Asim Ferhatović "Hase" (; 24 January 1933 – 25 January 1987) was a Bosnian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker. He started his football career in 1948 with hometown club

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo (; English: Sarajevo Football Club) is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is one of the most successful clubs in the country. Founded on 24 October 1946, FK Sara ...

, for whom he made his first-team debut in 1952. Ferhatović remained with the club until his retirement in 1967, although he represented Fenerbahçe in the 1962–63 Turkish league season. He won a solitary cap for the Yugoslavia national team in 1961.

Club career

During the 1950s and 1960s, Ferhatović led

to great heights, and became the club's best and most famous player, scoring 198 goals in 422 games. He also had a short stint at Fenerbahçe where he played only seven league games and scored one goal. After only half a season he left Fenerbahçe and went back to Sarajevo. His greatest personal achievement was becoming the lead scorer in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

with 19 goals for FK Sarajevo in the 1963–64 season. His last season, ( 1966–67) saw Sarajevo win their first-ever First League title and qualify for the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Ferhatović's retirement was one of the most important events in Sarajevo's sporting history, and the local newspapers ran the headline ''Jedan je Hase!'' (''There is Only One Hase!'') in his honour that day.

International career

Ferhatović played once for the Yugoslavia national team, on 8 October 1961 against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in a qualification match for the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

.Asim Ferhatović eu-football match
at eu-football.info

Death and legacy

Ferhatović died on 25 January 1987, the day after his 54th birthday, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. Sarajevo's

Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium Asim or ASIM may refer to: *Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, a fantasy and science fiction magazine *Aseem, a male given name of Indian origin, often spelled ''Asim'' *Asem, a male given name of Arabic origin, sometim ...

, the site of the Opening Ceremonies of the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

and the home of

, is named in his honour. The Bosnia and Herzegovina national team often used the stadium for their international matches in the past. It is also the largest stadium in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In popular culture

The Bosnian rock band

Zabranjeno Pušenje Zabranjeno pušenje () is a Bosnian rock band formed in Sarajevo in 1980. The group's musical style primarily consists of a distinctive garage rock sound with folk influences, often featuring innovative production and complex storytelling. Curre ...

wrote a song in honour of Ferhatović called ''Nedjelja kad je otišao Hase'' ("The Sunday When Hase Left") and was included in their 1985 album ''

Dok čekaš sabah sa šejtanom ''Dok čekaš sabah sa šejtanom'' () is the second studio album by Yugoslav band Zabranjeno Pušenje released on June 11, 1985. It was released through Jugoton in SFR Yugoslavia. It is the band's first double album. Following the unexpected succ ...

''.

Honours

Player

Sarajevo *

: 1966–67 Individual *

top goalscorer: 1963–64 (19 goals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferhatovic, Asim 1933 births 1987 deaths Footballers from Sarajevo Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers FK Sarajevo players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey