Gezim Pepsi

Gezim Pepsi[lower-alpha 1] (born 12 July 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad. Born in Switzerland, and a former Albanian and Swiss youth international, he has most recently represented Kosovo at youth level.

Gezim Pepsi
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-07-12) 12 July 1998
Place of birth Basel, Switzerland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Pirin Blagoevgrad
Number 77
Youth career
0000–2016 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Basel U21 42 (3)
2018–2020 Basel 0 (0)
2018–2020 → Aarau (loan) 29 (0)
2020–2022 Winterthur 52 (6)
2022–2023 Vaduz 15 (0)
2023– Pirin Blagoevgrad 2 (0)
International career‡
2014 Albania U17 3 (2)
2015 Switzerland U18 4 (0)
2016 Switzerland U19 4 (0)
2019–2020 Kosovo U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2020

Club career

Early career

Pepsi is a product of the Basel youth academy. He played for the U17, U18, U19 and U21 teams making a total of 99 appearances, scoring nine goals and assisting two. In 2018, Pepsi was loaned to Aarau as part of a partnership between the two clubs.[2] Pepsi made 33 appearances for the Aarau. In February 2020, Pepsi told teammates he would be leaving Aarau,[3] and subsequently was sold by parent club Basel to Winterthur.[4]

Winterthur

Upon return from loan, Pepsi was bought by Winterthur in February 2020.[5][6] His first goal for the club would come against Vaduz in June, the first match in the Swiss Challenge League since the COVID-19 enforced break.[7] He scored against his former club Basel in the 2020–21 Swiss Cup round of 16, a game which Winterthur won 6–2.[8] In May 2022, Pepsi was given a one-year contract extension with Winterthur.[9]

Vaduz

On 30 August 2022, Pepsi joined Swiss Challenge League side Vaduz, on a one-year contract with the option of a further year.[10] His debut with Vaduz came a day later in the 2022–23 Liechtenstein Cup round of 16 against Triesen II after being named in the starting line-up and scored his side's two goals during a 0–18 away deep win.[11]

International career

On 3 September 2014, Pepsi received the Albanian passport and this paved the way for him to represent Albania,[1] which he represented at under-17 level in the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifications,[12] making three appearances and scoring two goals against San Marino.[13] He switched to Switzerland and made eight appearances for the under-18 and under-19 teams.

On 11 March 2019, Pepsi received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the friendly matches against Turkmenistan U21 and Malta U21.[14] His debut with Kosovo U21 came on 26 March in the friendly match against Malta U21 after being named in the starting line-up,[15] while the competitive debut came on 15 November in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Albania U21 again after being named in the starting line-up.[16]

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Albanian: Gëzim Pepshi;[1] Serbian Cyrillic: Геѕим Пепши, romanized: Gezim Pepši.[1]

References
  1. "Dekret për dhënie të shtetësisë shqiptare nr. 8701" [Decree for granting Albanian citizenship no. 8701] (in Albanian). President of Albania. 3 September 2014. Gezim Rexhep (Redžep) Pepši (Pepshi)
  2. "Aarau verliert Supertalent an Basel: Die Hintergründe eines ungewöhnlichen Transfers" [Aarau loses super talent to Basel: the background of an unusual transfer] (in German). Aargauer Zeitung. 4 October 2018.
  3. "Gezim Pepsi hat sich verabschiedet - warum er trotzdem weiterhin mit dem FC Aarau trainiert" [Gezim Pepsi said goodbye - why he still trains with FC Aarau] (in German). Aargauer Zeitung. 24 January 2020.
  4. "Abgang nun definitiv: Gezim Pepsi verlässt den FC Aarau und spielt künftig für Ligarivale Winterthur" [Definite departure now: Gezim Pepsi is leaving FC Aarau and will play for league rivals Winterthur in the future] (in German). Aargauer Zeitung. 11 February 2020.
  5. Gezim Pepsi at WorldFootball.net
  6. "Gezim Pepsi". SFL. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  7. "Spielbericht: FC Vaduz vs. FC Winterthur 4:1" [Match report: FC Vaduz vs. FC Winterthur 4:1] (in German). FC Vaduz. 19 June 2020.
  8. "6:2! Winterthur demütigt harmlosen FC Basel" [6:2! Winterthur humiliates harmless FC Basel] (in German). SRF. 17 February 2021.
  9. "Stadion, Team, Trainer – wie sich der FC Winterthur für die Super League fit macht" [Stadium, team, coach - how FC Winterthur is getting fit for the Super League] (in German). watson.ch. 25 May 2022.
  10. "FC Vaduz verstärkt sich mit Gezim Pepsi" [FC Vaduz strengthens with Gezim Pepsi] (in German). FC Vaduz. 30 August 2022.
  11. FC Vaduz [@VaduzFC] (31 August 2022). "Unsere Startelf heute gegen den FC Triesen 2 | Kickoff 20:15 Uhr | #hoppvadoz #supportFCV #fcvaduz #TRIVAD" [Our starting eleven today against FC Triesen 2 | Kickoff 20:15 | #hoppvadoz #supportFCV #fcvaduz #TRIVAD] (Tweet) (in German) – via Twitter.
  12. "Kombëtarja U-17, gati per Eliminatoret" [The National U-17 Team, ready for the Eliminators] (in Albanian). Albanian Football Association. 6 October 2014.
  13. "Shqipëria U-17 e mbyll me goleadë ndaj San Marinos" [Albania U-17 closes with a win over San Marino] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 13 October 2014.
  14. "Prekazi publikon listën e futbollistëve për miqësoret e marsit" [Prekazi publish the list of footballers for friendlies of March] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 11 March 2019.
  15. "Kombëtarja U21 fiton edhe në miqësoren kundër Maltës" [The national U21 team also wins in the friendly against Malta] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 26 March 2019.
  16. "Albania U21 vs. Kosovo U21 2–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
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