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