Sejad Salihović

Sejad Salihović

Salihović with Hoffenheim in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Sejad Salihović
Date of birth	8 October 1984
Place of birth	Zvornik, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Beijing Renhe
Number	21
Youth career
1995–1998	Minerva Berlin
1998–2000	Hertha Zehlendorf
2000–2003	Hertha BSC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2003–2006	Hertha BSC II	88	(35)
2004–2006	Hertha BSC	5	(0)
2006–2012	1899 Hoffenheim II	2	(0)
2006–2015	1899 Hoffenheim	230	(62)
2015–	Beijing Renhe	15	(2)
National team^‡
2005–2006	Bosnia and Herzegovina U21	4	(2)
2007–	Bosnia and Herzegovina	47	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 October 2015. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2015

Sejad Salihović (born 8 October 1984) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Beijing Renhe and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Club career

Early career

Salihović began his career in the youth teams of lower-league sides Minerva 93 Berlin and Hertha 03 Zehlendorf. In the 2000–01 season, he was transferred to Hertha BSC, where he played for the U17 and U19 teams before eventually entering the reserve team in 2003.

Hertha BSC

Salihović was promoted to the first team in 2004. He made his professional debut in a Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV on 26 September 2004, which ended in a 2–1 defeat.^[1] In 2006, he was transferred to 1899 Hoffenheim.

1899 Hoffenheim

He was rated by kicker sports magazine as the player of 2. Bundesliga 2007–08 season with the best over-all grades^[2] and finished the season scoring six goals in 27 matches.^[3]

The highly rated midfielder was sidelined with groin injury, which has been troubling him for some while, however he has made a full recovery.^[4] Salihović had a good start to the 2010–11 Bundesliga season, but ended with an injury. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Salihović scored two late penalties against Dortmund to secure a play-off match, ultimately saving Hoffenheim from relegation.^[5][6]

Guizhou Renhe

On 7 June 2015, Hoffenheim announced on their official website that Salihović would leave the club to join Chinese Super League side Beijing Renhe.^[7]

International career

During October 2006 while playing for the Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team, Salihović scored twice in the team's 2–3 aggregate loss to Czech Republic under-21 in the play-offs for 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Both his goals were superb shots from 25 meters out^[8] and 30 meters out.^[9]

Since then, Salihović has been promoted to the Bosnia and Herzegovina senior side and has become an important member of Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Although his favorite position is in midfield, he has often been used as a left-back in lack of other options.^[10] He has scored four goals for the senior national team, three of which have been from free-kicks. Due to unsporting behavior in game against Portugal during 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs,^[11] the Bosnian midfielder was suspended for four games, missing the Euro 2012 qualification matches against Luxembourg, France, Albania and Romania. He returned for a friendly match against Slovakia, which Bosnia won 3–2 in Bratislava.^[12]

In June 2014, he was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup^[13]

Personal life

Salihović and his family migrated to Berlin in 1992, right before the Bosnian War started. In June 2009, after 17 years, Sejad visited his hometown of Zvornik where his parents Ismet and Fadila are renovating their home. His hobbies include reading, playing football, and spending time with his family.^[14]

On 15 December 2014, Salihović married his girlfriend Julia.^[15]

Style of play

He has a powerful shot with his left foot and is a free-kick specialist.^[16][17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 October 2015.^[18]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hertha II	2003–04	NOFV-Oberliga Nord	31	13	–		–		–		31	13
	2004–05	Regionalliga Nord	27	14	1	0	–		–		28	14
	2005–06	Regionalliga Nord	30	8	–		–		–		30	8
	Total		88	35	1	0	–		–		89	35
Hertha	2004–05	Bundesliga	5	0	0	0	–		–		5	0
	2005–06	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	6	0
Hoffenheim II	2006–07	Oberliga Baden-Württemberg	1	0	–		–		–		1	0
	2011–12	Regionalliga Süd	1	0	–		–		–		1	0
	Total		2	0	–		–		–		2	0
Hoffenheim	2006–07	Regionalliga Süd	30	10	–		–		–		30	10
	2007–08	2. Bundesliga	27	6	4	1	–		–		31	7
	2008–09	Bundesliga	29	8	1	1	–		–		30	9
	2009–10	Bundesliga	32	4	4	1	–		–		36	5
	2010–11	Bundesliga	26	5	4	0	–		–		30	5
	2011–12	Bundesliga	23	9	3	2	–		–		26	11
	2012–13	Bundesliga	22	7	1	0	–		–		23	7
	2013–14	Bundesliga	28	11	2	0	–		–		30	11
	2014–15	Bundesliga	13	2	0	0	–		–		13	2
	Total		230	62	19	5	–		–		249	67
Beijing Renhe	2015	Chinese Super League	15	2	0	0	–		–		15	2
Career total			340	99	20	5	1	0	0	0	361	104

1. Appearance in 2005 DFL-Ligapokal

International

As of match played 13 October 2015.^[19]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Bosnia and Herzegovina
	2007	3	0
	2008	6	0
	2009	8	2
	2010	4	1
	2011	5	1
	2012	7	0
	2013	6	0
	2014	6	0
	2015	2	0
Total		47	4

International goals

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

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 June 2009	Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Cannes, France	Oman	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2.	9 September 2009	Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Turkey	1–1	1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	29 May 2010	Råsunda, Solna, Sweden	Sweden	1–1	2–4	Friendly
4.	2 September 2011	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

References

1. "Hamburger SV–Hertha BSC 2:1 (1:1)" (in German). kicker Sportmagazin. 22 September 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
2. "Salihovics kühnes Ziel" (in German). kicker.de. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
3. "Salihovic, Sejad" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
4. "Hoffemheim Midfielder Sejad Salihovic Sidelined With Groin Injury". goal.com. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
5. "Salihovic brace makes impossible possible". achtzehn99.de. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
6. "Salihović vodi Hoffenheim ka opstanku, Bayern i Borussija bez milosti" (in Bosnian). 13 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
7. "Sejad Salihovic verlässt die TSG" (in German). TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
8. Ladislav, Josef (6 October 2006). "Hubník gives Czechs the edge". UEFA.com. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
9. Krvavac, Fuad (10 October 2006). "Frejlach sends Czechs through". UEFA.com. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
10. "Sa Papetom na Euro 2012". sportin.ba. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
11. "Red cards we will remember long" (in Bosnian).
12. "Slovakia Bosnia 2–3" (in Serbian).
13. "Bosnia-Herzegovina 2014 World Cup Squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
14. "Sejad Salihovic". TSG Hoffenheim. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
15. "Sejad Salihović se oženio i čeka dijete: Kum će biti Vedad Ibišević" (in Bosnian). reprezentacija.ba. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
16. "Salihovic: We can beat anyone". FIFA.com. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
17. E. Ćatović (17 February 2012). "Kralj Slobodnjaka: Sejad Salihović" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
18. "Sejad Salihovic". soccerway.
19. Sejad Salihović at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Sejad Salihović profile at Soccerway
• Sejad Salihović at National-Football-Teams.com
• Sejad Salihović at TSG-Hoffenheim.de (German)
• Sejad Salihović profile at Fussballdaten
• Sejad Salihović – FIFA competition record