Emërllahu: For your country, you have to leave everything on the pitch

Lindon Emërllahu has given his first lengthy interview to the official channel of his new club, Polissya Zhytomyr.

In the interview with the Ukrainian club, he talked about the beginnings of his career as a footballer. He also spoke about his favorite player, the war in Ukraine, his ambitions with the club and the emotions he experiences wearing Kosovo’s jersey.

Midfielder Emërllahu was unveiled by the Ukrainian club in December. He joined from Romanian club Cluj and signed a three-year deal.

“I started playing for Kosovo when I was 19,” Emërllahu replied when asked about Kosovo.

The 23-year-old has played 12 matches for Kosovo. He has scored one goal and provided two assists.

One of Kosovo’s biggest victories was the 2-0 win over Sweden in Pristina last September.

Emërllahu played in that match as a substitute. He came on in the 85th minute in place of Elvis Rexhbeçaj.

Ukraine will face Sweden in the playoff semifinal for the World Cup, which will be held this year in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Kosovo is also in the playoff semifinals. On March 26, it will play Slovakia in Bratislava.

“It was a difficult match. The Swedish national team is very good. Sweden has players who play in the Premier League. But honestly, I’ll say this: it doesn’t matter where you play. Because if you play for your national team, you have to give everything, leave everything on the pitch and do everything to win. Just to make your country happy,” Emërllahu emphasized.

He singled out Sweden’s two most dangerous players, Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres.

Emërllahu hopes to appear with his team in the league phase of the Conference League or Europa League. He said he was not afraid to play in Ukraine, which is facing an invasion by Russia.

“You can’t influence certain circumstances in life that are beyond your control. What can we do? That’s life,” says Emërllahu, who has not yet heard sirens or explosions.

“No, because I stayed for only two days, had a medical examination and signed the contract. Then I returned to Kosovo.”

He praised the club’s facilities as well as the city. Ilir Krasniqi is at the club with Emërllahu.

“When you have a friend who plays on the national team with you, it’s very good. You can speak your native language; it’s much easier. He was here in Ukraine before. He first played for Kolos and now he’s here at Polissya, so I’m happy he’s here. I’ve known Ilir for four or five years. We made our Kosovo debuts together.”

Emërllahu said that his favorite player is Sergio Busquets.

He gave an interesting answer to the question of what he would be if he weren’t a footballer.

“I don’t know, maybe a police officer, I don’t know,” Emërllahu said.