Elsad Zverotić ( sr-Cyrl, Eлcaд Звepoтић; born 31 October 1986) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, he played for the Switzerland under-18 national team before switching to the Montenegro under-21. He is the Montenegro senior national team's second most-capped player of all time, with 61 caps between 2008 and 2017.

Club career

Zverotić joined

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

in the summer of 2011. On 22 November 2012 in the UEFA Europa League group stage, Zverotić scored a memorable goal against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in a 2–2 draw. On 2 September 2013, Zverotić signed a two-year contract with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, with the option for an additional year for an undisclosed fee. He left the club by mutual consent on 16 February 2015. The following day, he returned to Switzerland, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal at Sion. In November 2017, he was one of seven players demoted to the reserve team by new manager

Gabri García Gabriel Francisco García de la Torre (born 10 February 1979), known as Gabri, is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of CE Atlètic Lleida. Mainly a midfielder who could play in the right or the middle, he could also appear as an ...

International career

After beginning his career in the country, Zverotić was called up by Switzerland's under-18 side. However, he then pledged his international career to his native Montenegro, playing his first match for the Montenegro U21 team against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on 2 May 2007. On 7 September 2010, Zverotić his first international goal, the only one against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in a Euro 2012 qualifier, striking from 30 yards at the

Vasil Levski National Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium (), named after Bulgarian Folk hero, national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43,230 seats and is located in the centre of Sofia, on the te ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. He scored in another qualifier against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 7 October 2011, Montenegro's first as they came from behind to earn a 2–2 draw in

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

. Zverotić scored two goals in

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

, one in each of their victories over

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. His final international was a September 2017

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

match against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He is the second most capped Montenegrin footballer with 61 matches after

Fatos Bećiraj Fatos Bećiraj (, ; born 5 May 1988) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career and Budućnost Bećiraj began his career in his hometown of Peja with the local club Shqiponja at 17 year ...

who has 63.

Honours

Sion *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zverotic, Elsad 1986 births Living people Footballers from Berane Bosniaks of Montenegro Swiss people of Montenegrin descent Men's association football fullbacks Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Montenegrin men's footballers Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Montenegro men's international footballers FC Wil players FC Luzern players BSC Young Boys players Fulham F.C. players FC Sion players FC Aarau players 2. Liga Interregional players Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players Premier League players English Football League players Montenegrin expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Swiss sportsmen