Sergej Barbarez

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 also played as an attacking midfielder or left winger.

Sergej Barbarez
Barbarez in 2014
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(s) Forward
Youth career
1984–1989 Velež Mostar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Velež Mostar
1992–1993 Hannover 96 18 (2)
1993–1996 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

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

Early life

Barbarez was born in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Bosnian Serb father and a half-Bosnian Croat and half-Bosniak mother.[1]

As a young child, he 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
Barbarez with Bayer Leverkusen in 2007.

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

Some six years later, he signed with the first team of 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, he returned to Velež and soon after everyone realized that Barbarez was a true talent.

The same year, he 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 him 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 Bosnian War 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 Hanover in Germany. His mother Zlata stayed in Mostar throughout the whole war.

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

In 1998, he signed with Borussia Dortmund and played there until joining Hamburger SV in July 2000.

During the first season with Hamburger, Barbarez became the top scorer for his club with 22 goals and joint top scorer of the Bundesliga with Ebbe Sand. Though, he could not help Hamburg's elimination from the 2000–01 UEFA 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, Barbarez signed a two-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen. He finished his career at Bayer after his contract with the club expired in June 2008.

International career
Bosnia and 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.

Barbarez scored two goals against Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualification match on 28 March 2001.[4] He was denied a hat-trick as his second-half penalty was saved by Lichtenstein goalkeeper Peter Jehle.[4]

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

On 2 December 2005, he announced his comeback to the national team and played in the UEFA 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 be the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers.[5] However, the Football Association of Republika Srpska blocked his entry[6] and later on, Safet Sušić was selected as the new head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

On 5 January 2011, Barbarez received his UEFA Pro Licence in the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina's educational facility in Jablanica.[7]

Personal life

Barbarez is married to his high-school sweetheart Ana, who is also from Mostar. They have two sons together, Filip-André (born 1994) and Sergio-Luis (1999). Barbarez was a member of the board of directors of Hamburger SV between 25 January 2009 and 28 May 2010.

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hannover 961992–932. Bundesliga1821000192
1. FC Union Berlin1993–94NOFV-Oberliga291500002915
1994–95Regionalliga291410003014
1995–96301700003017
Total 884610008946
Hansa Rostock1996–97Bundesliga2722100293
1997–98321110003311
Total 591331006214
Borussia Dortmund1998–99Bundesliga2242000244
1999–001421051203
Total 3663051447
Hamburger SV2000–01Bundesliga312210814023
2001–022471000257
2002–032461000256
2003–04321030203710
2004–05301110003111
2005–0633933924514
Total 1746510319320371
Bayer Leverkusen2006–07Bundesliga327201234610
2007–0829400103397
Total 6111202267517
Career total 4361432044610483157

International goals
Scores and results table. Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first:
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 September 1999Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo Estonia1–11–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2.28 February 2001Bilino Polje, Zenica Hungary1–11–1Friendly
3.24 March 2001Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo Austria1–11–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 28 March 2001Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz Liechtenstein1–03–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.2–0
6. 27 March 2002Grbavica Stadium, Sarajevo Macedonia2–04–4Friendly
7.3–0
8.13 February 2003Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Wales2–12–2Friendly
9.29 March 2003Bilino Polje, Zenica Luxembourg2–02–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
10.2 April 2003Parken Stadium, Copenhagen Denmark1–02–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
11.10 September 2003Stade Josy Barthel, Route d'Arlon Luxembourg1–01–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
12.4 June 2005Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle San Marino3–13–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13.3 September 2005Bilino Polje, Zenica Belgium1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.7 September 2005LFF Stadium, Vilnius Lithuania1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.31 May 2006Azadi Stadium, Tehran Iran2–02–5Friendly
16.16 August 2006Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo France1–01–2Friendly
17.2 September 2006Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali Malta1–05–2UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Honours

Player

Hamburger SV

Individual

Awards

Performance

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. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. 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. Connelly 2002, 142
  5. "Barbarez Wants To Be National Team Coach". bihfoot.com. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  6. "Bosnian Soccer Legends Banned to be National Team Coaches!". bhfanaticos.com. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  7. "Profesionalne licence Barbarezu, Piplici i kolegama" (in Bosnian). sarajevo-x.com. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  • Connelly, Charlie (2002) Stamping Grounds: Exploring Liechtenstein and Its World Cup Dreams. Abacus.
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