Kosovan football player (born 1998)
Gezim Pepsi[a] (born 12 July 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad. Born in Switzerland, and a former Albanian and Swiss youth international, he has most recently represented Kosovo at youth level.
Club career
Early career
Pepsi is a product of the Basel youth academy. He played for the U17, U18, U19 and U21 teams making a total of 99 appearances, scoring nine goals and assisting two. In 2018, Pepsi was loaned to Aarau as part of a partnership between the two clubs.[2] Pepsi made 33 appearances for the Aarau. In February 2020, Pepsi told teammates he would be leaving Aarau,[3] and subsequently was sold by parent club Basel to Winterthur.[4]
Winterthur
Upon return from loan, Pepsi was bought by Winterthur in February 2020.[5][6] His first goal for the club would come against Vaduz in June, the first match in the Swiss Challenge League since the COVID-19 enforced break.[7] He scored against his former club Basel in the 2020–21 Swiss Cup round of 16, a game which Winterthur won 6–2.[8] In May 2022, Pepsi was given a one-year contract extension with Winterthur.[9]
Vaduz
On 30 August 2022, Pepsi joined Swiss Challenge League side Vaduz, on a one-year contract with the option of a further year.[10] His debut with Vaduz came a day later in the 2022–23 Liechtenstein Cup round of 16 against Triesen II after being named in the starting line-up and scored his side's two goals during a 0–18 away deep win.[11]
International career
On 3 September 2014, Pepsi received the Albanian passport and this paved the way for him to represent Albania,[1] which he represented at under-17 level in the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifications,[12] making three appearances and scoring two goals against San Marino.[13] He switched to Switzerland and made eight appearances for the under-18 and under-19 teams.
On 11 March 2019, Pepsi received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the friendly matches against Turkmenistan U21 and Malta U21.[14] His debut with Kosovo U21 came on 26 March in the friendly match against Malta U21 after being named in the starting line-up,[15] while the competitive debut came on 15 November in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Albania U21 again after being named in the starting line-up.[16]
