Sanel Ibrahimović (born 24 November 1987) is a Bosnian

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 for the Luxembourgish club

FC Wiltz 71 FC Wiltz 71 is a football club, based in Wiltz, in north-western Luxembourg. The club is currently playing in the highest football league in Luxembourg. History It was formed in 1971 as an amalgam of Union Sportive Niederwiltz and Gold a Ro'd ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He spent most of his career in the Luxembourg National Division, with over 200 appearances and 100 goals between four teams. During his time at Jeunesse Esch and F91 Dudelange, he won four each of the league title and

Luxembourg Cup The Luxembourg Cup () is the national knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons during the German occupation during Second World War. W ...

. He was the

Luxembourgish Footballer of the Year The Luxembourgian Footballer of the Year is an award granted every season to a football player from Luxembourg's domestic top-flight National Division, rewarding the player judged to have been the most valuable to his team that season. It is award ...

in 2013–14 and the league's top scorer three times.

Club career

Born in Tuzla, then in the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, Ibrahimović was in the youth system of

FK Sloboda Tuzla Fudbalski klub Sloboda Tuzla ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Слободa Tyзла; English: Football Club Sloboda Tuzla) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the team ...

from the age of 6, until at 16 his family moved to Luxembourg. He returned to the Balkans and became a futsal professional in Croatia before returning to Luxembourg in 2008, settling with his family in

Wiltz Wiltz ( lb, Wolz or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in north-western Luxembourg, capital of the canton Wiltz. Wiltz is situated on the banks of the river Wiltz. It was also a battleground in the Battle of the Bulge, near the en ...

, a northern city with a large Bosnian community. His first club was

of the second-tier

Luxembourg Division of Honour The Division of Honour (, , ) is the second-level football league in Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand ...

. As a non-European Union citizen, he required a work permit as a specialist to play for the team. The club president, former Luxembourg international

Henri Roemer Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

, hired him as a purported specialist in Bosnian cuisine for his hotel – though he had no actual expertise in this field. The team gained promotion, and he was top scorer in the

2010–11 Luxembourg National Division The 2010–11 Luxembourg National Division (also known as ''BGL Ligue'' due to sponsorship reasons) was the 97th season of top-tier football in Luxembourg. It began on 7 August 2010 and ended on 20 May 2011. Jeunesse Esch went into the season as ...

with 18 goals in 24 games. However, the club were relegated and he missed a penalty in their play-off against

US Hostert Football Club Union Sportive Hostert A.s.b.l. is a football club, based in Hostert, Niederanven, in central Luxembourg. In 2011, the club was promoted to the highest tier for the first time in its history. The club is also a home to many youth te ...

. Ibrahimović had been tracked by a scout from nearby French club FC Metz, but the game he attended saw Wiltz lose 15–0 to F91 Dudelange, and he joined

FC RM Hamm Benfica F.C. Luxembourg City is a football (soccer), football football club, club, based in Hamm, Luxembourg, Hamm, a Quarters of Luxembourg City, quarter of Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. History The club was founded on 26 March 2004 after a f ...

in 2011 for a club record €35,000, and Jeunesse Esch a year later. In the final of the 2012–13 Luxembourg Cup, he scored twice in a 2–1 win over FC Differdange 03 at the Stade Josy Barthel. In 2013–14, he was again top scorer with 22 goals in 26 games, in addition to

. With only one goal fewer the following season, he was top scorer for the third time. In June 2015, after his Jeunesse contract expired, Ibrahimović moved to F91 Dudelange on a three-year deal. Ibrahimović was close to returning to Wiltz in January 2019, but stayed at F91 and won the league and cup double. In June that year, he joined Wiltz on a three-year contract.

Honours

Club

;Jeunesse Esch *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

;F91 Dudelange * Luxembourg National Division: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19

Individual

: 2013–14 * Luxembourg National Division top scorer: 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahimovic, Sanel 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Tuzla Association football forwards Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers FC Wiltz 71 players FC RM Hamm Benfica players Jeunesse Esch players F91 Dudelange players Luxembourg National Division players Luxembourg Division of Honour players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Luxembourg Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Luxembourg