Mirsad Bešlija

Mirsad Bešlija (born 6 July 1979) is a Bosnian retired professional footballer who played as a right winger.

Mirsad Bešlija
Personal information
Full name Mirsad Bešlija
Date of birth (1979-07-06) 6 July 1979
Place of birth Živinice, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Right winger
Youth career
0000–1995 Slaven Živinice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Slaven Živinice
1997–2000 Bosna Visoko
2000–2001 Željezničar 32 (11)
2001–2006 Genk 134 (17)
2006–2008 Heart of Midlothian 9 (0)
2007–2008 → Sint-Truidense (loan) 11 (2)
2009–2012 Željezničar 78 (9)
National team
2001–2006 Bosnia and Herzegovina 37 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He has most notably played for Željezničar, Genk, Heart of Midlothian and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Club career

Bešlija started his career with hometown club Slaven Živinice. Although he was among the youngest players in their squad, he became an important part of the first team. He was spotted there and signed by Bosna Visoko, a first division team at that time, in 1997. He spent two seasons in Visoko, during which he won both the Bosnian Cup and Supercup. His rapid footballing ascent attracted the interest of Željezničar and he signed for them in 2000, becoming a fan favourite during his single season in the capital. He won three trophies in that period with Željezničar, one Bosnian Premier League title, one cup and one Supercup.

Bešlija joined Genk in July 2001, where he stayed for five years, and made over 130 league appearances, winning the Belgian First Division title with them in 2002. He moved to the Scottish side Heart of Midlothian during January 2006 in a deal worth £850,000 (€1.22 million), a record fee paid by the Tynecastle side at the time.[1] A dispute developed about whether the overall transfer fee should include agents percentages or not, leading Hearts to suspend payment after the first installment.[1] When further dialogue brought no resolution, Genk petitioned UEFA to impose a transfer embargo upon Hearts,[2] however, an agreement was finally reached in December 2006, with Hearts paying the entire outstanding balance.[3]

Bešlija suffered serious injury problems at Hearts and he failed to win a regular first team place. He was loaned out to Belgian club Sint-Truidense for the 2007–08 season, and was released by Hearts in October 2008 after they reached a severance agreement.[4]

In 2009, he re-signed with Željezničar and retired in 2012, winning four more trophies in the process, two leagues and two cups.[5]

International career
Bosnia and Herzegovina squad during UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying.

On the international level, Bešlija earned 37 caps and scored 4 goals for Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2001 and 2006. He retired from international football in 2007.

Honours

Player

Bosna Visoko

Željezničar

Genk

References
  1. Genk threaten Hearts over Beslija, BBC Sport, 16 June 2006.
  2. Genk urge signing ban for Hearts , BBC Sport, 26 October 2006.
  3. Hearts pay Belgians for Beslija, BBC Sport, 22 December 2006.
  4. Johnstone, Darren. Record buy Beslija leaves Hearts after costing £122,000 a start, The Scotsman, 15 October 2008.
  5. "M. Bešlija: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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