Etrit Berisha

Etrit Berisha's route to Serie A started far from Italy, shaping his early years. Born in Pristina, he joined KF 2 Korriku's youth ranks in 1997, but the Kosovo War interrupted his development and he spent three years on loan at KEK-u in Obiliq before returning to his first club. A spell training with Bashkimi in Kumanovo, Macedonia, followed before Albert Bunjaki arranged a move to Sweden in 2008, when Berisha joined Kalmar FF on trial. He was part of the squad that won the Allsvenskan title that year without making a league appearance, and only established himself as a first-choice goalkeeper after a 2009 loan at fourth-tier Lindsdals IF, making his senior Kalmar debut in April 2010. By 2013 he was the club's regular number one and Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year.

His move to SS Lazio that September was complicated by a prior contract he had signed with ChievoVerona, a dispute that went to FIFA before he was cleared to join Lazio. He went on to be named Serie A's Foreign Goalkeeper of the Year for 2013-14 and reached the 2015 Coppa Italia final. A loan to Atalanta BC in 2016, later made permanent, saw him help the club reach the Champions League for the first time in their history.

Berisha has also shown an unusual habit of scoring: he converted decisive penalties for Kalmar, including in the Europa League, and in a 2011 Svenska Cupen shootout against Malmö FF he saved two spot-kicks and scored the winning one himself. For Albania, he has captained the side at UEFA Euro 2024 after being first-choice goalkeeper at Euro 2016.