Ivan Sesar (born 29 August 1989) is a Bosnian former professional

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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

NK Zagreb

Sesar made his senior debut for

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

on 31 August 2008 in a 1–1 draw against HNK Sibenik He would only play one match for the club before joining

FC Koper Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top flight of Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. They won the Sl ...

FC Koper

After being released by NK Zagreb, Ivan Sesar signed for

in the Slovenian Prva Liga on 1 July 2009 as a free agent. It wouldn't be until 8 August 2009 that he would be substituted in the 77th minute in a 2–1 win against

ND Gorica Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in Nova Gorica that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. They are one of the most succ ...

. Sesar also bagged his first assist for an equalising goal in a 1–1 draw against NK Domzale. Koper would win the league by 9 points with Sesar making 23 league appearances. In the subsequent season, he faced his old rivals

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

in a Champions League Qualifying match losing 5–4 on aggregate.

Lokomotiva Zagreb

Sesar returned to Croatia joining

Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1 ...

on a free transfer on 1 August 2010. He netted his first career goal with Lokomotiva in a league match against Hrvatski Dragovoljac in the form of an equaliser. The match would end 3–2 in favor of Lokomotiva Zagreb.

Sarajevo

Ivan Sesar joined Premijer Liga side

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

for free exactly a year after joining Lokomotiva Zagreb. Sesar played 34 league matches for the side in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons bagging six assists. Sesko also participated in Sarajevo's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualification run making it to the third round of the tournament where he would assist another two times.

Elazığspor

About a year and a half into his time with Sarajevo, he was sent out on loan to Turkish side

Elazığspor Elazığspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazığ and currently competes in the TFF Second League. They play their home games at Elazığ Atatürk Stadium in Elazığ, which has a maximum capacity of 18,423. The club was ...

. He contributed two assists to the side in 14 appearances.

Akhisar Belediyespor

Shortly after returning from his loan spell, Ivan Sesar remained in Croatia for Akhisarspor. He assisted two more goals in Turkey before leaving the club on a free transfer.

Dunajská Streda

Sesar joined

Dunajská Streda Dunajská Streda (; ; ) is a town located in southern Slovakia ( Trnavský kraj). Dunajská Streda is the most culturally significant town in the Žitný ostrov area. The town has a population of 22,730, with ethnic Hungarians forming the 72% maj ...

on a free transfer. He would play eight games for the side in a campaign that saw Dunajska finish in 7th.

Široki Brijeg

Sesar returned to Široki Brijeg, a club where he had spent most of his youth career. He would net a goal in a 3–0 win against relegation-battling

Velez Mostar Velez may refer to: People * Vélez (name), a Spanish surname, including a list of people with the name Places * Vélez de Benaudalla, Spain * Vélez Sársfield (barrio), Buenos Aires, Argentina * Vélez-Blanco, Spain * Vélez-Málaga, Spain * Vé ...

. Although having zero goal contributions in 22 league appearance in the subsequent season, Široki Brijeg would end up winning the Primijer Liga in the 2016-17 campaign.

Juventus București

He joined the newly promoted, second division side Juventus București for free on 25 July 2017. He made 16 league appearances for the club in

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

Inter Turku

After a season in Romania, Sesar joined Inter Turku for an undisclosed amount. He won the 2018 Finnish Cup and finished mid-table in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

campaign.

Voluntari

Ivan Sesar returned to Romania a year later, this time for first division side

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian league system. Founded in 2 ...

. Voluntari would see themselves in a relegation battle in a campaign where Sesar played seven matches.

Tuzla City

Sesar then joined Bosnian side Tuzla City. He scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win versus

in the Kup BiH in match that would see them avoid relegation by 3 points. He also bagged four assists in the 19/20 campaign.

NK Solin

Sesar joined Croatian side

NK Solin NK Solin is a Croatian football club based in the town of Solin, near Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, ...

in 2020. He would assist and score against

NK Croatia Zmijavci Croatia Zmijavci is a professional football club from Zmijavci, Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, currently playing in the second division Druga HNL after their 2019 promotion. Zmijavci are one of several Dalmatian football teams with a developmen ...

to win the game 3–1 away from home. He played eight matches in a campaign where the side would finish four points above relegation.

Rudeš

After playing only eight matches for Solin, Sesar would join NK Rudeš making four appearances.

Kvik Halden

He joined Kvik Halden in 2021 making 2 appearances. Ivan Sesar retired at the end of the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

campaign.

International career

Sesar made his international debut for

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team (; ; ) represents Bosnia and Herzegovina in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is governed by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until 1992 Bo ...

in an unofficial friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

on 16 December 2011. His official debut came on 15 August 2012 against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Honours

Koper *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

: 2009–10 *

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup () was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in 2007 and was held annual ...

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 ...

Široki Brijeg * Bosnian Cup: 2016–17 FC Inter Turku *

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

: 2017-18

References

External links