Emir Spahić

Emir Spahić

Spahić with Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015
Personal information
Full nameEmir Spahić
Date of birth18 August 1980
Place of birthDubrovnik, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing positionCentre back
Number4
Youth career
FK Krajina Cazin
Čelik Zenica
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998–1999Čelik Zenica19(1)
1999–2001GOŠK Dubrovnik22(0)
2001–2004NK Zagreb38(2)
2004–2005Shinnik Yaroslavl26(6)
2005–2006Torpedo Moscow15(0)
2006–2009Lokomotiv Moscow63(3)
2009–2011Montpellier57(3)
2011–2013Sevilla44(1)
2013→ Anzhi Makhachkala (loan)7(1)
2013–2015Bayer Leverkusen48(3)
National team‡
2000–2002Bosnia and Herzegovina U2115(0)
2003–Bosnia and Herzegovina80(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 December 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 March 2015

Emir Spahić (born 18 August 1980) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre back.

During his club career, he has represented teams in his homeland, Croatia, Russia, France, Spain and Germany. His most recent team was Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, where his contract was terminated in April 2015 for violence towards match stewards.

A full international since 2003, he was the captain of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team from 2004 until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and has earned 80 caps while scoring 3 goals.

Club career

Over the course of his career, Spahić has played for NK Čelik Zenica, Torpedo Moscow, Shinnik Yaroslavl and Lokomotiv Moscow as well as NK GOŠK Dubrovnik and NK Zagreb.

He has played for Zagreb and Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League and with Montpellier, Sevilla and Lokomotiv in the UEFA Europa League.[2]

Montpellier

On 24 June 2009, Spahić announced that he would join the newly promoted Montpellier squad for the 2009–10 Ligue 1 season. On his league debut against Paris Saint-Germain, he scored a header in the 94th minute for a 1–1 draw, which earned a point for the newly promoted club. He scored his second goal for Montpellier in a 2–2 draw against FC Lorient.

Sevilla

Spahić with Sevilla in March 2013, defending against Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuaín

On 4 July 2011, Spahić agreed a transfer with Sevilla for €2 million until July 2014.[3] His national teammate Miroslav Stevanović also transferred to Sevilla in January 2013 and upon his arrival at San Pablo International Airport, he was received by Spahić.[4] Spahić scored his first goal for Sevilla on 5 January 2013 in a 1–0 victory against Osasuna.[5]

Anzhi Makhachkala

On 26 February 2013, Spahić left Sevilla and was loaned to Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League.[6] He scored his first goal for the club on 14 April 2013 against Volga Nizhny Novgorod.

Bayer Leverkusen

Spahić with Bayer Leverkusen in November 2014

On 28 June 2013, Spahić was signed by Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga on a two-year contract.[2] He conceded a penalty and was later sent off in a Champions League last-16 first-leg game on 18 February 2014, as Paris Saint-Germain beat Leverkusen 4–0.[7] On 20 April, he scored his first two goals for the club, in a 4–1 league victory against 1. FC Nürnberg.

On 30 August 2014, 34-year-old Spahić headed in a goal from a free kick to level the score at 2–2 in a game that finished 4–2 for Bayer Leverkusen against Hertha BSC, thus ensuring his team's unbeaten start to the season.[8]

He was sent off for two yellow cards in a 4–5 home defeat against VfL Wolfsburg on 14 February 2015; having been 1–4 down, the score was level at his time of dismissal.[9]

On 30 March 2015, Spahić was proclaimed the best defender in Europe (in front of Martin Demichelis (Manchester City), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Chris Smalling (Manchester United) i Thiago Silva (PSG)) by International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES).[10]

He had his contract terminated on 12 April 2015 for headbutting a member of club's security personnel reportedly after they refused to allow his friends entry inside the dressing room area.[11]

International career

Spahić on the ball in an international friendly against Austria in March 2015

Spahić was the captain of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team before initially announcing his retirement.[12] On 7 June 2003, he made his debut as a substitute against Romania at Stadionul Ion Oblemenco in Craiova.[13][14]

Ever since his debut, he has been an important member of the national team. He headed a ball into the box and assisted Ermin Bičakčić who scored a crucial equalizer versus Slovakia in Žilina during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Bosnia-Herzegovina came back from one goal down in that game to win 2–1 and stay top of their qualifying group for ahead of Greece.

He retired from international football on 7 August 2014.[12] After his retirement, Bosnia lost their first game of Euro 2016 qualifiers versus Cyprus (ranked 121 places behind Bosnia in FIFA Ranking for August 2014) without Spahić, which resulted in manager Safet Sušić calling him back from retirement on 22 September for the games that followed vs Wales and Belgium.[15] At the time Bosnia's key defenders were either injured[16] or lacked competitive matches for their clubs which resulted in Spahić's call up to the national side. Due to short lived injury he missed these two games and returned to international stage vs Israel on November 16 where he played a full game, first time since playing vs Iran at 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

His father's family is from Sandžak, and his mother is from Gacko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They met when they were both working in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Emir has three brothers, the older being Nermin, Amir and younger one Alen (Alen is also a football player). Spahić is a first cousin of fellow national team player Edin Džeko.[17][18]

Spahić is a great lover of tennis, and has admitted to following live matches in Dubai, Barcelona, Montpellier and Paris.[19]

Spahić is enrolled at the University of Sarajevo, majoring in sport and physical education.[20]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bayer04.de/b04-deu/de/2037.aspx?guid=2037
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Leverkusen sign Spahic". Bundesliga. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Spahić: Potpisao sam, čekam još ljekarske preglede!" (in Bosnian). Scsport.ba. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Sevilla seal signing of Bosnian Stevanovic". eurosport.com. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sjajni Emir Spahić donio pobjedu Sevilli" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "Emir Spahić na posudbi u rukom Anžiju" (in Bosnian). bljesak.info. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Slick Paris brush ten-man Leverkusen aside". UEFA. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Leverkusen maintain perfect start". aljazeera.com. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Wolfsburg win thriller at Bayer Leverkusen thanks to Bas Dost’s four-goal haul". The Guardian. Reuters. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.klix.ba/sport/nogomet/cies-emir-spahic-najbolji-defanzivac-evrope-u-2015-godini/150330150
  11. ↑ "Emir Spahic's Leverkusen contract terminated after head-butting security". ESPN. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ziric, Sinan (7 August 2014). "Emir Spahic retirement" (in Bosnian). klix.ba. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "JAVNO.ba EKSPERTIZA: 10 najboljih BH nogometaša od osamostaljenja države". 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "Reprezentacija BiH – Godina 2003". bihsoccer.com. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Spahic returns for Bosnia and Herzegovina EURO qualifiers". fifa.com. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  16. ↑ "Sead Kolasinac Sidelined For Six Months". BHDragons. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  17. ↑ Wenzel, Peter (3 June 2009). "Magath: Was läuft da mit Dzekos Cousin?" (in German). bild.de. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  18. ↑ Tansey, Joe (10 October 2012). "World Cup Qualifying: Is Luck Finally on the Side of Bosnia and Herzegovina?". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  19. ↑ "Spahic uzivao u okrsaju Federera i Davidenka" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  20. ↑ http://www.sport.ba/druga-strana-sporta/znate-li-sta-studiraju-dzeko-pjanic-spahic/

External links

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