Mirsad "Žvaka" Baljić (born 4 March 1962) is a Bosnian former 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 played as an offensive

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 ...

. He got his nickname ''Žvaka'' (chewing gum) for his constant use of chewing gum during matches.

Club career

Baljić made his first football steps in hometown 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 ...

's youth team before temporarily leaving football because of medical problems. When he returned, he went to city rivals Željezničar, and as one of their more talented youngsters, he got the opportunity to play in the first team. His league debut came in 1980 when he was aged 18. His biggest success at the club was reaching the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

semi-finals in the 1984–85 season under the guidance of Ivica Osim. In 1988, Baljić moved to Swiss side

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Pl ...

and stayed there until 1992, before leaving to join

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

. After two seasons there he left to Luzern. Baljić finished his career at

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

in 1995.

International career

Baljić played in the youth, under-21 and olympic teams of Yugoslavia. He made his senior debut for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in a March 1984

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...

against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and has earned a total of 29 caps, scoring 2 goals. Baljić was part of the

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

and 1990 FIFA World Cup Yugoslav squads. His final international was a June 1990 FIFA World Cup match against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Personal life

Baljić lives and works in Switzerland. His son Omar is also a footballer, and has played for the Swiss national youth teams.

Honours

Player

Sion * Nationalliga A: 1991–92 * Swiss Cup: 1990–91 Yugoslavia * Summer Olympics third place:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External sources

*
Serbia national football team website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baljic, Mirsad 1962 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Men's association football fullbacks Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers UEFA Euro 1984 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics FK Željezničar Sarajevo players FC Sion players FC Zürich players FC Luzern players FC Locarno players Yugoslav First League players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland