Valter Birsa

Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a winger.

Valter Birsa
Birsa in November 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-08-07) 7 August 1986
Place of birth Šempeter pri Gorici, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Winger, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1991–2004 Bilje
2004–2005 Gorica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 Primorje 1 (0)
2004 Bilje 7 (6)
2004–2006 Gorica 61 (26)
2006–2009 Sochaux 66 (8)
2009 → Auxerre (loan) 15 (1)
2009–2011 Auxerre 68 (8)
2011–2013 Genoa 9 (0)
2012–2013 → Torino (loan) 17 (2)
2013–2015 AC Milan 15 (2)
2014–2015 → Chievo (loan) 35 (0)
2015–2019 Chievo 122 (18)
2019–2020 Cagliari 25 (0)
Total 441 (71)
International career
2001 Slovenia U15 7 (1)
2004 Slovenia U19 1 (0)
2004–2005 Slovenia U20 2 (0)
2004–2006 Slovenia U21 12 (5)
2006 Slovenia B 1 (0)
2006–2018 Slovenia 90 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started playing for ND Bilje, the village club of Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to Primorje, and then to Gorica at the age of 17.

Sochaux

In 2006, he signed for French club Sochaux in Ligue de Football Professionnel. While at Sochaux, he won the 2007 Coupe de France. The final game against Olympique de Marseille finished 2–2 and went to penalties, with Birsa scoring his penalty as his side emerged victorious.[1]

Auxerre (loan)

On 22 January 2009, Auxerre signed him on a loan deal until June 2009 from Sochaux.[2] He scored his first Auxerre goal against Olympique Lyonnais. On 29 May 2009, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent.[3] In the 2010–11 season, Birsa scored a 23-yard free kick and his first UEFA Champions League goal against Ajax in the group stage. Ajax eventually won 2–1.

Genoa

On 2 February 2011, despite interest from big Premier league teams such as Liverpool and Fulham, Birsa signed a four-year contract with Serie A club Genoa.[4] He made just nine appearances in his maiden season in Italy.

Torino (loan)

He joined Torino on 31 August 2012 on loan. At Torino, Birsa played 17 games, scoring 2 goals but did not do enough to convince Torino to sign him on a permanent deal so he returned to Genoa at the end of the season.

AC Milan

Birsa made the switch to AC Milan on 31 August 2013, in what was a straight swap deal which saw Luca Antonini move in the opposite direction. He was handed the number 14 shirt at Milan. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 September 2013 against Sampdoria to give the Rossoneri the win.

Chievo

He signed for Chievo on 9 July 2014 on loan.[5] On 2 July 2015, Chievo signed Birsa outright in a three-year contract.[6]

Cagliari

On 9 January 2019, Birsa signed with Serie A side Cagliari.[7]

International career

Birsa played for the Slovenia national team between 2006 and 2018. He scored his first goal for the national team on 9 September 2009 in a World Cup qualifying match against Poland, which Slovenia won 3–0.[8] At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Birsa struck a long-range curling shot in Slovenia's second group stage match against the United States. Slovenia drew that match 2–2.[9]

He earned a total of 90 caps, scoring 7 goals.[10] His final international was a March 2018 friendly match match against Belarus.[11]

Personal life

Birsa was born in Šempeter pri Gorici, present day Slovenia. In 2012, he married his long-time girlfriend Mateja. He has a son named Nolan.[12]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[13][14]
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Primorje2003–041. SNL1000——10
Gorica2004–051. SNL26740—20327
2005–06351940—214120
Total 61268000417327
Sochaux2006–07Ligue 13133030—373
2007–08223201020273
2008–091321020—162
Total 668606020808
Auxerre 2008–09Ligue 11510000—151
2009–103534000—393
2010–11335002071426
Total 8394020719610
Genoa2011–12Serie A9032——122
Torino2012–13Serie A17210——182
AC Milan2013–14Serie A15220—40212
Chievo2014–15Serie A35010——360
2015–1635610——366
2016–1735720——377
2017–1835311——364
2018–1917210——182
Total 1571861000016319
Cagliari2018–19Serie A12010——130
2019–2013020——150
Total 250300000280
Career total 434653338017249270

International
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Birsa goal.[15]
List of international goals scored by Valter Birsa
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
19 September 2009Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia Poland3–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
210 October 2009Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia1–02–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
318 June 2010Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa United States1–02–22010 FIFA World Cup
47 June 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland2–24–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
519 November 2013Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia Canada1–01–0Friendly
69 October 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Lithuania1–01–1UEFA Euro 2016 Qualification
74 September 2017Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Lithuania4–04–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Gorica

Sochaux

Individual

See also

References
  1. "African quartet win French Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. "Valter Birsa prêté à Auxerre" (in French). FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  3. "Birsa še dve leti v Auxerru" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. "Birsa štiri leta v Genovi" (in Slovenian). nogomania.com. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  5. "Official: Valter Birsa coming to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  6. "Official: Birsa belongs to ChievoVerona". A.C. ChievoVerona. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  7. "UFFICIALE: Cagliari, preso Birsa a titolo definitivo dal Chievo" (in Italian). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  8. "Keku polepšali rojstni dan, legenda ostala brez službe" (in Slovenian). Siol. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  9. "Foto/Video: Ob polčasu evforija, na koncu zadovoljstvo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  10. "Appearances for Slovenia National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  11. "Valter Birsa, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  12. "Valter Birsa: Poroka je bila slavje brez primere". 11 June 2012.
  13. "V. Birsa". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  14. "Valter Birsa » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  15. "Birsa, Valter". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  16. "Valter Birsa nogometaš leta po izboru časnika Ekipa". sta.si (in Slovenian). Slovenian Press Agency. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
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