Eight years growing up in a soccer school where the only important thing was how to touch and move the ball.
The technique over the physical.
Enis Bardhi
(Skopje, 1995) at just 1.72 tall, fit the bill perfectly.
He raised his right leg to be a glove and today he is an accomplished free
kick taker
reminiscent of
Milinko Pantic
, the Serbian from Atlético who astonished LaLiga.
Between the two there are many similarities: short, signed by unknown teams from Greece and Hungary, with the 10 behind him and remembered for decisive goals that, curiously, were not a free-kick.
To the rojiblancos, Pantic gave them the Copa del Rey in 96 with a header in extra time and the Macedonian culminated two attacks to seal the last two stays of Levante, in Girona and against Espanyol in Cornellà.
Bardhi will be at Di Stéfano today after two months off due to an
acute herniated disc
and after recovering the goal against
Valladolid
in the Cup, the first of the season.
He had not scored a
direct free kick
for 842 days
, a specialty that allowed him to achieve six goals of the nine he added in his surprising arrival in the League in the summer of 2017. Since then, every set piece he is about to hit generates a whirring noise. all the stands of the Ciutat de València.
Levante hunted him for 1.5 million euros from the
Hungarian Újpest
, just at the moment when he was revealed to Europe after scoring against Serbia and Portugal in the group stage of the European Under-21.
The Macedonian still remembers a goal by
Marco Asensio
from 30 meters and how
Borja Mayoral
confessed the surprise that the good game of the Balkan team caused them despite having endorsed them 5-0.
The tie was thrown just before Betis and Getafe tempted him.
By then
Espanyol had
already escaped.
At the age of 15 he had been tested in his quarry, but he could not retain him.
"At that time Macedonia was not in the European Union and my parents had to come with me, which complicated everything," says Bardhi.
Determined to leave his country to improve his football, he went to Denmark, to the lower categories of the
Brondby
, where he only played a few friendlies with the first team.
Then he jumped into the catacombs of Swedish football, the
Prespa Birlik
of the Third Division, and already with 19 years and as a professional to the Hungarian League.
By then he spoke six languages: Albanian as his mother tongue, Macedonian, Serbian, English, Spanish and Hungarian.
With the Újpest shirt he played three seasons in which he scored 22 goals and gave 13 assists.
And his good streak continued at Levante: three pre-season goals from a direct free kick.
The first, in Cádiz.
"There was a foul that I did not ask myself out of shyness, but the second I told Campaign: 'Leave me, I'm going to score.'
I did it and from then on everyone gave me the ball on fouls or asked me if I wanted to shoot it, "he recalls.
Spectacular debut and 50 million clause
What began in the preseason continued in the league: three goals in the first five games, two from direct shots.
The brilliant debut was followed by a drought that ended with
Paco López's
arrival on the bench in March
.
"He believed in me and told me to play free in midfield," explained the player on more than one occasion.
He even skipped Ramadan to help the team in the fight for permanence.
That confidence gave rise to an explosive end of the season: two direct free goals in San Mamés (1-3), another against Leganés and two more, these on play, in the historic 5-4 against a Barça that reached Orriols looking to close the league undefeated.
The result of his stunning landing at age 22 was
renewal until 2022
and a $ 50 million clause.
However, his performance was declining.
In his second year he only scored three goals and in the third, the pandemic campaign, they were seven and three assists.
In addition, the role of sniper is disputed by
Campaña
and
Rochina
.
Even so, his contribution to the attack continues to intimidate, even
Oblak
, who in January 2020 had to make two capital stops.
«I said to him: What a stop!
And he replied: 'You have marked me with Slovenia, but today I will not leave you.'
All laughing, friends plan, "said the granota after the game.
Bardhi played 100 games with the Levante shirt in the First Division just before injuring himself with his national team and he is already the foreigner with the most matches and goals in the club's history.
But he wants to be the first Levantine in a
European Championship
.
Macedonia will play it for the first time and does not want to miss it.
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