Valter Birsa

Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a winger.

Club career Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started playing for ND Bilje, the village club of Bilje near Nova Gorica. As he was a talented player, he was soon transferred first to Primorje, and then to Gorica at the age of 17.

Sochaux In 2006, he signed for French club Sochaux in Ligue de Football Professionnel. While at Sochaux, he won the 2007 Coupe de France. The final game against Olympique de Marseille finished 2–2 and went to penalties, with Birsa scoring his penalty as his side emerged victorious.

Auxerre (loan) On 22 January 2009, Auxerre signed him on a loan deal until June 2009 from Sochaux. He scored his first Auxerre goal against Olympique Lyonnais. On 29 May 2009, it was announced that Auxerre had made the loan permanent. In the 2010–11 season, Birsa scored a 23-yard free kick and his first UEFA Champions League goal against Ajax in the group stage. Ajax eventually won 2–1.

Genoa On 2 February 2011, despite interest from big Premier league teams such as Liverpool and Fulham, Birsa signed a four-year contract with Serie A club Genoa. He made just nine appearances in his maiden season in Italy.

Torino (loan) He joined Torino on 31 August 2012 on loan. At Torino, Birsa played 17 games, scoring 2 goals but did not do enough to convince Torino to sign him on a permanent deal so he returned to Genoa at the end of the season.

AC Milan Birsa made the switch to AC Milan on 31 August 2013, in what was a straight swap deal which saw Luca Antonini move in the opposite direction. He was handed the number 14 shirt at Milan. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 September 2013 against Sampdoria to give the Rossoneri the win.

Chievo He signed for Chievo on 9 July 2014 on loan. On 2 July 2015, Chievo signed Birsa outright in a three-year contract.

Cagliari On 9 January 2019, Birsa signed with Serie A side Cagliari.

International career Birsa played for the Slovenia national team between 2006 and 2018. He scored his first goal for the national team on 9 September 2009 in a World Cup qualifying match against Poland, which Slovenia won 3–0. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Birsa struck a long-range curling shot in Slovenia's second group stage match against the United States. Slovenia drew that match 2–2.

He earned a total of 90 caps for the national team, scoring 7 goals. His final international was a March 2018 friendly match against Belarus.

Personal life Birsa was born in Šempeter pri Gorici, present day Slovenia. In 2012, he married his long-time girlfriend Mateja. He has a son named Nolan.

Career statistics

Club

International Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Birsa goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Valter BirsaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1 9 September 2009 Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia 3–0 3–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 2 10 October 2009 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia 1–0 2–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 3 18 June 2010 Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 1–0 2–2 2010 FIFA World Cup 4 7 June 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland 2–2 4–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 19 November 2013 Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia 1–0 1–0 Friendly 6 9 October 2015 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 Qualification 7 4 September 2017 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 4–0 4–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours Gorica Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2004–05, 2005–06

Sochaux Coupe de France: 2006–07

Individual Slovenian Footballer of the Year: 2010