Sergej Barbarez

Sergej Barbarez
Personal information
Full name Sergej Barbarez
Date of birth (1971-09-17) 17 September 1971
Place of birth Mostar, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Second striker
Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1984–1989 FK Velež Mostar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1989–1991 FK Velež Mostar
1992–1993 Hannover 96 18 (2)
1993–1996 1. FC Union Berlin 88 (46)
1996–1998 Hansa Rostock 59 (13)
1998–2000 Borussia Dortmund 36 (6)
2000–2006 Hamburger SV 174 (65)
2006–2008 Bayer Leverkusen 61 (11)
Total 436 (143)
National team
1998–2006 Bosnia and Herzegovina 47 (17)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Sergej Barbarez (born 17 September 1971) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played for several clubs in the German Bundesliga and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is considered as one of the all-time great players of Hamburger SV where he scored 65 goals in 174 Bundesliga games. Mainly used as a second striker, he has also played as an attacking midfielder or left winger.

In the 2000–01 Bundesliga season while playing for Hamburger SV Barbarez was joint top scorer with 22 goals with Ebbe Sand of FC Schalke 04 at the end of the season.

Early life

Barbarez was born to father Ljubo and mother Zlata. His father is Bosnian Serb and his mother is half-Croat and half-Bosniak.[1]

As a young child, Barbarez was actually not very interested in football but in basketball and athletics. However, at the age of eleven, Barbarez started playing football though mostly for fun with friends after school.

Club career

In 1984, Barbarez took a step further and started playing football for the youth team of FK Velež in his native city of Mostar.

Some six years later, Barbarez signed with the first team of FK Velež at the age of 19. However, briefly after, Barbarez served in the Yugoslav People's Army in Zagreb in 1991 before returning to Mostar to continue his career.[2] In 1991, Sergej Barbarez returned to FK Velež and soon after everyone realized that Barbarez was a true talent.

The same year, Barbarez visited his uncle who was living in Germany. Some time later, Barbarez was preparing to return to Mostar but his uncle surprised him by extending his stay in Germany for two weeks. The uncle had arranged for Barbarez a two weeks try-out practise with Hannover 96. The coach of Hannover 96 was so impressed by Barbarez that he signed him for the club. During those same two weeks the political situation throughout former Yugoslavia was deteriorating by the minute and fighting was even occurring in some places. So Barbarez came to an agreement with his father to stay with his uncle in Germany for the near future.

In April 1992, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina escalated in the city of Mostar. A month prior of the actual war, the father and sister of Barbarez fled with his high school sweetheart Ana to the city of Hannover in Germany. Barbarez's mother Zlata stayed in Mostar throughout the whole War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Barbarez played for Hannover 96 during the second half of the 1991–92 and the whole 1992–93 season. Between 1993 and 1996, Barbarez played for 1. FC Union Berlin at the third level[3] before signing with Hansa Rostock. Barbarez played here between 1996 and 1998.

From 1998, Barbarez played for Borussia Dortmund where he stayed until signing with Hamburger SV in July 2000.

During the first season with Hamburger SV, Barbarez became the top scorer for his club with 22 goals and joint top scorer of the Bundesliga with Ebbe Sand. Though Barbarez could not help Hamburg's elimination from the 2000–01 Champions League at the group stages despite his two goals, when the club qualified for that competition for the first time, after a third place in the previous domestic Bundesliga season.

On 17 May 2006, he signed a two-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen.

International career

Bosnia-Herzegovina squad during UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying.

On 14 May 1998, Barbarez made his debut for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team against Argentina in a friendly match.

Before he retired from international football on 13 October 2005, Barbarez was the captain and leader of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

On 2 December 2005, he announced his comeback to the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team and played in the EURO 2008 qualifiers. He became captain of the team once again.

On 12 October 2006, Barbarez officially stepped down from playing for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team and retired permanently from professional football in June 2008.

Coaching career

Barbarez announced on 14 December 2009 that he wanted to coach the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team to the UEFA Euro 2012.[4] However, the Football Association of Republika Srpska blocked his entry[5] and later on, Safet Sušić was selected as new coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.

On 5 January 2010, Barbarez received his UEFA Pro Licence in Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina's educational facility in Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[6]

Personal life

Barbarez is married to his high-school sweetheart Ana, who is from Mostar. They have two sons together, Filip-André (born 1994) and Sergio-Luis (1999).

Barbarez is currently a member of the board of directors of the Hamburger SV.[7]

Career statistics

Club

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
1996–97Hansa RostockBundesliga2722100293
1997–98321110003311
1998–99Borussia DortmundBundesliga2242000244
1999–001421051203
2000–01Hamburger SVBundesliga312210814023
2001–022471000257
2002–032461000256
2003–04321030203710
2004–05301110003111
2005–0633933924514
2006–07Bayer LeverkusenBundesliga327201234610
2007–0829400103397
Total Germany 330951844610394109
Career total 330951844610394109

International goals

Scores and results table. Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first:
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 September 1999 Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo  Estonia 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2. 28 February 2001 Bilino Polje, Zenica  Hungary 1–1 1–1 Friendly
3. 24 March 2001 Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo  Austria 1–1 1–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 28 March 2001 Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz  Liechtenstein 1–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5. 2–0
6. 27 March 2002 Grbavica Stadium, Sarajevo  Macedonia 2–0 4–4 Friendly
7. 3–0
8. 13 February 2003 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff  Wales 2–1 2–2 Friendly
9. 29 March 2003 Bilino Polje, Zenica  Luxembourg 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
10. 2 April 2003 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen  Denmark 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
11. 10 September 2003 Stade Josy Barthel, Route d'Arlon  Luxembourg 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
12. 4 June 2005 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle  San Marino 3–1 3–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13. 3 September 2005 Bilino Polje, Zenica  Belgium 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
14. 7 September 2005 LFF Stadium, Vilnius  Lithuania 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
15. 31 May 2006 Azadi Stadium, Tehran  Iran 2–0 2–5 Friendly
16. 16 August 2006 Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo  France 1–0 1–2 Friendly
17. 2 September 2006 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali  Malta 1–0 5–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Honours

Club

Hamburger SV

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Impulsiver Gefühlsmensch" (in German). welt.de. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "Barbarez: "Iz Fudbalskog saveza BiH mi nisu dali karte za Belgiju"". 24sata.info. 14 March 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Matthias Arnhold (21 April 2011). "Sergej Barbarez – Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Barbarez Wants To Be National Team Coach". bihfoot.com. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Bosnian Soccer Legends Banned to be National Team Coaches!". bhfanaticos.com. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  6. ↑ "Profesionalne licence Barbarezu, Piplici i kolegama" (in Bosnian). sarajevo-x.com. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "HSV Gremien" (in German). Hamburger SV. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
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