Saša Bjelanović (; born 11 June 1979) is a Croatian retired

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 played as a striker. He has held an Italian passport since 2007, as his grandmother was from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Venezia Giulia Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March ( Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe w ...

; this made him eligible to acquire Italian nationality at birth.

Club career

Saša Bjelanović started his career at

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. At the age of 20, he had already made 76 appearances for his native club. In summer 1999, he was signed by Croatian giant

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 ...

. However, he made only one appearance before being transferred to

NK Istra Nogometni Klub Istra ( en, Istra Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra or simply Istra, is a Croatian football club, from the city of Pula. The club currently plays in the fifth level of the Croatian league system but Istra has also pl ...

from

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

and then NK Varteks. On 31 May 2002,

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

, at that time in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, brought Bjelanović to Italy. He played 15 Serie A games for Como, and left on loan to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

. As Como was relegated in summer 2003, on 16 July 2003, Bjelanović was loaned to

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

. But on 30 August 2003, he was sold to

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

on a co-ownership deal for €1 million. Genoa was owned by former Como owner Enrico Preziosi. Bjelanović played 41 out of possible 46 games for Genoa, and as Como was relegated again, this time to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

, Genoa bought all the registration rights at the end of the season for another €150,000. Genoa did not win promotion in summer 2004 and Bjelanović played his second Serie A season for

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce, commonly referred to as Lecce (), is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2022–23 season, the top level of the Italian football pyramid, having been promoted from Serie B. ...

on loan. In summer 2005, Genoa finally won promotion to Serie A, but due to match fixing scandal, Genoa was relegated to play in the

next season. As a result, Bjelanović was sold to

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, the team which was promoted in Genoa's place, on a co-ownership deal. Bjelanović scored four goals in 31 Serie A appearances for Ascoli in the 2005–06 season. He then went on to score seven goals in the 2006–07 season and became the top scorer for Ascoli for the season. This is due to players leaving the club and Ascoli relegated to Serie B after finishing at 19th. Bjelanović signed for his 6th Italian club,

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

, along with

Paolo Zanetti Paolo Zanetti (born 16 December 1982) is an Italian football coach and a former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Empoli. As a player he played as a midfielder. Club career Zanetti started his career at native club Vicenza. Empoli ...

, on 21 June 2007, on a co-ownership deal. In June 2008 Torino full contracted with Bjelanović. In August 2008, Bjelanović was transferred to

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

. On 1 July 2009 he joined Vicenza definitely in 3-year contract for €700,000 as part of

Nicolás Gorobsov Nicolás Martín Gorobsov (born 25 November 1989) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. After starting out in Argentina, he went on to compete professionally in Italy and Romania. Gorobsov operates primarily as a cen ...

's deal (for €800,000).Vicenza Calcio SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2010
CCIAA
/ref> In June 2010 he was transferred to

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

champions

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

for €250,000.. He played only six months in Romania, in January 2011 being sold back in Italy, to Serie B club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

for €385,000.Atalanta BC Report and Accounts on 31 December 2011
CCIAA
/ref> However he was transferred to Serie B club

Hellas Verona F.C. Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

for free from the 2011 Serie B champion on 31 August 2011, the last day of Italian transfer window, after a nil game in 2011–12 Serie A. At Verona he re-joined the former Cluj coach, Italian

Andrea Mandorlini Andrea Mandorlini (born 17 July 1960) is an Italian association football, football manager and former Defender (association football), defender, currently in charge of club Mantova 1911, Mantova. Playing career Mandorlini made his playing debu ...

. On 3 September 2012 the last day of Romanian transfer window, he returned to Cluj for undisclosed fee. He then joined

Lega Pro The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

for the 2014–15 season, but left the club in December 2014 by mutual consent, successively signing for

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

, another Lega Pro club, five days later.

International career

Bjelanović was a member of the Croatian Youth team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he made only one appearance and scored one goal. He made his debut for the Croatian senior national team on 9 February 2005, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Eduardo da Silva Eduardo Alves da Silva (, ; born 25 February 1983), commonly known as Eduardo and sometimes nicknamed Dudu, is a former professional footballer. Capable of playing any forward position, he started as a striker, but was deployed mostly as a w ...

in a friendly match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, which ended in a 3–3 draw. In late March 2005, he was also part of the Croatian squad that played

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in the 2006 World Cup qualifying, but remained an unused substitute in both matches.

Post career

On 25 May 2018 Bjelanović was confirmed as the Director of Football at

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

. Bjelanović was working as previous director Mario Branco's assistant before being promoted after the departure of the Portuguese.

Honours

Club

Perugia *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Romanian Supercup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: 2010-11

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjelanovic, Sasa 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Zadar Croatian people of Italian descent Association football forwards Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia international footballers NK Zadar players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Istra players NK Varaždin players Como 1907 players A.C. ChievoVerona players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Genoa C.F.C. players U.S. Lecce players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Torino F.C. players L.R. Vicenza players CFR Cluj players Atalanta B.C. players Hellas Verona F.C. players S.S.D. Varese Calcio players A.C.R. Messina players Pordenone Calcio players Croatian Football League players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Liga I players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Romania Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Romania HNK Hajduk Split non-playing staff