Avdija Vršajević (born 6 March 1986) is a retired 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 lea ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...

but never made an appearance for them, spending loan spells initially at

SK Kladno Sportovní klub Kladno, commonly known as SK Kladno, is a football club from Kladno, Czech Republic. It plays in the Bohemian Football League (third tier of the Czech football system). The club was founded on 15 February 1903. The team plays at ...

and then at 1. FC Tatran Prešov. 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 (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, 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 currently manages Serie A club Juventus. Capable of playing either as a defender or defensive midfielder, Tudor spent most of his playing career a ...

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 Sincan Belediyesi Ankaraspor Kulübü, commonly known as Ankaraspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. The club was known as Osmanlıspor ...

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

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), 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 previo ...

against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

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, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

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

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

under coach

Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest Eur ...

. 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 ri ...

. 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 (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

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 Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Career statistics

International

International goals

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

Honours

Hajduk Split *

Croatian Football Cup The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Akhisarspor *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links