Blerim Rrustemi

Blerim Nexhmi Rrustemi (; born 4 February 1983) is a football manager and former player who is the assistant manager of Oberliga Niederrhein club Union Nettetal. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented Albania internationally.

Over the course of his career he played in Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Denmark, Cyprus and Albania, appearing at both professional and semi-professional levels. He represented the Albania national team in 2007, earning three caps.

Club career Rrustemi began his football career with 2 Korriku, and due to the Kosovo War, he emigrated to Canada, and Toronto Supra in 2000–2001, both competing in the Canadian Professional League. He also appeared for local Albanian community teams in the Toronto area.

At the age of 17, he moved to South America, joining Portuguesa in Brazil for the 2001–02 season, where he was offered a three-year contract, but because of his young age he did not remain away from his family for more than six months, For the 2008–09 season Rrustemi joined Alki Larnaca in the Cypriot First Division, where he scored twice in 12 league matches.

After leaving Albania, Rrustemi returned once more to Germany, where he spent the remainder of his playing career in the regional leagues. In 2010, he joined FC Wegberg-Beeck in the NRW-Liga, making 27 league appearances and scoring four goals in the 2010–11 season.

Rrustemi subsequently played for SSVg Velbert in the Regionalliga West in 2013, Germania Ratingen 04/19 in the Oberliga Niederrhein in 2014, and Rheydter SV in the German regional leagues in 2014–15, where he posted a notable scoring record for a defender. His debut for Albania came on 22 August 2007 in a 3–0 home friendly win against the Malta at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana. He went on to appear in two UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying matches: a goalless draw away to the Slovenia in October 2007 and a 4–2 home defeat against the Belarus in November 2007, which proved to be his final international match.

Personal life Born in Kosovo to an ethnic Albanian family, Rrustemi was raised in Canada after his family left Kosovo at the beginning of the Kosovo War, and he later obtained Canadian citizenship.

Honours Rot-Weiss Erfurt Thuringian Cup: 2007–08

Goslarer SC Oberliga Niedersachsen: 2011–12