Jasenko Sabitović (born 29 May 1973) is a Croatian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played as a

centre-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 ...

for NK Zagreb,

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Ko ...

, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma,

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

, Chunnam Dragons, NK Karlovac. He became naturalized as a South Korean citizen in 2004 and while playing there was known as Lee Savik.

Club career

Sabitović first came to South Korea in 1998, when he joined the

from Croatian First League side NK Zagreb. After he was released from the

, there was a rumour that he would go to Africa. However, he decided to stay in South Korea to play for the Chunnam Dragons.

International career

Born in

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

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 ...

, Sabitović played for the Croatia U21 national team because his mother is a Bosnian Croat. He won six international caps with the team in 1995. Because of this, he was eligible to play for

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 ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

External links

* 1973 births Living people Footballers from Tuzla Naturalized citizens of South Korea South Korean people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent South Korean people of Croatian descent Men's association football central defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers HNK Gorica players NK Zagreb players Pohang Steelers players Seongnam FC players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players Jeonnam Dragons players NK Karlovac 1919 players Croatian Football League players K League 1 players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea {{BosniaHerzegovina-footy-defender-stub