Herolind Shala


Herolind Shala is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Norwegian club Vålerenga and the Kosovo national team. He previously played for Albania national football team and Norway national under-21 football team.

Early life

Shala was born in Porsgrunn, Norway from Kosovo Albanian parents from Glogovac.

Club career

Sparta Prague

On 11 January 2015, Shala joined Czech First League side Sparta Prague. On 23 February 2015, he made his debut in a 4–1 home win against Příbram after being named in the starting line-up.

Lyngby

On 30 August 2017, Shala joined Danish Superliga side Lyngby. On 19 November 2017, he made his debut in a 1–3 home defeat against Randers after coming on as a substitute at 69th minute in place of Martin Ørnskov.

Start

On 4 August 2018, Shala joined with the newly promoted team of Eliteserien side Start, on a season-long contract. On 6 August 2018, he made his debut in a 4–1 away defeat against Brann after coming on as a substitute at 70th minute in place of Tobias Christensen.

Vålerenga

On 11 February 2019, Shala joined Eliteserien side Vålerenga, on a two-year contract.

International

Albania

Under-21

In May 2013. When he was called up for both the Norwegian and the Albanian under-21 team, he withdrew from the Norwegian squad as he wanted to represent Albania instead. On 11 July 2013, he made his debut for the Albanian U-21 team against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 by playing full 90-minutes.
On 5 March 2014, he was called up for the closing match of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 qualification against Austria. He played as a starter and scored the last goal for his side in the 57th minute, where the match finished in an away 1–3 victory with other goals scored by Enis Gavazaj and Vasil Shkurti.

Senior

On 7 September 2014, Shala received his first senior national team call-up by the Albania national football team coach Gianni De Biasi for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Portugal. On 14 November 2014, he made his debut for senior team in the "Group I" Friendly Match against the Euro 2016 hosts, France, by coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute. In the other match against Italy, he played once again as a substitute at this time in the 71st minute.

Kosovo

On 30 August 2016, Shala received a call-up from Kosovo for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland. On 6 October 2016, he made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia after coming on as a substitute at 77th minute in place of Arbër Zeneli.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Odd