December 2015 Soccerway
  9. DREN HODJA UNTERSCHREIBT BEIM OFC Offenbacher Kickers
  10. U-21 ben gati miqesoren kunder Rumanise Archived 7 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine FSHF.org
  11. Kaos me tre talente, Gjermania bën bllokadë Panorama Sport
  12. Shpresat, turne miqesor ne Dubai Archived 22 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine FSHF.org
  13. Dren Hodja at Soccerway
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