Zijad Švrakić (born 21 September 1960), also known as Ziya Yıldız after acquiring Turkish citizenship is a Bosnian retired

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 ...

and manager. As a member of the

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

squad that won the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

in 1985, he was best known for his speed and dribbling ability. After leaving his homeland he spent seven years playing professionally in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, where he represented Adana Demirspor,

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 ...

, Ankaragücü and

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

. He concluded his playing career with

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

football club

Rabat Ajax Rabat Ajax Football Club is a Maltese football club based in Rabat. The last promotion to the Maltese Premier League was achieved in the 2011–12 season, when they earned promotion after finishing second behind Melita. In the 2020–21 Nationa ...

. He represented

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

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 ...

internationally.

Playing career

native, Švrakić came through the youth set up of

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

before signing his first professional contract in 1979, eventually inheriting the number 7 jersey previously worn by club legend

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 ...

. In his first season, he took part in the club's runners-up league finish, even though he did not get much playing time, being overlooked by the coaching staff that preferred fielding more experienced footballers. With the departure of a vast array of players after the 1982-1983 season the club management decided to build a new team made up of youngsters that came up through the club's youth department. Švrakić's skill helped the young team eventually win the

in 1985, becoming the second FK Sarajevo outfit to do so. In 1987, he joined Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

whom he represented in the next two seasons, helping the team avoid relegation by scoring 42 goals in 86 matches. In the summer of 1989 he was acquired by Turkish powerhouse

for a then-record 800,000 DEM, eventually going on to play for Ankaragücü and

, captaining the latter and thus becoming only the second foreign-born captain in Turkish Süper Lig history. Švrakić spent two more seasons in the

with

before retiring in 1996 at the age of 36.

International career

He earned his first cap for Yugoslavia in 1983, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute in a friendly tie against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, managing to find the back of the net on his debut. After being included in the Yugoslav Olympic national team roster for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

he had to withdraw after suffering a horrendous knee injury during a tour in Libya with FK Sarajevo. Between 1992 and 1994, during 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 ...

, he represented

internationally, even though the Bosnian FA was not officially recognized for most of his international tenure, and the team only contested humanitarian matches with the aim of garnering support and aid for the newly independent state.

Managerial career

Švrakić began his managerial career as interim player-manager at

in 1994, eventually taking over the team and managing it for a further seven seasons. In The summer of 2001 Švrakić was appointed manager of

Floriana Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...

whom he led for the next two seasons,Azzopardi, Kevin
"Yildiz: Every game is a derby in the Championship Pool"
''

Times of Malta The ''Times of Malta'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Malta. Founded in 1935, by Lord and Lady Strickland and Lord Strickland's daughter Mabel, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Malta. It has the widest circu ...

'', Malta, 5 March 2004. Retrieved on 9 June 2014. after which he moved back to his native

and lead the

youth academy. In 2006, he was appointed manager of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i club

Al Jahra Al Jahra () is a city and area located west of the centre of Kuwait City in Kuwait. Al Jahra is the capital of the Al Jahra Governorate of Kuwait as well as the surrounding Al Jahra District which is agriculturally based. Encyclopædia Britanni ...

with whom he gained promotion to the top tier and reached the final of the

Kuwait Crown Cup The Crown Prince Cup () is a Kuwaiti annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994: Al-Kuwait *1995: Kazma *1996: Al Arabi *1997: Al Arabi *1998: Qadsia *1999: Al Arabi *2000: Al Arabi *2001: Al-Salmiya *2002: Qadsi ...

, eventually taking home the silver medal. In 2010, he was approached by

Al Salmiya Salmiya () is an area in Hawalli Governorate in Kuwait. Salmiya is administratively divided into 12 blocks. The blocks located closer to the interior of the district tend to be mostly residential, while those located beside the Persian Gulf co ...

, and would go on to manage the team for a season. In 2012, he was appointed manager of Omantel Professional League team Al-Seeb which he kept in the top tier. In the summer of 2014 Švrakić was appointed manager of Omantel Professional League side

Sur SC Sur Sports Club () is an Football clubs of Oman, Omani sports club based in Sur, Oman, Sur. The club currently plays in the Oman Professional League, top division of Oman Football Association. Their home stadium is Sur Sports Complex. The stadium ...

and led the side to a runners-up finish in his first season at the club. On 29 August 2016 Švrakić was named assistant manager of

. As of 2022 Švrakić has been a visiting volunteer advisor to BG Elite FC, a premium youth academy established by Bosnian immigrants in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

. Furthermore, Švrakić has been an advisory member of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

-based ''US Soccer Education'' since 2021.

Honours

Player

Sarajevo *

: 1984–85 Ankaragücü *

Chancellor Cup The Prime Minister's Cup () was a football competition organised by the Turkish Football Federation in Turkey. It began in 1944 and continued until 1950 as a unique kind of super cup competition between the winners of the Turkish Football Champio ...

: 1990–91 Karşıyaka *

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

: 1991–92 Individual *

Team of the Year: 1983–84 *

Team of the Year: 1987–88 *

Player of the Month: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91 *

Best Foreign player in club history: 2016

References

External links

TFF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svrakic, Zijad 1960 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Yugoslav men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers FK Sarajevo players Adana Demirspor footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers MKE Ankaragücü footballers Karşıyaka S.K. footballers Rabat Ajax F.C. players Yugoslav First League players Süper Lig players Maltese Premier League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Malta Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers Rabat Ajax F.C. managers Floriana F.C. managers Al-Jahra SC managers Al-Salmiya SC managers Al-Seeb Club managers Kuwait Premier League managers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Malta Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Oman Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Oman