Orges Shehi

Teuta Durrës

Shehi began his career with local side Teuta Durrës as a teenager, and he made his professional debut for the club in the Albanian Superliga during the 1994–95 campaign. He had to wait another two seasons to become the regular second choice keeper, behind Kujtim Shtama. He made his Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) debut in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup on 24 July 1996 in the second leg against MFK Košice, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Shtama. Teuta ended up losing the game 2–1 and the tie 6–2 on aggregate. Overall, he ended up making 9 league appearances as his side finished in mid-table, as well as reaching the quarter-final of the Albanian Cup, narrowly being eliminated by KS Lushnja. He became the club's first choice keeper the following season, and made 32 appearances in the league, missing just two games throughout the season as his side finished 5th.

He joined Bylis Ballsh on loan ahead of the 1997–98 season, and was an integral part of the club's highest finish, as they reached third place, just two points behind the eventual winners KF Tirana. He helped the club reach Europe for the first time in their history, and they were tied against Slovakian side FK Senica, to whom they lost 5–1 on aggregate, with Shehi playing in both games. He left Bylis Ballsh after their European experience, and returned to his parent club, Teuta.

Upon his return to Teuta Durrës, Shehi immediately went back into the first team and played every game in the league, helping his side finish in third place, just 3 points behind top spot. He was also part of the Albanian Cup winning team, and played in the final against KS Lushnja which Teuta won 5–4 on penalties after a goal-less draw. They qualified for the Intertoto Cup and were drawn against Icelandic side IA Akranes, to whom Shehi's side lost 6–3 on aggregate. By this point, Shehi had been handed the captaincy as he had become one of the club's most consistent performers. In the league, Teuta failed to replicate the success of the previous season, as they only managed to finish in 6th place out of 14 teams. As Teuta had won the Albanian Cup the previous season, they qualified for the 2000 Albanian Supercup which was scheduled to be played against KF Tirana, but it was delayed and eventually played on 13 January 2001. Shehi played the game but his side lost after conceding a 54th-minute goal to Indrit Fortuzi. Shehi met KF Tirana once again at the end of the season, this time in the final of the Albanian Cup, which KF Tirana also won, this time more resoundingly as they put 5 goals past Shehi to win comfortably 5–0. In the UEFA Cup, Teuta were drawn against Austrian club Rapid Vienna, as Shehi captained his side to a 6–0 aggregate loss. He helped his side finish 4th in the league as well as reach the semi-final of the Albanian Cup, losing to runners-up Dinamo Tirana. His side qualified for the Intertoto Cup, and faced Maltese side Valletta FC, whom they defeated 2–1 at home and drew to 0–0 away, and qualified for the next round after some impressive displays from Shehi. Following the arrival of Alfred Osmani ahead of the 2003–04 season, Shehi faced greater competition, and Teuta struggled somewhat and only managed a mid-table finish. This would be his final season at Teuta, as after a difficult season he would leave the club and join their Albanian Superliga rivals Vllaznia Shkodër, after 168 league appearances and nearly 200 appearances in all competitions.

Partizani Tiranë

He experienced the "second spring" of his career after joining Partizani Tiranë in 2005, becoming the captain in 2008.

Besa Kavajë

He left for Besa Kavajë in the summer of 2009. He was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Albanian Superliga.

Skënderbeu Korçë

In July 2010, Shehi completed a transfer to fellow Albanian Superliga side Skënderbeu Korçë. He was given squad number 1, and made his club debut on 23 August against his former employer, Besa Kavajë, in the opening league match.

On of the highlights of his career was a presentation with the team in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League play-off round, where they played against Chornomorets Odesa. After a final result of 1–1 in both legs and extra-time, they lost by penalties 6–7 when Shehi made 2 amazing penalty saves and also scored a penalty kick himself.

On 6 December 2014, in the 3–2 league win against Teuta Durrës at home, Shehi scored his first professional goal by netting a penalty kick in the 41st minute. He was ever-present in the league during this season, appearing in all 36 matches, collecting 3168 minutes in total, helping Skënderbeu to win the league for the fifth consecutive season.

On 14 June 2015, Shehi agreed to a contract extension, signing a new one-year contract. During 2015–16 season, Shehi played a major role in the team's success, contributing to 35 league matches. On 14 March 2016, in the match against title rivals Partizani Tirana, Shehi, despite making a high-profile error which resulted in a goal by Stevan Račić early in the game, saved a penalty-kick from him in the 77th minute, allowing Skënderbeu to level the score in the last moments.

In July 2016, following the retirement of long-time servant Bledi Shkëmbi, Shehi was named the new team captain. Shehi did not play any Champions League matches for the 2016–17 season as Skënderbeu was excluded from the competition by UEFA for match-fixing. He debuted in the new season on 24 August in the 2016 Albanian Supercup match against Kukësi, conceding three times in a 3–1 defeat at Selman Stërmasi Stadium.

In July 2017, Shehi expressed his intention to retire after the club's UEFA Europea League campaign, after rumours linking Enea Koliqi with a possible transfer in Korçë.

On 3 August 2017, in the returning leg of 2017–18 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round against Mladá Boleslav, Shehi made some crucial saves in the second half to help Skënderbeu win 2–1. As the first leg ended with the same result but for the opposite team, the match went to extra time and later penalty shootout. After scoring his team's first attempt, he saved Mladá's Golgol Mebrahtu attempt as Skënderbeu won 4–2 to progress to the play-off round.

Youth career

Shehi was capped for the first time in international level with the Albania national under-16 football team, making his debut in the 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship against Liechtenstein in a 1–0 win. He made seven appearances for the Albania national under-21 football team from 1997 to 1999 between the 1998 and 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Albania senior team

He received his first call-up for the Albania senior team by coach Astrit Hafizi for the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match against Georgia on 5 September 1998, where he was an unused substitute behind Foto Strakosha.

He returned to the national team after more than a decade, when he was called up by coach Josip Kuže for a friendly match against Macedonia on 17 November 2010, due to an emergency to replace the injured Arjan Beqaj. Shehi played as a half-time substitute for Samir Ujkani in a match which finished in a goal-less draw.

He was called up to the national team again by a new coach Gianni De Biasi, for a friendly match against Georgia on 29 February 2012. Shehi made it his second appearance for Albania, coming on as a substitute in the 89th minute in place of Samir Ujkani.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

In the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification he was called-up regularly for the national team as a third-choice, behind Etrit Berisha and Samir Ujkani.

After the end of the qualification tournament, Samir Ujkani left the Albania national team to play for the Kosovo national football team, which just had gained the right to play international friendlies against FIFA ("International Federation of Association Football") member associations, starting from 5 March 2014 against the Haiti national team. This made Shehi the second choice behind Etrit Berisha, and Albania remained with only these two goalkeepers as coach Gianni De Biasi declared (translation): having Etrit Berisha and Shehi, I don't see any alarm.

After the end of the qualification tournament, in the first friendly match of Albania against Belarus on 15 November 2013, Shehi played his 4th match for Albania, coming on as a substitute in place of Etrit Berisha in the 60th minute.

During the spring 2014, Shehi played another two friendly matches in March against Malta in a 2–0 victory, and in a 3–0 victory against San Marino on 8 June, in both matches coming on as a substitute in place of Etrit Berisha in the second-half.

UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Shehi was called up for the opening match of another qualification campaign of Albania, the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, against Portugal on 7 September 2014. For this match Shehi and Berisha were the only goalkeepers to participate, as Albania took a cruscial 0–1 victory. Also during the entire campaign Shehi served as a second choice behind Berisha and ahead fellow Albanian Superliga goalkeeper Alban Hoxha. Albania got a historical qualifying into the UEFA Euro 2016 final stages in France.

Euro 2016

On 21 May 2016, Shehi was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May.

Shehi didn't manage to play any minute of all Group A matches as Albania were eliminated by ranking in 3rd place behind hosts France, against which they lost 2–0, and Switzerland, against which they lost 1–0 in the opening match. They beat Romania 1–0 in the closing match with a goal by Armando Sadiku. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference of −2, and were ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Despite of being 39 years old already, Shehi was still preferred by coach Gianni De Biasi for the Albania's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He participated in 3 first matches from the bench in September and October 2017. For the later game against Israel on 12 November 2016 coach De Biasi had called up 4 goalkeepers as another one the young Thomas Strakosha enters in play. Shehi didn't participated in this game as coach De Biasi preferred young Strakosha instead among Berisha and Hoxha. In this game Berisha received a suspension following a physical clash against Israeli striker Eran Zahavi, ultimately knocking him down with a headbutt and being immediately executed and banned him for the next 2 fixtures and due to berisha's absence Shehi was called up for the qualification match against Italy on 24 March and the Friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 28 March 2017. For both games Shehi was an unused substitute becoming now a third choice behind young Strakosha which played as a starter in both matches and Alban Hoxha which played as a substitute in the friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Club

International

Albania's goal tally first.

Honours