macedonian football player

Elif Elmas ( macedonian : Елиф Елмас ; born 24 September 1999 ) is a macedonian professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Napoli and the North Macedonia national team .

Club career [edit ]

early career [edit ]

Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored 6 league goals and tip Rabotnički to a third-place finish in the Macedonian First Football League in 2016–17, he joined turkish giants Fenerbahçe on a share until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services. [ 1 ] The attacking midfielder went on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019. [ 1 ]

naples [edit ]

On 24 July 2019, Serie A side S.S.C. Napoli announced the sign of Elmas from Fenerbahçe. [ 2 ] The softwood was worth a report €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million sell-on tip clause. [ 1 ] He was disciplined by his new club after speaking to reporters while away on international duty in November 2019 for breaching a clubhouse media blackout. [ 3 ] Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over Sampdoria, and secure their third winnings in a row in all competitions. [ 4 ] On 19 December 2021, Elmas scored the achiever for Napoli in a narrow-minded away win against AC Milan, [ 5 ] taking over second space in Serie A .

International career [edit ]

Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of turkish descent. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] In July 2017 it was reported the coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth area. [ 9 ] On 11 June 2017, at the historic period of 17, Elmas made his debut for the Macedonia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain by coming in at halftime as a substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović. [ 10 ] Elmas was besides included in the Macedonia U21 team for the 2017 UEFA european Under-21 Championship in Poland, and he was in fact the youngest one in the 23-player squad. [ 11 ] On 31 March 2021, he scored the winning goal for Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. [ 12 ]

On 14 November 2021, Elmas scored a pair in a 3–1 winnings against Iceland, and helped the team secure a runner-up spot in Group J, and a World Cup play-off. [ 13 ]

career statistics [edit ]

club [edit ]

As of match played 9 December 2021.[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rabotnički 2015–16 Macedonian First League 11 1 – – – 11 1
2016–17 33 6 0 0 2 1 – 35 7
Total 44 7 0 0 2 1 – 46 8
Fenerbahçe 2017–18 Süper Lig 5 0 2 0 – – 7 0
2018–19 29 4 2 0 9 0 – 40 4
Total 34 4 4 0 9 0 – 47 4
Napoli 2019–20 Serie A 26 1 5 0 5 0 – 36 1
2020–21 33 2 4 1 6 0 1 0 44 3
2021–22 16 1 0 0 6 4 – 22 5
Total 75 4 9 1 17 4 1 0 102 9
Career total 153 15 13 1 28 5 1 0 195 21

International [edit ]

As of match played 14 November 2021.[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
North Macedonia[a]
2017 3 0
2018 5 0
2019 10 4
2020 4 0
2021 15 5
Total 37 9
  1. ^North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
As of match played 14 November 2021.
Scores and results list North Macedonia’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.[15]

Honours [edit ]

Rabotnički
Napoli
Individual

  • Macedonian Footballer of the Year: 2019

References [edit ]