FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
It is said that the best footballers emerge from the "mud" and this expression is always true. Just like in the world, where it is the poor countries that produce the great football stars, in the Albanian territory it is precisely the players who have suffered the most that today stand out in the popular European arenas.
Among them is the previously unheard and unread story of Ylber Ramadani. Many people see a smiling man and think that everything in his life has gone as Ramadan himself wanted, but even for him the "Rainbow" has appeared after a few not very good days.
The family did not have the best economic conditions to guarantee the boy the conditions to become someone in football. "Sport Ekspres" interviewed the former president of Ferizaj, Heset Quza. It is exactly this person who stopped a football match to meet and invite a 15-year-old named... Ylber Ramadani to the team. The most interesting story was the moment when Heseti goes to meet Ramadan's father and convince him that his son should join Ferizaj.
His request was sincere: " Please, if you think the boy is a simple player, don't take me because I need him as a hand to sell watermelons ." Ylberi's father took watermelons from Fieri and sold them in Kosovo, Ylberi helped him a lot at that age. But Heset Quza guaranteed Ylber's father that with the talent the boy had, he would forget the trade he was dealing with at that time.
If we talk about Ylber Ramadani, what is the first memory that comes to you when he was part of Ferizaj and how did you know his name?
It was a friendly match between Ferizaj and Celik, it was a very low ranking team. We were preparing for the start of the championship. We were waiting for the match to start, but not all Celik players had arrived. Then came a very young player, who had been given a white shirt, while Celik played in blue jerseys. From the first contact with that boy's ball, he raised his head and saw where he would distribute the ball. I asked the chairman of the Celik club who this player was and he told me: "He is a 15-year-old boy. The players didn't come to us, that's why we introduced this". I stopped the match because it was friendly. I told the referee to stop the match for a few minutes. I went to Ramadani and asked him: "What is your name?" Will you play for Ferizaj?". The answer was clear from Ylberi: "Yes, I want". I also took his father's number on the field and then left the field. The match continued as I immediately got his dad on the phone.
And since we are talking about Ylber's father, according to the information we have, Ramadan's childhood was difficult, his father sold watermelons and thus kept the whole family alive financially. How does the story stand?
When I met Ylberi's father, a very nice man who worked selling watermelons, he told me that he used to get watermelons from Fieri and sell them in Kosovo. When I told him about Ylber who has a lot of talent and that I wanted him in Ferizaj, since he was only 15 years old, his father answered very sincerely: "You are leaving me without a job. The rainbow helps me a lot in selling watermelon." Traveling from Fieri to Kosovo was certainly possible. I guaranteed his father: "What I have seen in the Rainbow, you will forget the watermelon." He will become a great player and I will leave the Albanian lands". So his father trusted his son to me as he knew me as a public figure from television, but he was very skeptical, he didn't expect anything.
What is the most special story that you remember when Ramadan was part of Ferizaj?
Për moshën e tij, Ylberi ka pasur vetëbesim të jashtëzakonshëm. Në moshën 15-vjeçare mendonte si të ishte 25-vjeç. Dua të përmend një rast shumë interesant. Në ato kohë u kthye në kampionatin e Kosovës një lojtar që mbahej si më i miri në vendin tonë, Shpëtim Babaj. Vinte pas 3-4 sezoneve në kampionatin e Ukrainës dhe të gjithë flisnin për të. Ne do të përballeshim kundër ekipit të këtij lojtari në gjysmëfinalen e Kupës, më pas shkuam me Ferizajn në finale. Të gjithë e kishin hall se kush do ta mbulonte Shpëtim Babajn. Ylberi doli vetë si vullnetar që do ta mbulonte këtë kundërshtar. Në dy ndeshje që kemi luajtur, në ndeshjen e parë Babaj doli nga fusha se nuk luajti mirë dhe në të dytën, nuk preku më shumë se 6 herë topin. Ylberin në formacion për herë të parë e vendosi Arsim Abazi. Se ka shumë trajnerë që fillojnë e flasin tani duke thënë se i kanë besuar ata të parët. Jo, nuk është e vërtetë. Në ndeshjen Ferizaj-Gjilani, në atë ndeshje Ramadani ishte i grumbulluar mes 18 lojtarëve. Unë kam insistuar te trajneri si kurrë më parë në jetën time. Kam menduar që ishte ndeshje perfekte për të promovuar Ylber Ramadanin si 15-vjeçar. Trajneri po hezitonte, por unë kam vazhduar me lutjen time për ta futur Ramadanin në fushë derisa i thashë trajnerit: “Aktivizoje ose mund të kesh pasoja”. Ky është trajneri që e futi në fushë, jo të tjerët që po dalin në media tani.
A e kishe imagjinuar ndonjëherë që Ramadani do të luante në Serinë A?
Nuk e kam imagjinuar për Serinë A, por ideja që do të kalonte kufijtë e Kosovës dhe Shqipërisë. E kam ndjekur Ramadanin kur luante te Partizani. Atje ia gjetën vendin më së miri, pasi Ylberi ka qenë më shumë shkatërrues në fillim. Por te Partizani e vendosën edhe si ndërtues të lojës, u përmirësua shumë atje. Ishte Sormani njeriu që ka shumë merita në karrierën e Ramadanit, e përmirësoi në pjesën e ndërtimit të aksioneve dhe pasimit. Te Partizani është rritur shumë si lojtar.
Cila do të ishte këshilla e njeriut që i besoi që 15-vjeç dhe që tani e sheh në Serinë A, ke diçka për t’i thënë?
Eh, in fact, I want to use this interview to remind Ylberi that I asked him for a jersey of his, the one of Albania. He hasn't given it to me yet and I hope that when I read this interview, he will also give me the shirt. Not only for Ylberi, but I feel good when I see all the Albanian players going far. Then I have special sympathy for Ylberi because for me he is still 15 years old. He still has that childlike look I first saw him, his smile is one of the most sincere a human can have. So in my eyes he is still the 15-year-old I met on the first day.
Lini një Përgjigje