Lavdije “Lavi” Begolli and KuPS have been at their own level in the current league season. Few people know that the goaltender, who was fond of the Finnish fields, witnessed the horrors of war in his childhood.
Kosovar Lavdije Begollin, 29, memories of the war have become detached after many years. However, some memories never go away.
Begolli has not forgotten how the hundred-strong family crammed into his aunt’s house because it was the only place with a bomb shelter. He remembers watching the shootings that took place hundreds of meters away from a crack in the wall with his father and cousins. He remembers the long walk to the refugee camp in neighboring Macedonia, the nights sleeping outside and the trucks that brought the refugees food.
– I remember how a bullet flew by my head when we were walking from home to safety. I saw people shot at the age of five. It was awful.
Born in Pristina, Begolli was five years old when the Kosovo war began in 1998. Like hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians, Begolli’s family also had to flee their home region. The family settled in Macedonia for a while and traveled from there via Slovenia to Germany.
There they lived for two years, until the Serbian president of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic withdrew its forces from Kosovo and the war ended.
Those who returned to Pristina had to start a new life in the middle of the ruins. Above all, the war taught Begoll how fragile life is.
– That time made me appreciate life a lot. We only have one life so I try to enjoy every moment.
My own experiences have weighed in the background, while the soccer player representing the Kuopio Ball Club has followed the current world situation. The fate of Ukrainian civilians living in the middle of the war of aggression has deeply touched many Kosovar people who have experienced the war. The small country in the Western Balkans feels a certain affinity with Ukraine.
– I talk to my family on the phone every day. My mother has not been able to sleep because she keeps thinking about what the Ukrainians are going through right now. This cannot happen in 2022, says Begolli.
“Football is my life”
Begolli was born in 1992 in a family of five children. The importance of family and relatives is great in Kosovar culture, and Begoll’s family was no exception.
– We lived together with my father’s brothers and their families. There were more than 30 of us in the same house. My mother and my uncles’ wives took turns cooking for all of us. As a child, it was really fun when there were so many people around, Begolli says.
Siblings and cousins made sure there was enough buzz around. Begolli got excited about the ball as soon as he learned to walk. The days were spent playing football and yard games.
Not everyone was excited about the hobby. In a male-dominated culture, girls were not used to being seen on the football field.
– Even at school, I was forbidden to play football with the boys. “Go play volleyball or another girl’s sport.” However, I didn’t ask for permission, I did what I wanted.
It was also noticed by father Begolli, who repeatedly forbade his daughter from going to the field. In vain.
– Football is my life. I ran away from home and played all day. I did that until my father realized he couldn’t stop me. In the end, he told me to find a team for myself and promised to take me to training.
Begolli found a team that also accepted girls. He started playing in that mixed team at the age of 13 and trained imitating the great football hero of his childhood: the legendary 10 shirt Alessandro Del Piero. Begolli loved the way Juventus’ Italian striker read the game.
In the Balkan football circles, the young player’s potential was noticed. In his twenties, Begolli was invited to the Albanian national team. The European football confederation Uefa had not yet recognized the Kosovo national team, so Begolli joined the strength of Albania.
– The invitation to the Albanian national team was a huge honor. I immediately said yes. They took care of my passport and other papers.
Begolli celebrated the championship of Albania and Kosovo at the club team level and played in the Champions League. Since then, the midfielder wanted to try his wings elsewhere in Europe. The agent found an interesting club in the north: Jyväskylä Pallokerho.
Begolli arrived in Finland in 2017 without knowing a word of English. The social person overcame the language barrier with his perseverance, but even today he is not completely used to the northern climate.
– Winter, forest and -30 degrees. I thought I wouldn’t survive it all, but I’m still here, Begolli says with a laugh.
In addition to the weather conditions, Begolli has noted other differences between Finnish and Balkan lifestyles. The relationship with family and relatives is one of them.
– In Kosovo, family elders enjoy great respect and family members live together. In Finland, grandparents usually go to a nursing home when they can no longer live on their own. For us, that’s not an option. My family and I took care of my amnesiac grandfather for three years. We sowed, we fed, we did everything for him, says Begolli.
“All I have to do is put the ball in the net”
Begolli has been quick to adapt to the most diverse circumstances. It has been useful both in everyday life and on the playing field. The midfielder spent three seasons in Jyväskylä, but the greatest success awaited at KuPS, which invested determinedly in women’s football, where Begolli moved to for the 2020 season.
Last year, Begolli celebrated his first Finnish championship in yellow shirts. In the current season, the talented player who moved from midfield to striker has been unstoppable as a goalscorer. By the second week of August, Begolli had completed 23 hits in 16 matches.
Begolli has been his partner and good friend Gentjana Rochin (19 goals in 15 matches) along with the absolute key figure of KuPS, but he does not want to elevate individuals to be bigger than the team.
– The team makes us look better. We have a clear game identity and we try to improve our attack every day. The team creates great chances, all I have to do is put the ball in the net.
– We are the best in Finland because we work a lot. We train hard and with high quality 8–9 times a week. That work pays for itself in every game.
Begoll’s goal is to achieve more championships in his football career and win the Champions League. There are enough dreams for life after your playing career as well. Begolli, who is studying to be a chef in Kuopio, wants to open his own restaurant in Finland in the future, offering traditional Balkan dishes.
– I don’t think there are very many Balkan restaurants in Finland. I want to prepare for Finnish customers the delicacies of our culture, such as the traditional flat-layer flia.
Kuopio Palloseura, represented by Begoll, will face PK-35 Vantaa in the top match of the National League on Saturday. The match starts in Kuopio at 15:00 and will be followed by Puhe’s Sports Tour.