Eli Babalj (born 21 February 1992) is a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker. Born in Yugoslavia, he has represented Australia at international level. Alongside Robert Cornthwaite and Sasa Ognenovski, Babalj, at 1.95 m is the joint third tallest player to have represented the

Australia national association football team Australia national soccer team most commonly refers to: * Australia men's national soccer team * Australia women's national soccer team Australia national soccer team may also refer to: * Australia men's national soccer B team * Australia men's na ...

, behind

Zeljko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian association football, soccer coach and former player who is currently the goalkeeping coach for the Iraq national football team. Standing at 2.02 m, Kalac is the tallest player to have ...

(2.02 m) and

Harry Souttar Harry James Souttar (born 22 October 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for side Sheffield United, on loan from club Leicester City. Born in Scotland, he plays for the Australia national team. Born in Scotland, Sou ...

(1.98 m).

Club career

Born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, Babalj has spent the majority of his life in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and started off playing with

Perth SC Perth Soccer Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in West Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1987 as the result of a merger between three local clubs, though its pre-merger history is regarded to be that of Perth ...

. In 2008, he was signed by

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

for their Youth League team. However, he was signed by the AIS for the 2009–10 season in which the AIS came last, however Babalj managed to find the net 9 times.

Melbourne Heart

On 26 December it was announced that

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

expansion club

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

had signed the then 17-year-old for their inaugural

A-League 2010–11 A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

season. He made his debut for the club in a friendly against Geelong All Stars XI and also scored his first goal in that match. He also took part in the friendly against

Everton FC Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a foun ...

in which Heart lost 2–0. He made his debut for

in the opening round of the

2010–11 A-League The 2010–11 A-League was the 34th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the sixth season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. The home and away season began on 5 August 2010 and concluded on 13 ...

season against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

. During May 2012 it was announced that Serbian side

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

was scouting him.

Red Star Belgrade

On 7 June 2012 it was announced he had signed with

Serbian Superliga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

contender

. He made his debut on 31 August 2012, against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League play-off round The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League play-off round was the last of four rounds of matches prior to the tournament's group stage, and decided 31 of the 48 teams that would participate in the group stage. All times are CEST (UTC+2). Round and draw d ...

. He scored his first goal on his league debut against

FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. At the beginning of the 2000s, the club (then known as Sartid S ...

on 29 September 2012.

Melbourne Heart

Eli Babalj made his return appearance to the A-League for the Melbourne Heart away to the Western Sydney Wanderers on Australia Day, 26 January 2013 as a 2nd half substitution.

AZ

On 19 April 2013, Dutch club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

completed the signing of Eli for a fee believed to be in the region of $200,000.

Loan to PEC Zwolle

On 2 February 2015, Babalj was sent on loan at

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

for the rest of the season. Eli Babalj made his Eredivisie debut for PEC Zwolle at home to the Go Ahead Eagles on 15 February 2015 as a 70th-minute substitute for Maikel van der Werff.

Loan to Adelaide United

On 24 July 2015, Alkmaar confirmed that they would allow Babalj to go out on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

back to

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

for the

2015–16 A-League The 2015–16 A-League was the 39th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 11th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. Melbourne Victory FC, Melbourne Victory were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regu ...

season. This would be

Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Martínez (; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a versatile midfielder. After spending most of his career with Barcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it in ...

's first signing for Adelaide as the new manager. Babalj made his debut for Adelaide United as a substitute in the 2015 FFA Cup in Darwin against Darwin Olympic. He also scored his first goal to help Adelaide to a 6–1 win. On 22 January 2016, Babalj ruptured his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

against

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, ruling him out for the remainder of the A-League season.

Adelaide United

On 7 February 2017, after training with

since late January, Babalj joined Adelaide United once more until the end of the season.

Mladá Boleslav

On 7 August 2017, Babalj signed with Czech club

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

ATK

Babalj signed with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club ATK for the 2018–19 season. He made his first appearance on 28 November 2018 against

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 68th minute. The match ended 0–0.

Newcastle Jets

On 12 October 2021, after stint's with

and Chainat Hornbill Babalj returned to Australia and signed with

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

for the

2021-22 A-League Men Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

season after a successful trial at the club.

International career

He has represented Australia at U-20 level during the

2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification The Qualification Competition for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship. The Draw The draw for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship (Qualifiers) will take place at AFC House on 20 February 2009. A total of 42 teams will come out of the pots. In the West Zo ...

for the

2010 AFC U-19 Championship The 2010 AFC U-19 Championship was the 36th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. 2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification, Qualification for the tournament started in October 2009 with the finals tournament be ...

. He played in 4 qualification games, scoring 3 goals, against Singapore, and two against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

. Babalj also represented Australia at the

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The ASEAN U-19 Boys' Championship (formerly AFF U-19 Youth Championship) is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations fro ...

. He scored against

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and the winning goal in the final of the

against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. He made his debut for Australia's senior team on 14 November 2012 in a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Babalj was selected in the Socceroos squad for the East Asian Cup qualification round. He started his first game for Australia against Guam in a 9–0 win, scoring a double before being substituted.

International goals

Career statistics

Honours

Adelaide United * A-League Premiers: 2015–16 * A-League Championship: 2015–16 Australia U-20 *

AFC U-20 Asian Cup The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

: runner-up

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
* 1992 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Men's association football forwards Melbourne City FC players Red Star Belgrade footballers AZ Alkmaar players PEC Zwolle players Adelaide United FC players FK Mladá Boleslav players Brisbane Roar FC players A-League Men players Czech First League players Eredivisie players Indian Super League players ATK (football club) players Newcastle Jets FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in India Australian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Australian people of Serbian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Australia Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Yugoslav Wars refugees Soccer players from Perth, Western Australia Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in India Australian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Australian expatriate men's soccer players 21st-century Australian sportsmen