Filip Šebo

Filip Šebo
Personal information
Full nameFilip Šebo
Date of birth24 February 1984
Place of birthBratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionForward
Youth career
Inter Bratislava
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2001–20031. FC Köln II50(25)
2003–2004Inter Bratislava30(8)
2004–2005Petržalka33(22)
2005–2006Austria Vienna32(6)
2006–2007Rangers24(2)
2007–2008→ Valenciennes (loan)32(4)
2008–2010Valenciennes30(2)
2010–2012Slovan Bratislava53(29)
National team
2006–2012Slovakia15(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2012.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 February 2012

Filip Šebo (born 24 February 1984) is a Slovak football forward, who has been without a club since December 2012.

Club career

Early career

Šebo started his professional career with German team FC Köln but did not make a first team appearance, playing his games for reserve side Köln II. He moved to Slovakian side Inter Bratislava in 2003 after being released from Köln. Eight goals in twenty-five appearances earned him a transfer to Artmedia Bratislava – known for their run in the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League.

In the summer of 2005, after 22 goals in 29 games and the award for the league's top-scorer, he was bought by Austrian side Austria Vienna who paid approximately £400,000 for him. Šebo played 32 times, scoring 5 goals for the Austrian side, helping them to achieve an Austrian Bundesliga and Cup double.

Rangers

Rangers manager Paul Le Guen made Šebo his ninth signing on 3 August 2006 after Austria Vienna and Rangers agreed a fee of £1.85m.[1] Le Guen gave him his first starting appearance for Rangers on 17 September, against Hibernian in an SPL match and he scored.[2] His first home goal came on 1 October scoring a late winner in a 1–0 victory over Aberdeen at Ibrox.[3] Šebo played his first European match for Rangers on 28 September, playing the last 15 minutes of a UEFA Cup first-round second-leg tie against Molde FK. Rangers won 2–0 to qualify for the group stage.[4] Despite his lack of goals, he became something of a cult figure for Rangers, due to both his tremendous workrate and his distinctive broad, stocky build and remarkably square head.

In a friendly against Airdrie United on 31 January 2007, Šebo scored in a 3–0 win, his first goal in 3 months for the club. In another friendly, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 defeat of Gretna. In July 2007, Šebo scored Rangers second goal in a 2–0 pre-season friendly win over Chelsea, it was his first goal at Ibrox in almost 10 months.

'Šebo' is often chanted in a humorous manner by football fans in Scotland when an opposition player hits a wayward shot. This is due to Filip's perceived lack of prowess in front of goal during his time at Rangers.

Valenciennes

On 22 August 2007, Šebo joined French Ligue 1 side Valenciennes on a year-long loan deal.[5] He scored his first goal for Valenciennes in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Sochaux on 27 September 2007. He netted his first and second league goals on 11 November against Caen.

He completed a permanent switch to France on 29 May 2008, with Valenciennes paying a fee of around one million pounds.[6]

Slovan Bratislava

Šebo joined Slovan Bratislava on 15 September 2010. The striker, who came as a free agent after his spell at Valenciennes, signed a contract with the Slovak side until December 2012.[7] Šebo impressed in his first season at Slovan, becoming the Corgoň liga's top scorer with 22 goals.[8] Following the successful campaign, the Bundesliga club Hannover 96 tried to sign Šebo, but failed, as Slovan decided against selling the striker.[9] Although Šebo was less prolific in his remaining time at the club, Slovan offered him a new contract, which the striker, however, turned down and left the club in the winter of 2012.[10]

International career

On 15 August 2006, Šebo made his debut for the Slovakia national team in a friendly against Malta. He marked the occasion by scoring a hat-trick.[11] He scored another two goals in his second international match against Cyprus.

International goals

Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 August 2006 Tehelné pole, Bratislava  Malta 1–0 3–0 Friendly
2 2–0
3 3–0
4 02 September 2006 Tehelné pole, Bratislava  Cyprus 3–0 6–1 Euro 2008 qualifier
5 4–0
6 17 November 2010 Štadión Pasienky, Bratislava  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 2–3 Friendly
7 26 March 2011 Communal d'Aixovall, Andorra La Vella  Andorra 1–0 1–0 Euro 2012 qualifier

Honours

Slovakia

Slovakia U20
Slovakia U19

References

  1. 'Sebo Clinches Gers Deal', Sporting Life, 3 August 2006
  2. "Hibernian 2–1 Rangers". BBC Sport. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  3. "Rangers 1–0 Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  4. "Rangers 2–0 Molde (agg: 2–0)", BBC Sport, 28 September 2006
  5. "Sebo offloaded to Valenciennes". BBC Sport. 22 August 2007.
  6. Striker Sebo completes Ibrox exit BBC Sport, 29 May 2008
  7. Slovan Bratislava sign Sebo WorldFootball.net, 15 September 2010
  8. "Filip Šebo kráľom Corgoň ligy" (in Slovak). SFZ. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  9. "Hannover admit Sebo defeat". Sky Sports. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  10. "Je koniec, Filip Šebo definitívne opúšťa Slovan Bratislava!" (in Slovak). Šport. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  11. "Sebo nets Slovakia debut hat-trick", CNN, 15 August 2006

External links