Sejad Salihović (; born 8 October 1984) 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 ...

who plays for 1899 Hoffenheim II. He spent most of his career playing for 1899 Hoffenheim in the German

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 ...

. He also played for

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

Beijing Renhe Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their hom ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

and

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 ...

. For eight years, from 2007 to 2015, Salihović played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, earning 47

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 scoring 4 goals for the team. He represented the nation at their first major tournament, 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Salihović began his career in the youth teams of lower-league sides

Minerva Berlin Minerva 93 Berlin is a German association football club from the district of Moabit in the city of Berlin. The club was established 10 May 1893 as ''Berliner Fußball Club Minerva'' taking its name from the Roman goddess of wisdom. A merger wit ...

and

Hertha Zehlendorf The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin. The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The depar ...

. In the 2000–01 season, he was transferred to

, where he played for the U17 and U19 teams before eventually entering the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in 2003.

Hertha BSC

Salihović was promoted to the first team in 2004. He made his professional debut in a

match against

on 26 September 2004, which ended in a 1–2 defeat.

1899 Hoffenheim

In 2006, Salihović was transferred to 1899 Hoffenheim. In his first season, the team played in Regionalliga Süd, at the time third tier league in Germany. At the end of the season, they managed to get promoted to 2. Bundesliga. He was rated by

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

as the best player of 2. Bundesliga in 2007–08 season with the best over-all grades, as 1899 Hoffenheim were once again promoted, this time to

. Salihović helped 1899 Hoffenheim finish on the top of the table heading into the winter break in their first Bundesliga

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. However, they could not continue in the same rhythm, finishing season only seventh. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Salihović scored two late penalties against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

to secure relegation play-off matches, ultimately saving his team from being relegated. His last seasons at 1899 Hoffenheim were plagued by injuries, limiting his playing time and performance. He left 1889 Hoffenheim in 2015, after 9 years, becoming the record appearance maker in club's history.

Beijing Renhe

On 7 June 2015, 1899 Hoffenheim announced on their official website that Salihović would leave the club to join

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side

St. Gallen

In February 2017, Salihović signed with

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

side

until the end of the season. As his contract was not renewed, he left the club on a free transfer in June 2017.

Hamburger SV

On 13 September 2017, Salihović signed a one-year contract with

, returning to

after more than two years. He made his debut on 15 September, in a 0–2 loss against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

. Salihović scored his first goal against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, in an eventual 2–3 loss. At the end of the season, Salihović left the club as his contract was not renewed.

Retirement

On 4 April 2019, Salihović's adviser Tolga Dirican announced that despite offers from many 2. Bundesliga clubs, Salihović decided to end his career. In 2021, he returned to professional football, and played a game with 1899 Hoffenheim II.

International career

Salihović was a regular member of Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team. During October 2006, while playing for the Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team, Salihović scored twice in the team's 2–3 aggregate loss to Czech Republic under-21 in the play-offs for 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Both his goals were shots from over 25 meters out. Since then, Salihović has been promoted to the senior side and has become an important member of the team. He debuted on 13 October 2007 in a 2–3

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifying loss to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and scored his first goal against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

on 9 June 2009 in a friendly game. Although his favorite position is in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, he has often been used as a

left 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 ...

in lack of other options. Due to unsporting behavior in game against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

during 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs, Salihović was suspended for four games, missing the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

qualification games against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

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 ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He returned for a friendly match against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, which Bosnia won 3–2 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

. In June 2014, he was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for the

, the country's first big competition. He played at all three games that Bosnia played at the World Cup. In the 2–1 and 1–0 losses against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and in a 3–1 win against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. After Bosnia failed to qualify to the 2016 UEFA Euro, Salihović, even though he never announced it, left the national team.

Personal life

Salihović and his family migrated to Berlin in 1992, right before the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

started. In June 2009, after 17 years, Sejad visited his hometown of

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in Republika Srpska, on the left bank of the Drina river. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. The town of Mali Zvornik ("Little Zvornik") lies ...

where his parents Ismet and Fadila were renovating their home. His hobbies include reading, playing football, and spending time with his family. On 15 December 2014, Salihović married his girlfriend. In April 2015, the couple became parents of a boy. The couple also divorced officially in 2019 after many scandals.

Style of play

Salihović had a powerful shot with his left foot and was a free-kick specialist right up to his retirement.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first.''

References

External links