About Shefki Kuqi
Shefki Kuqi[a] (Albanian pronunciation: [ˈʃɛfki ˈkuci]; born 10 November 1976) is a Kosovan-born Finnish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a striker. He spent most of his career in the English football league system, for clubs including Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Swansea City and Oldham Athletic. He made over 500 career league appearances, scoring over 150 goals. Despite being born in Yugoslavia to Kosovan Albanian parents, Kuqi grew up in Finland and holds Finnish citizenship which allowed him to represent the Finland national team at international level, for which he scored eight goals in 62 appearances between 1999 and 2010. His trademark goal celebration of swallow-diving onto the ground has led to his nickname of the "Flying Finn". For the next two seasons at Ipswich Town, Kuqi became a regular in the first team and able to score goals. Kuqi made his debut in a 3–1 loss against West Ham United on 13 September 2005 and scored his first goal of the Premier League and scored again in a 2–0 win over West Brom on 1 October 2005. During the season, Kuqi struggled to command a first team place and found himself on the bench. He scored the second goal in the 81st minute at Hillsborough to ensure a win after Lloyd Owusu had opened the scoring with his very first touch of the ball on his debut.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.