Hasan Salihamidžić (; born 1 January 1977), nicknamed Brazzo ( bs, Braco, , "Little Bro"), is a Bosnian former 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 ...
and current
sporting director
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
of
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
club
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
. After starting his club career with German side
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
, he made a name for himself while playing for Bayern Munich for nine seasons with whom he won the Bundesliga title six times,
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
title four times, the
2000–01 UEFA Champions League
The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competitio ...
and the
2001 Intercontinental Cup
The 2001 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 27 November 2001 between Bayern Munich, winners of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, and winners of the 2001 Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors, which was also the defendin ...
. He also played for Italian club
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
for four seasons.
During his career, Salihamidžić usually played as a
right midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
or
full back. He was a quick and energetic player with an extremely high work rate. He was also gifted with good
crossing and passing abilities, which allowed him to create chances for his teammates.
He earned 42
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 ...
and scored six goals for the
Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is regarded by many as one of the most successful Bosnian football players.
Following the end of his one-year contract with
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
in 2012, Salihamidžić retired from professional football. He then worked for
Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...
,
RTL and
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
, before re-joining Bayern Munich as sporting director in 2017.
Early life
Salihamidžić's father Ahmed and mother Šefika gave him the nickname "Braco", meaning "little brother" in Bosnian, since Hasan has an older sister, hence his current nickname "Brazzo". He finished elementary school and played in the local club. Then, Salihamidžić moved to
Velež Mostar where he stayed until 1992. That year, Salihamidžić was called up to the
Yugoslavia under-16 team, for a match against the
CIS under-16 team in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
. Days after the match, the
Army of Republika Srpska
The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...
began a
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
on the Bosnian capital
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
, forcing his father to look for opportunities in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
for his son.
Club career
Hamburger SV
In November 1992, Salihamidžić moved to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Germany, with the assistance of Ahmed Halilhodžić (cousin of football coach
Vahid Halilhodžić
Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 October 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various na ...
), who was also a Jablanica native and had emigrated to Germany.
Through Ahmed Halilhodžić's help, Salihamidžić joined the youth team of
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
side
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
. He remained within the club's youth system for three seasons before being promoted to the senior squad. In his first season with the seniors, Salihamidžić made nine appearances, scoring two league goals.
The following season, Salihamidžić became an integral part of the squad as he would make 37 appearances and score an impressive seven goals between Europe and the league. He would go on to make 31 league appearances, scoring ten goals during the
1997–98 season, which would be his last for the club before his high-profile transfer to Bundesliga giants
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
.
Bayern Munich
Salihamidžić's transfer to Bayern Munich was completed during the 1998 summer transfer window, for an undisclosed fee. In his first season with his new club,
1998–99, Salihamidžić was instantly inserted into the club's starting line-up and made an impressive 43 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals. During his first season, he came on as a substitute in the 89th minute of the
1999 UEFA Champions League Final
The 1999 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between Manchester United of England and Bayern Munich of Germany, played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, on 26 May 1999, to determine the winner of the 1998–99 UEFA Champi ...
against
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.
Salihamidžić would make an additional 46 appearances with three more goals in his second season for the Munich giants, in
1999–2000. His
third season proved very successful as well, as he would score six goals in 46 appearances. Between 2001 and 2003, however, Salihamidžić lacked in appearances, mostly due to injury; he made just 50 appearances between both seasons in all competitions.
For the
2003–04 season, the Bosnian international worked his way back into the starting line-up for the entire season, making 47 appearances and scoring five goals, also tallying 43 appearances and five goals the
following season.
Salihamidžić was limited to just 29 appearances for the
2005–06 season, but made 42 seasonal appearances in his
final season with the club, in which he also scored five goals. One of Salihamidžić's most memorable plays in 2006–07 was in the
Champions League round of 16 second leg against
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, where he dispossessed
Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...
and fed the pass to
Roy Makaay
Rudolphus Antonius "Roy" Makaay (born 9 March 1975) is a Dutch former footballer and a coach who is currently first team coach at Rangers. As a striker, he was known for his goal-scoring ability as a result of his "aerial prowess and quick driv ...
, who beat goalkeeper
Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...
and set the record for the
fastest goal in tournament history, at 11 seconds after kickoff. This helped Bayern overcome a 3–2 loss from the first leg to level the tie at 2–1 and advance on the
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...
.
As he spent many years being so loved in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and his children are from the city, Salihamidžić settled there when his playing career was over.
Juventus
![Hasan Salihamidžić 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Hasan_Salihamid%C5%BEi%C4%87_2009.jpg)
On 15 January 2007, Salihamidžić signed a four-year pre-deal with
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
.
He joined them the following June after his contract with Bayern had expired. In his first season, under coach
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...
, Salihamidžić was a regular starter, albeit with injury lay-offs, and made 30 official appearances for his new club, scoring an impressive five goals which included two in a 3–2 victory against
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
on 12 April 2008. His second and third season with the club, however, proved to be less successful as he suffered from several injury lay-offs.
In the
2010–11 season, new coach
Luigi Delneri
Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player.
After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...
excluded Salihamidžić from the team's plans. Along with
Fabio Grosso
Fabio Grosso (; born 28 November 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer and current manager of Frosinone Calcio.
After playing for several smaller Italian clubs, such as Renato Curi, Chieti and Perugia, he made his breakthrough dur ...
, Salihamidžić was the only healthy first-team player that was excluded from the 25-men
2010–11 UEFA Europa League
The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...
squad. Salihamidžić was released from Juventus when his contract expired in June 2011.
VfL Wolfsburg
On 4 July 2011, Salihamidžić moved to
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
on a one-year contract.
On 9 July 2011, in a friendly game against local team
Bismark, Salihamidžić's left arm was broken in a challenge with another player.
International career
![Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team in 2002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_national_football_team_in_2002.jpg)
Salihamidžić made his international debut 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 ...
on 8 October 1996 against
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
. On 6 November 1996, he scored the team's first goal in a friendly 2–1 win over
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. During his 11 years with the national team, the closest they came was falling one goal short in a match against
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
that would have enabled them to qualify for
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...
. He has earned a total of 42 caps, scoring 6 goals and his final international was an August 2006
friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Punditry
After retiring from professional football in 2012, Salihamidžić started to work as a regular
pundit
A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport).
Origins
The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
for
Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...
. From summer 2013 to spring 2014, he worked as a football expert for
RTL and was a
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...
for during the
2013 Audi Cup. He was also an expert for
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
from February 2014 until the
UEFA Champions League Final
The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of Europea ...
and during the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in Brazil.
Administrative career
On 31 July 2017, Salihamidžić was appointed
sporting director
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
of Bayern Munich, his predecessor
Matthias Sammer
Matthias Sammer (; born 5 September 1967) is a German football official and former player and coach. He played as a defensive midfielder and later in his career as a sweeper.
With Borussia Dortmund as a player, Sammer won the Bundesliga and D ...
had retired for health and family reasons a season ago in 2016. Salihamidžić signed a three-year contract until 30 June 2020. Bayern's Chairman,
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player. He was the longtime Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of German Bundesliga team Bayern ...
said, "In Hasan, we have brought a man to FC Bayern who knows the club very well. He is a very hard-working, serious, loyal and very alert person with great integrity and he speaks five languages. His time in Italy means he has a great network that will definitely be very helpful in his job. We have complete confidence that he will be able to do the job as he should do." Salihamidžić officially assumed his position on Bayern's executive board on 1 July 2020 as the "board director of sport".
Personal life
Salihamidžić has three children: Selina, Nick and Lara June, all born in Munich,
with his wife, Esther Copado. Footballer
Francisco Copado is his brother-in-law, whose son
Lucas
Lucas or LUCAS may refer to:
People
* Lucas (surname)
* Lucas (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk"
* ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities
* ''L ...
(Salihamidžić's nephew) is a footballer for Bayern Munich, alongside Salihamidžić's own son,
Nick
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Place ...
.
Salihamidžić also holds German citizenship.
Career statistics
Club
:''Source:''
International
:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first''.
Honours
Club
Bayern Munich
*
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
:
1998–99,
1999–2000,
2000–01,
2002–03,
2004–05,
2005–06
*
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
:
1999–2000,
2002–03,
2004–05,
2005–06
*
DFB-Ligapokal
The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...
:
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
*
UEFA Champions League
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 ...
:
2000–01
*
Intercontinental Cup:
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
Individual
*
Bosnia and Herzegovina Sportsperson of the Year Bosnia and Herzegovina Sportsperson of the Year are annual sporting awards given to best athletes of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second larg ...
:
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
*
Bosnian Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salihamidzic, Hasan
1977 births
Living people
People from Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Yugoslav Wars refugees
Association football midfielders
Association football fullbacks
Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers
Bosnia and Herzegovina international footballers
Hamburger SV II players
Hamburger SV players
FC Bayern Munich footballers
Juventus F.C. players
VfL Wolfsburg players
Regionalliga players
Bundesliga players
Serie A players
UEFA Champions League winning players
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Association football commentators
Color commentators
German sports broadcasters
German television journalists
RTL Group people
ZDF people
FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff
FC Bayern Munich board members