Herdi Prenga

Herdi Besnik Prenga (born 31 August 1994) is an Albanian-Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Riga FC.

Herdi Prenga
Personal information
Full name Herdi Besnik nga
Date of birth (1994-08-31) 31 August 1994
Place of birth Zadar, Croatia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Riga
Number 23
Youth career
2004–2013 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Dinamo Zagreb 0 (0)
2013 → Sesvete (loan) 17 (1)
2014-2015 → Lokomotiva (loan) 38 (1)
2015–2016 Lokomotiva 28 (1)
2017–2018 Inter Zaprešić 30 (1)
2019– Riga 51 (5)
National team‡
2009 Croatia U15 2 (0)
2009–2010 Croatia U16 6 (0)
2010–2011 Croatia U17 9 (0)
2012 Croatia U18 6 (0)
2012–2013 Croatia U19 4 (0)
2014 Croatia U21 1 (0)
2015–2016 Albania U21 8 (1)
2018– Albania 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:59, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:59, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Early life and youth career

Herdi Prenga was born in Zadar, Croatia from parents of Albanian descent. His father Besnik is a former Albanian international footballer in years 1992–1994.[1] He started his youth career at GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy. In 2013, he became professional as he gained entry with the first team of GNK Dinamo Zagreb.

Club career

Sesvete

In Summer 2013 Prenga was loaned out for 6 months to NK Sesvete in Druga HNL (2. HNL) for the first half of the 2013–14 season.

2013–14 season

He made it his first senior debut with Sesvete on 17 August 2013 playing full 90-minutes in the opening match against Gorica, finished in a clean 3–0 victory.[2] He scored 1 goal during the season, concretely on 28 September 2013 in the 8th game week against Solin finished in the 2–0 victory where Prenga scored the opening goal in the 17th minute.[3] He became a regular and important player for the team as he played in total 17 matches out 19 all full 90-minutes and missed out just 2 matches due to the suspension for completing the number of yellow cards (3) exactly two times as he received in total 6 yellow cards.

2013–14 season second-half

For the second half of the 2013–14 season, also another full season (in total for 1 year and a half), Prenga was loaned to Lokomotiva Zagreb this time in the major Prva HNL. He made it his professional debut with Lokomotiva Zagreb on 22 February 2014 against Hajduk Split coming on as a substitute in the 23rd minute in place of Dino Perić and the match finished in the 0–2 loss.[4] Then until the end the season he played 9 other matches all as a full 90-minutes and was as an unused substitute for 4 matches.

Inter Zaprešić

On 3 July 2017 Prenga signed with fellow Croatian First League side Inter Zaprešić among Marko Bencun and Tomislav Haramustek.[5] Prenga was unable to play in two first games of the season due to a leg injury. He was an unused substitute in next match against Slaven Belupo on 29 July 2017. He made his debut a week later on 5 August against Rudeš playing the full 90-minutes match to help his team to take a clear away 0–2 victory.[6]

Riga FC

On 19 February 2019, Prenga joined Riga FC in the Latvian Higher League on a contract until the end of 2020.[7]

International career

Croatia

Prenga first was called up at the Croatia national under-17 football team to participate in the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round. He played every minute in the entire tournament.[8][9][10]

He was called up by the coach Dinko Jeličić at Croatia national under-19 football team to participate in the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualification. In the tournament Prenga played just one match against Poland on 7 June 2013, where he played as a starter and got substituted off in the 60th minute for Tomislav Kiš as the match finished in the 2–0 victory.[11]

Prenga was called up once at Croatia national under-21 football team by the coach Nenad Gračan for the match valid for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification against Latvia on 3 September 2014, where he remained on the bench for the entire match.[12]

Albania

In January 2015 Prenga declared to the Albanian media that he wish to continue his father's (Besnik Prenga) footsteps to wear red and black shirt of Albania and that it would be great honor for him. Given this, the Albania national under-21 football team coach Skënder Gega contacted the 20-year-old and his family. In February then, coach Skënder Gega announced to have sent an invitation to Prenga, declaring that he has seen him as a good reinforcement for the Albania U21 squad.[13]

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Prenga received his first official call-up by coach Skënder Gega for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification opening match against Liechtenstein on 28 March 2015.[14] However Prenga couldn't play in this match as he was ineligible due to the absence of respective documents.

Prenga was called up by a new appointed coach at the Albania U21, Redi Jupi, for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Israel & Portugal on 3 & 8 September 2015.[15] He made it his first competitive debut for Albania U21 on 3 September 2015 in a 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Israel playing the full 90-minutes match, which finished in the 1–1 draw.[16] Prenga played another full 90-minutes match against Portugal 5 days later but unable to avoid a 1–6 defeat.[17]

He scored his first international goal for Albania U21 on 28 March 2016 against Hungary U21 to give his side the important 2–1 victory in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.[18] Prenga made his debut for the senior Albania national football team in a 1-0 UEFA Nations League win over Israel on 7 September 2018.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of 3 November 2017 [6][20]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sesvete2013–14Druga HNL 171———171
Lokomotiva Zagreb2013–14Croatian First League 100———100
2014–15 28140——321
2015–16 2613020—311
2016–17 20—42—62
Total 6627062—794
Inter Zaprešić2017–18Croatian First League 40———40
Career total 8737062—1005
  1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

References
  1. Besnik Prenga National-Football-Teams.com
  2. Radnik Sesvete vs. Gorica - 17 August 2013 Soccerway
  3. Radnik Sesvete vs. Solin - 28 September 2013 Soccerway
  4. Lokomotiva Zagreb vs. Hajduk Split - 22 February 2014 Soccerway
  5. Zaprešić, Inter. "Upravo Potpisali Bencun, Prenga i. Haramustek".
  6. Herdi Prenga at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  7. Transferimi befasues, Herdi Prenga lë Kroacinë, sportekspres.com, 19 February 2019
  8. Portugal U17 vs. Croatia U17 - 24 March 2011 Soccerway
  9. Croatia U17 vs. Netherlands U17 - 26 March 2011 Soccerway
  10. Austria U17 vs. Croatia U17 - 29 March 2011 Soccerway
  11. Poland U19 vs. Croatia U19 - 7 June 2013 Soccerway
  12. Latvia U21 vs. Croatia U21 - 3 September 2014 Soccerway
  13. "Gega thërret Prengën dhe Malokun". 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  14. Shpresat nisin kualifikimet kundër Lihtenshtajnit Archived 17 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
  15. Grumbullohet kombetarja U-21 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine FSHF.org
  16. Under-21 2017 - Albania-Israel Commentary UEFA.com
  17. Albania U21 vs. Portugal U21 - 8 September 2015 Soccerway
  18. Under-21 2017 - Albania-Hungary Commentary UEFA.com
  19. UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Albania-Israel". UEFA.com.
  20. Herdi Prenga – UEFA competition record
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