Edin Cocalić (; born 5 December 1987) is 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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

club Željezničar. Cocalić began his professional career at Željezničar, before joining

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

in 2010. Two years later, he moved to

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. In 2015, he was transferred to

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

. Four years later, Cocalić signed with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

. Following Akhisarspor, he played for Altay and

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

. In 2022, he returned to Željezničar. A former youth international for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, Cocalić made his senior international debut in 2015, earning 10

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

until 2017.

Club career

Early career

Cocalić came through Željezničar's youth academy, which he joined in 1999. He made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 18. In January 2010, he signed with Greek club

. In January 2012, Cocalić moved to Israeli outfit

Mechelen

On 31 January 2015, Cocalić signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Belgian side

. A week later, he made his official debut for the club against

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

. Two months later, he scored his first goal for Mechelen against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

. In January 2017, Cocalić agreed to a new contract expiring in June 2020. On 23 January 2018, he played his 100th game for the team against St. Truiden. In spite of Mechelen's relegation to the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

in March 2018, Cocalić decided to stay at the club, and even extended his contract for additional season.

Akhisarspor

On 21 January 2019, Cocalić was transferred to Turkish team

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

for an undisclosed fee. A week later, on his competitive debut for the club, he scored a goal and saw a straight red card. Even though Akhisarspor got relegated to the 1. Lig at the end of season, Cocalić chose to stay with the team.

Later career

After leaving Akhisarspor, Cocalić signed with 1. Lig club Altay in September 2020. On 17 January 2021, he joined Greek club

. In November 2021, Cocalić terminated his contract with Panetolikos and left the club.

Return to Željezničar

On 24 January 2022, Cocalić returned to his former club Željezničar, over a decade after he had left the club. On 25 February 2022, he made his second debut for Željezničar, in a 2–0 league loss against Velež Mostar. On 16 July 2022, Cocalić scored his first goal in the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season against Leotar, his first

goal since October 2009.

International career

Cocalić represented

on all youth levels. He also served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the under-17 team. In March 2015, he received his first senior call-up, for games against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Cocalić debuted in a convincing triumph over the former on 28 March.

Personal life

Cocalić married his long-time girlfriend Merima in March 2010. Together they have two children, a girl and a boy.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links