# Herolind Shala

Herolind Shala (born 1 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Norwegian club Start. Born in Norway, he plays for the Kosovo national team. He previously represented Norway at youth and Albania at under-21 and senior international level.

## Club career
### Sparta Prague

On 11 January 2015, Shala joined Czech First League side Sparta Prague. On 23 February 2015, he made his debut in a 4–1 home win against Příbram after being named in the starting line-up.

### Lyngby

On 30 August 2017, Shala joined Danish Superliga side Lyngby. On 19 November 2017, he made his debut in a 3–1 home defeat against Randers after coming on as a substitute at 69th minute in place of Martin Ørnskov.

### Start

On 4 August 2018, Shala joined with the newly promoted team of Eliteserien side Start, on a season-long contract. On 6 August 2018, he made his debut in a 4–1 away defeat against Brann after coming on as a substitute at 70th minute in place of Tobias Christensen.

### Vålerenga

On 11 February 2019, Shala joined Eliteserien side Vålerenga, on a two-year contract. On 30 March 2019, he made his debut in a 2–0 home win against Mjøndalen after being named in the starting line-up.

### Stabæk

On 5 March 2021, Shala joined Eliteserien side Stabæk. On 19 May 2021, he made his debut against his former club Odd after being named in the starting line-up and assists in his side's two goals during a 2–2 home draw.

### Erzurumspor FK

On 9 September 2021, Stabæk announced the transfer of Shala to TFF First League club Erzurumspor FK. That same day, the club confirmed that Shala's transfer was permanent.

## International career
### Norway

From 2009, until 2012, Shala has been part of Norway at youth international level, respectively has been part of the U17 and U21 teams and he with these teams played three matches, which were friendly matches.

### Albania
#### Under-21

In May 2013. When he was called up for both the Norwegian and the Albanian under-21 team, he withdrew from the Norwegian squad as he wanted to represent Albania instead. On 11 July 2013, he made his debut for the Albanian U-21 team against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 by playing full 90-minutes.
On 5 March 2014, he was called up for the closing match of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 qualification against Austria. He played as a starter and scored the last goal for his side in the 57th minute, where the match finished in an away 1–3 victory with other goals scored by Enis Gavazaj and Vasil Shkurti.

#### Senior

On 7 September 2014, Shala received his first senior national team call-up by the Albania national football team coach Gianni De Biasi for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Portugal. On 14 November 2014, he made his debut for senior team in the "Group I" Friendly Match against the Euro 2016 hosts, France, by coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute. In the other match against Italy, he played once again as a substitute at this time in the 71st minute.

### Kosovo

On 30 August 2016, Shala received a call-up from Kosovo for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland. On 6 October 2016, he made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia after coming on as a substitute at 77th minute in place of Arbër Zeneli.

## Personal life

Shala was born in Porsgrunn, Norway to Kosovo Albanian parents from Drenas. His family belong to the Shala tribe. He and his family speak Albanian in the Gheg dialect of the language.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 4 April 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Odd | 2011 | Tippeligaen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| Odd | 2012 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 3 |
| Odd | 2013 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 8 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 8 |
| Odd | 2014 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 9 | 6 | 5 | — | — | 36 | 14 |
| Odd | Total | Total | 90 | 20 | 12 | 5 | — | — | 102 | 25 |
| Sparta Prague | 2014–15 | Czech First League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| Slovan Liberec (loan) | 2015–16 | Czech First League | 24 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 36 | 7 |
| Kasımpaşa (loan) | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 17 | 3 |
| Lyngby | 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 |
| Start | 2018 | Eliteserien | 14 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 15 | 4 |
| Vålerenga | 2019 | Eliteserien | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 6 |
| Vålerenga | 2020 | Eliteserien | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 2 |
| Vålerenga | Total | Total | 45 | 8 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 46 | 8 |
| Stabæk | 2021 | Eliteserien | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| Erzurumspor F.K. | 2021–22 | TFF First League | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 |
| Erzurumspor F.K. | 2022–23 | TFF First League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 |
| Erzurumspor F.K. | 2023–24 | TFF First League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 211 | 40 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 248 | 50 |
* ↑ Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

### International

    As of 14 November 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Albania |
| Albania | 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| Albania | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| Albania | 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 6 | 0 |
| Kosovo |
| Kosovo | 2016 | 3 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2018 | 9 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2020 | 7 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 2021 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 33 | 0 |

## Honours

Odd
* Norwegian Cup runner-up: 2014