Eldin Jakupović

Eldin Jakupović

Jakupović with Grasshopper in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Eldin Jakupović[1]
Date of birth	(1984-10-02) 2 October 1984
Place of birth	Prijedor, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Hull City
Number	16
Youth career
000–2004	Grasshopper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2005	Grasshopper	13	(0)
2005–2006	FC Thun	22	(0)
2006–2009	FC Lokomotiv Moscow	20	(0)
2007–2009	→ Grasshopper (loan)	57	(1)
2010–2011	Olympiakos Volou	36	(0)
2011–2012	Aris	1	(0)
2012–	Hull City	5	(0)
2014	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	4	(0)
National team‡
2005	Bosnia and Herzegovina U21	2	(0)
2006	Switzerland U21	1	(0)
2008	Switzerland	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:54, 28 January 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:52, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Eldin Jakupović (born 2 October 1984) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Hull City. He moved to Switzerland at a young age due to the Bosnian War.

Club career

Early career

Jakupović started his professional career at Grasshopper in 2004, and then the following year moved to FC Thun. After a successful spell at FC Thun, Jakupović joined FC Lokomotiv Moscow in March 2006.

Grasshopper

Jakupović moved on a year-long loan to Grasshopper on 30 August 2007. He scored a 94th minute equaliser against BSC Young Boys in his third match for the club, earning Grasshopper a 3–3 draw. During the season Jakupović forced Fabio Coltorti to the bench as his backup. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Jakupović extended his loan at Grasshopper for another year, which meant new signing goalkeeper Massimo Colomba was benched.

Lokomotiv return

On 31 August 2009, Jakupović was confirmed as part of the Lokomotiv Moscow squad, with Ivan Pelizzoli leaving on loan to join AlbinoLeffe.^[2] Due to the number of foreigners in the Lokomotiv squad, Jakupović was asked to go out on loan again. In December, Jakupović went on trial at Tottenham Hotspur and had a successful week.^[3] However, due to various reasons a deal could not be completed with Lokomotiv Moscow. After a turbulent time with the Lokomotiv management, Jakupović was allowed to be released.

Olympiakos Volou

Jakupović had a fine season with Olympiakos Volou.^{[citation needed]} After Olympiakos Volou were relegated to the Delta Ethniki, Jakupović left the team.

Aris

On 30 September 2011, Jakupović joined Aris, with three other ex-teammates, Noe Acosta, Javier Umbides and Khalifa Sankare. He made his debut in 5 November 2011, against Olympiakos SFP, which finished 2–3.

Hull City

On 20 March 2012, Jakupović joined English Championship club Hull City on trial, and after impressing in training and a friendly match Hull manager Nick Barmby expressed a desire to sign Jakupović on a permanent contract.^[4] Following the sacking of Nick Barmby, Jakupović had trials with Ipswich Town. On 9 July 2012, Jakupović signed for Hull City on a two-year contract, becoming Steve Bruce's first full signing as manager.^[5][6] He officially joined the team on their pre-season training session in Portugal. He made his debut in a 3–1 friendly win against North Ferriby United on 16 July 2012. His first Championship match for The Tigers came on 21 December 2012 at Derby County, on a dark and rainy Friday night just before Christmas 2012 when he played his part in carving out a 2–1 victory as the team moved into second place in the Championship table.^[7] This was followed up by three more league appearances, all of which consisted of clean sheets.

In January 2014 Jakupović joined Leyton Orient on loan until 8 February.^[8] On 29 January 2014, Jakupović was recalled to parent club Hull City.^[9]

International career

Jakupović has dual citizenship, both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Switzerland, and has represented both at under-21 level.

He has played for Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 for two competitive matches,^[10][11] and a friendly match against Austria U21 for Switzerland on 1 March 2006.

In August 2005, Jakupović received his first call-up to the Bosnia and Herzegovina national squad which was a match against Belgium and Lithuania, however he did not accept the call up. In March 2007, Jakupović was asked again to play for the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina against Norway, but declined the offer. Jakupović was included in the Swiss UEFA Euro 2008 squad. He made his debut on 20 August 2008 in a friendly match against Cyprus. He was called up for the first two matches of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification,^[12] but was an unused substitute.

In October 2008, Jakupović said that he would not play for the Swiss national team due to family reasons.^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eldin Jakupović.

• Official UEFA player page
• Eldin Jakupović – FIFA competition record
• Eldin Jakupović career stats at Soccerbase

v t e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Benaglio 2 Djourou 3 Magnin 4 Senderos 5 Lichtsteiner 6 Huggel 7 Cabanas 8 Inler 9 Frei (c) 10 Yakin 11 Streller 12 Derdiyok 13 Grichting 14 Gygax 15 G. Fernandes 16 Barnetta 17 Spycher 18 Zuberbühler 19 Behrami 20 Müller 21 Jakupović 22 Vonlanthen 23 Degen Coach: Kuhn