Kosovare Asllani
Introduction '''Kosovare Asllani''' (born 29 July 1989) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker or an attacking midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Asllani began her club career with Vimmerby IF and has played in the Damallsvenskan for Linköpings FC and hometown club Kristianstads DFF. In the 2010 season she played in the United States, with Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She returned to Sweden to play for Kristianstad, before moving to Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and then back to Linköping.
Club career ===Childhood and early career===Asllani is of Kosovar Albanian descent, born in Kristianstad to Kosovar parents who had migrated to Sweden. Asllani grew up playing both football and ice hockey, but chose to focus her talents on football. At the age of 15, Asllani started her career at second division team Vimmerby IF. During her time at Vimmerby, she scored 49 goals in 48 matches, establishing herself as a football prodigy. Former coach Cecilia Wilhelmsson praised Asllani's football technique and fitness. After receiving offers from many clubs, Asllani accepted a move to Damallsvenskan team Linköpings FC in 2007, where she made quick progress.===Linköpings FC===During Asllani's first season, she generally came off the substitutes' bench early in the games to help her settle into the Damallsvenskan. During the following season, Asllani established herself as a regular starter and was an increasingly valuable member of the squad. In 2009, she helped Linköping win both the Svenska Cupen and the club's first ever Damallsvenskan title. On 4 December 2009 American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) club Chicago Red Stars confirmed that they had signed Asllani from Linköpings FC.===Chicago Red Stars===Asllani spent a single season in the WPS. She was established as a fan's favourite and in the 7th week of the season, Asllani received the WPS Player of the Week award after Chicago Red Stars' defeat of FC Gold Pride. After her season with the Red Stars, Asllani returned to Sweden and Linköpings FC.===Return to Linköping===Asllani's presence boosted Linköping, especially in the UEFA Women's Champions League. She scored goals against Sparta Praha and Arsenal. However, her season was disrupted by a thigh injury and she departed Linköping at the end of the campaign.===Kristianstad DFF===In December 2011, she moved back to her hometown Kristianstad to play with Kristianstads DFF who had finished seventh in the previous year's Damallsvenskan.===Paris Saint-Germain===Asllani (''right'') playing for PSG against FCF Juvisy in December 2012When Asllani had a month left on her contract with Kristianstads she was subject to a transfer bid from Paris Saint-Germain. Although the teams were in dispute over the size of the transfer fee, Asllani flew to Paris and signed a two-year contract in September 2012, after completing a medical. At PSG Asllani was presented to the media by sporting director Leonardo and player Zlatan Ibrahimović, who declared: "If you want to win you need a Swedish striker." Asllani scored 17 goals in her 19 appearances in the 2012–13 Division 1 Féminine, as PSG finished second in the table behind Lyon. On 4 January 2016, Asllani announced on her Instagram account that she had ended her contract with Paris Saint-Germain, where she had played for three-and-a-half years.===Manchester City===On 22 January 2016, English FA WSL club Manchester City revealed that they had signed Asllani to a two-year contract.===Second return to Linköpings FC===On 10 August 2017, it was announced a two and a half-year contract had been agreed for Asllani to return to Linköpings FC. She departed the club by mutual consent on 15 July 2019.===CD Tacón/Real Madrid===After her departure from Linköpings FC, Asllani signs with CD Tacón/Real Madrid on 18 July 2019.Upon Real Madrid's purchase of their license, CD Tacón will operate as Real Madrid's women's team starting from 2020, making Asllani the first ''Galáctica''.Asllani scored 5 goals in 17 league appearances for Tacón in the prematurely ended 2019–20 Primera Iberdrola season. After the rebrand of the team to Real Madrid CFF, she started the season explosively, scoring 8 goals in the first 8 league appearances despite playing in an unfamiliar out-and-out-striker role.In 2021-22, Asllani struggled for form, scoring just 3 league goals. She lost her place in the team, and when she did start games, was often substituted relatively early having made little impact.===AC Milan===On 30 June 2022, Asllani joined Italian club AC Milan.She scored 9 goals in her first season in  Serie A. In January 2023, she missed a penalty against bitter rivals Inter, as Milan lost 4-1.
International career In September 2008 Asllani made her debut for the Sweden national team against Romania, and in 2009 she was called up to represent Sweden in UEFA Women's Euro 2009.Asllani was an important member of the national team during the qualification rounds of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup but coach Thomas Dennerby controversially did not select her in the squad sent to Germany for the finals. Football pundits, including Pia Sundhage, the Swedish coach of the United States national team, expressed surprise at Asllani's omission.Asllani playing for Sweden in 2012Dennerby recalled Asllani to the national squad for the 2012 London Olympics.Asllani played for Sweden at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team won a silver medal. She failed to score a single goal during the tournament, despite playing in all six of Sweden's games. She scored in the penalty shootout against the United States in the quarterfinals, in which Sweden won the shootout 4–3 after being tied 1–1 during extra time. She again stepped up to take a penalty against Brazil in the semi final, but her weak effort was saved.As of 2017, Asllani had made more than 90 appearances for the Sweden national team.She scored in the 5–1 win over Thailand at the 2019 Women's World Cup.In 2021, Asllani was selected for the Sweden squad at the 2021 Summer Olympics. Like in 2016, her only goal was a penalty, this time in the quarter final vs Japan. She took a crucial penalty in the final against Canada, but missed the target from twelve yards, as Sweden lost the shootout, and once again had to settle for silver medals.On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.She made the final goal in Sweden's match against Australia on 19 August 2023.Sweden won and secured the bronze medals for the team.
Personal life Kosovare Asllani is an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo. Her parents moved to Sweden where she was born. Asllani has a tattoo of a black double-headed eagle, symbolising Albania, on her ankle. She also has the words "Stay Strong" tattooed on the inside of her right biceps.
Career statistics :''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Asllani goal. ''+ List of international goals scored by Kosovare AsllaniNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 12009-08-28Turku, FinlandEuro 200922009-09-23Gothenburg, Sweden2011 World Cup qualification32010-02-26Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal2010 Algarve Cup42010-06-23Gothenburg, Sweden2011 World Cup qualification52011-01-21Chongqing, China2011 Four Nations Tournament62012-03-31Malmö, SwedenFriendly72012-09-15Gothenburg, SwedenFriendly82012-10-23Växjö, SwedenFriendly92013-03-08Albufeira, Portugal2013 Algarve Cup10112013-03-13Lagos, Portugal2013 Algarve Cup122013-07-13Gothenburg, SwedenUEFA Euro 2013132013-10-31Gothenburg, Sweden2015 World Cup qualification142014-03-05Albufeira, Portugal2014 Algarve Cup152014-04-05Portadown, Northern Ireland2015 World Cup qualification162014-06-14Motherwell, Scotland2015 World Cup qualification17182014-08-21Starogard Gdański, Poland2015 World Cup qualification192015-01-13La Manga, SpainFriendly20212015-03-09Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal2015 Algarve Cup222015-05-30Toronto, CanadaFriendly232016-06-02Łódź, PolandEuro 2017 qualifying242016-06-06Gothenburg, SwedenEuro 2017 qualifying25262017-03-08Albufeira, Portugal2017 Algarve Cup27282017-09-19Varaždin, Croatia2019 World Cup qualification292017-10-24Borås, Sweden2019 World Cup qualification30312018-08-30Gothenburg, Sweden2019 World Cup qualification322019-02-27Faro/Loulé, Portugal2019 Algarve Cup332019-06-11Rennes, France2019 FIFA World Cup342019-06-16Nice, France2019 FIFA World Cup352019-07-06Nice, France2019 FIFA World Cup362019-09-03Liepāja, LatviaUEFA Euro 2022 qualifying372019-10-08Gothenburg, SwedenUEFA Euro 2022 qualifying382021-02-23Paola, MaltaFriendly392021-07-30Saitama, Japan2020 Summer Olympics402022-02-20Algarve, Portugal2022 Algarve Cup412022-04-07Gori, Georgia2023 World Cup qualification42432022-04-12Gothenburg, Sweden2023 World Cup qualification442022-07-17Leigh, Greater Manchester, EnglandEuro 2022452023-08-19Brisbane, Australia2023 FIFA Women's World Cup462023-12-05Málaga, Spain2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
Honours '''Linköpings FC'''*Damallsvenskan: 2009, 2017*Svenska Supercupen: 2009*Svenska Cupen: 2008, 2009'''Manchester City'''*FA WSL: 2016*FA WSL Continental Cup: 2016'''Sweden'''*Summer Olympics runner-up: 2016, 2020*FIFA Women's World Cup third place: 2019. * Algarve Cup: 2018'''Individual'''*Swedish women's footballer of the year: 2017*Swedish women's midfielder of the year: 2017*Women's Golden Foot: 2022
References ;Match reports
External links *** Profile at SvFF * ( archive)* Player French football stats  at statsfootofeminin.fr* Profile  at Paris Saint-Germain* Linköping FC profile ***