Senad Lulić (; born 18 January 1986) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Lulić started his professional career at Chur 97, before joining

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

in 2006. Two years later, he switched to

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

. In 2010, he was transferred to Young Boys. The following year, he moved to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. Lulić made his senior international debut 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 ...

in 2008, earning over 50

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until 2017. He represented the nation at their first major championship, the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Club career

Early career

Because of the outbreak of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, Lulić's family fled from his native Bosnia and Herzegovina and moved to Switzerland, where he started playing football at a local club, Chur 97, whose youth setup he joined in 1998. He made his professional debut in 2003 at the age of 17. In the summer of 2006, Lulić switched to

. In May 2008, he signed with

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

. In May 2010, he moved to Young Boys.

Lazio

In June 2011, Lulić was transferred to Italian outfit

for an undisclosed fee. He made his official debut for the team in the UEFA Europa League play-offs against Rabotnički on 18 August. Three weeks later, he made his league debut against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. On 23 October, he scored his first goal for Lazio in a triumph over

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. He won his first trophy with the club on 26 May 2013, by beating city rivals Roma in the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

final. Lulić scored the only goal of the game in the 71st minute. He played his 100th match for the side against

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

on 28 November. In January 2016, he signed a new four-year contract with Lazio. He appeared in his 200th game for the team on 16 October. In July 2017, Lulić was named club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He won his first title as captain on 13 August, by triumphing over

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the

2017 Supercoppa Italiana The 2017 Supercoppa Italiana was the 30th edition of the Supercoppa Italiana. It was played on 13 August 2017 in Rome, Italy. With Juventus FC, Juventus winning both the 2016–17 Serie A championship and the 2016–17 Coppa Italia, the game was pl ...

. Lulić entered Lazio's top 10 appearance makers on 29 November 2018, as he played his 294th game for the club against

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

. He played his 300th game for the side and managed to score a goal on 26 December. On 7 December 2019, he played his 343rd match for Lazio and overtook Aldo Puccinelli as club's 5th all-time appearance maker. Lulić debuted in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

against

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on 23 February 2021. He announced his retirement from football on 1 June 2022.

International career

In May 2008, Lulić received his first senior call-up to

, for a friendly game against

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, and debuted in that game on 1 June. On 7 June 2013, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, Lulić scored his first senior international goal. In June 2014, Lulić was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for the

, country's first major competition. He made his tournament debut in the opening group match against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on 15 June. With six assists, Lulić was the best assist provider in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, together with Arkadiusz Milik and Vladimír Weiss. He retired from international football on 29 December 2017.

Style of play

During his career, Lulić has been deployed as a

left winger 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. ...

and as a left wing-back. He was known for his great stamina and pace.

Personal life

Lulić married his long-time girlfriend Sandra in May 2005. Together they have three children, a daughter named Lea and two sons named Lian and Luca.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lulić goal.''

Honours

Lazio *

: 2012–13, 2018–19 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links