Zajko Zeba (born 22 May 1983) is a Bosnian 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 le ...

. He was part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team from 2005 to 2007. For a short period during 2018, Zeba worked as a football manager, holding the role of assistant manager at Željezničar and then as a coach of the youth team at the same club.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Zeba started his career at hometown club Željezničar. He played for the youth sides, but never got an opportunity to play for the first team, so he moved to Olimpik. His performances produced interest from stronger teams in Bosnia and Herzegovina and resulted in a transfer to Brotnjo. In 2004, Željezničar officials brought Zeba back to his childhood club on loan, but after only several months, as a result of new disagreements, he signed a contract with

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) **ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *Han ...

. His first foreign club was Slovenian PrvaLiga club

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

. Then, he went to the Russian Football National League where he played for

KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny KAMAZ (russian: Футбольный клуб КАМАЗ Набережные Челны) is a Russian football club based in Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia. The club plays in the second-tier Russian First League. Colours are (Home) all white. (A ...

. After a short period in

Alania Vladikavkaz FC Alania Vladikavkaz (russian: "Алания" (Владикавказ), os, Футболон клуб "Алани" (Дзæуджыхъæу)) is a Russian football team from Vladikavkaz. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League ...

, Zeba came back to Željezničar, the club in which he had started his football career. In his third spell with Željezničar, Zeba won one league title and two cups and was named the 2011–12 Bosnian Premier League Player of the Season. In December 2012, he left Željezničar and went to

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split, commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was founded on 16 April 1912 as Anarch, but has had se ...

. After coming back to Bosnia in early 2015, and signing with

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 ...

, he became the team captain the following season, and helped the team in winning the autumn part of the 2015–16 Bosnian Premier League season. At the end of the season, Zeba was named as the best player of the 2015–16 season in the

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 ...

. In November 2016, he returned to Željezničar but he couldn't play for the club until 2017. In 2018, he won the

Bosnian Cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

with Željezničar and shortly after he retired at the age of 34. On 20 December 2018, Zeba came out of retirement and for the third time in his career signed with Olimpik. He scored his first goal after coming back to Olimpik on 9 March 2019, in a 1–0 away win against Igman Konjic. On 26 May 2020, the 2019–20 First League of FBiH season ended abruptly due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina The COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Bosnia and Herzegovina on ...

and, by default, Zeba with Olimpik were crowned league champions and got promoted back to the Bosnian Premier League. He terminated his contract with the club on 22 September 2020. One day after leaving Olimpik, on 23 September, Zeba signed with Igman Konjic. He made his debut only four days later, on 27 September, in a league match against Vis Simm-Bau. Zeba scored his first for Igman in a league game against Zvijezda Gradačac on 24 October 2020.

International

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 an August 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

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 ...

and has earned a total of 5 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a September 2007 European Championship qualification against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Managerial career

Željezničar

In June 2018, after announcing his retirement, Zeba was appointed as an assistant manager at Željezničar. On 29 October 2018, after a string of poor results, it was announced that Zeba was dismissed of his position of assistant, while a month later, on 21 November, was named as a coach of the youth selections at the club. In December 2018, he left Željezničar after coming out of retirement and signing with Olimpik.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Zrinjski Mostar *

: 2004–05 Željezničar *

: 2011–12 *

2010–11 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 ...

, 2011–12, 2017–18 Olimpik * First League of FBiH: 2019–20

Individual

Awards * Bosnian Premier League Player of the Season: 2011–12, 2015–16

References

External links