Senijad Ibričić (born 26 September 1985) is a Bosnian football executive and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who played as an

attacking 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 ...

. He is the 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 ...

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

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. Besides Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ibričić played in Croatia, Russia, Turkey, Macedonia, Iran, and Slovenia. He played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team for nine years, making 44 appearances and representing the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ibričić holds both Bosnian and Croatian citizenship.

Club career

Zagreb

After one season at senior level in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ibričić left to play for Croatian side NK Zagreb. He established himself as one of the club's best players, and soon attracted interest from bigger clubs in Croatia. He was transferred to Hajduk in 2008 for €1.8 million.

Hajduk Split

In April 2010 Ibričić scored against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, Hajduk's biggest rivals, for the second time in his career. The goal sent Hajduk to the final of the Croatian Cup with a narrow 1–0 aggregate scoreline. He scored again in both the legs of the final and thereby won his first trophy for the club. He finished the 2009–10 season with 17 goals, only behind Davor Vugrinec in the Prva HNL. He was voted the best player in the Croatian League and received the Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award for the 2009–10 season. This was the first time since 1992 that a Hajduk Split player got the prestigious award. He also won the 2009–10 fans' player of the year award, the Heart of Hajduk. In late August 2010 he was linked with a possible move to Turkish side

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. According to media reports, Gaziantepspor offered €6.5 million to Hajduk, but the offer was turned down, with former Hajduk president Joško Svaguša saying that the minimum transfer fee for Ibričić would be in the region of €10 million.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 13 January 2011, he was transferred to Russian club

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three o ...

for a reported fee of around €7 million. Hajduk will also receive 20% of Ibričić's next transfer sum. He scored his first goal for Lokomotiv from the penalty spot in a league match against

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the R ...

Gaziantepspor

On 31 July 2012, Ibričić moved on loan to

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matche ...

. He scored twice in 13

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

games for this team.

Kasımpaşa

On 4 January 2013, Ibričić moved on loan to Kasımpaşa S.K.

Kayseri Erciyesspor

On 26 August 2013, Ibričić signed a three-year contract with

Kayseri Erciyesspor Kayseri Erciyesspor was a Turkish sports club based in Kayseri. History In 1965, Orhan Şefik Apak, then president of the Turkish Football Federation, asked cities in Turkey to combine their amateur football clubs into one singular club that wo ...

Vardar

On 9 February 2015, Ibričić has moved to the Macedonian side

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

. Later, on 15 March he was scored first goal from penalty, in his third game in the club against Turnovo.

Sepahan

Ibričić joined

Persian Gulf League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

side

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club ( fa, باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان اصفهان, ''Bâšgâh-è Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan S.C., are an Iranian spor ...

in January 2016. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

Koper

Ibričić joined Koper in Slovenia on 16 June 2016, signing a two-year contract.

International career

Ibričić established himself in the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina when his former coach at NK Zagreb,

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Saraje ...

became the national team's manager. He made his 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 ...

in a February 2005

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 ...

away 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 ...

and has earned a total of 44 caps, scoring four goals. He participated in each of Bosnia's 12 games in their

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifying campaign (ten in the regular qualification, and two playoff games). He scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. He also scored against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

in a record-breaking 7–0 victory in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The city is k ...

. His final international was a June 2014 pre-World Cup tournament friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. As of 21 July 2014, Ibričić has retired from international football for

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ibričić goal.''

Honours

Hajduk Split * Croatian Cup: 2009–10 Vardar * Macedonian First League: 2014–15

References

External links