Avdija Vršajević (born 6 March 1986) 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 le ...

who plays as a

right 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 ...

for

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 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 ...

Club career

Vršajević's first professional club was NK TOŠK Tešanj. Here he spent the 2003-04 season before moving to Željezničar. He spent only one season at Željezničar before Čelik Zenica acquired his services. He remained at Čelik for two seasons, often in and out of the first team. From Čelik, Avdija moved to Czech side AC Sparta Prague but never made an appearance for them, spending loan spells initially at

SK Kladno Sportovní klub Kladno, commonly known as SK Kladno or Kladno, is a association football, football club from Kladno, Czech Republic. It was founded on February 15, 1903. The team plays at the Stadion Františka Kloze, named after legendary player ...

and then at

1. FC Tatran Prešov 1. FC Tatran Prešov () is a Slovak football club based in the city of Prešov. Tatran Prešov is the oldest football club in Slovakia, founded on 25 May 1898. The club currently participates in the 2.liga. The "Green and Whites" played 32 sea ...

. Tatran made his loan move permanent in 2009 and he spent the following two seasons there, making 60 appearances and scoring three goals. He was played as either a right back or a right winger at Tatran. Avdija moved back to Čelik in 2011, spending one season at the club where he made a further 21 appearances. As he only signed a one-year contract at Čelik and chose not to renew it when the season ended, Avdija moved to Croatian side

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 ...

, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut for Hajduk on 22 July 2012 in a 0–0 draw against Istra. Immediately becoming the club's first choice right back, Avdija made 30 appearances in all competitions in his first season at Hajduk. In the 2013–14 season, manager

Igor Tudor Igor Tudor (born 16 April 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. Tudor spent most of his playing career at Juventus, winning several trophies during that time. He ...

changed his role in the team often. Throughout the season he found himself at left back, right back and right wing, once again making 30 appearances in all competitions. In June 2015, Vršajević left Hajduk Split, after agreeing mutual termination with the club. On 18 July 2015, he signed with newly promoted Turkish side

Osmanlıspor Ankaraspor Kulübü (), formerly known as Osmanlıspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. History Ankaraspor was founded as "Ankara Bele ...

. Three years later, Vršajević signed a two-year contract with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

. He made his debut in the

2018 Turkish Super Cup The 2018 Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: TFF Süper Kupa) was the 45th edition of the Turkish Super Cup since its establishment as ''Presidential Cup'' in 1966, the annual Turkish football season-opening match contested by the winners of the prev ...

against Galatasaray.

International career

In 2006, Vršajević was called to Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 side by then coach Ibrahim Zukanović. He made his

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 ...

debut in 2012 in a 8–1 World Cup qualification win away against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

under coach

Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of TFF First League club Akhisarspor. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and techn ...

. Vršajević was named in the Bosnia and Herzegovina 23-man squad for their first World Cup participation ever in the

2014 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 righ ...

. On 25 June 2014, he scored his first goal and Bosnia's third in the 83rd minute to make it 3–1 for Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 ...

in the last group match, where he also made his World Cup debut. He has earned a total of 17 caps, scoring 2 goals. His final international was a March 2017 World Cup qualification match against

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Career statistics

International

International goals

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

Honours

Akhisarspor *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links