Senijad Ibričić (born 26 September 1985) is a Bosnian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Slovenian fifth division side Litija. Besides Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ibričić played in Croatia, Russia, Turkey, Macedonia, Iran, and Slovenia. He played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team for nine years, making 44 appearances and representing the country at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. Ibričić holds both Bosnian and Croatian citizenship.

Club career

Zagreb

After one season at senior level in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ibričić left to play for Croatian side

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 ...

. He established himself as one of the club's best players, and soon attracted interest from bigger clubs in Croatia. He was transferred to Hajduk in 2008 for €1.8 million.

Hajduk Split

In April 2010 Ibričić scored against

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 ...

, Hajduk's biggest rivals, for the second time in his career. The goal sent Hajduk to the final of the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

with a narrow 1–0 aggregate scoreline. He scored again in both the legs of the final and thereby won his first trophy for the club. He finished the 2009–10 season with 17 goals, only behind

Davor Vugrinec Davor Vugrinec (born 24 March 1975) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as a striker, but also operated as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He is all-time top scorer of the Croatian First Football League ...

in the

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

. He was voted the best player in the Croatian League and received the

Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award The Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award or SN Yellow Shirt for short () is an annual football award given by the Croatian sports daily ''Sportske novosti''. It is awarded to the best football player playing in the Croatian First League at the end o ...

for the 2009–10 season. This was the first time since 1992 that a

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

player got the prestigious award. He also won the 2009–10 fans' player of the year award, the Heart of Hajduk. In late August 2010 he was linked with a possible move to Turkish side

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. According to media reports, Gaziantepspor offered €6.5 million to Hajduk, but the offer was turned down, with former Hajduk president Joško Svaguša saying that the minimum transfer fee for Ibričić would be in the region of €10 million.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 13 January 2011, he was transferred to Russian club

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

for a reported fee of around €7 million. Hajduk will also receive 20% of Ibričić's next transfer sum. He scored his first goal for Lokomotiv from the penalty spot in a league match against

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. They are the league's reigning champions. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Divis ...

Gaziantepspor

On 31 July 2012, Ibričić moved on loan to

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

. He scored twice in 13

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

games for this team.

Kasımpaşa

On 4 January 2013, Ibričić moved on loan to Kasımpaşa S.K.

Kayseri Erciyesspor

On 26 August 2013, Ibričić signed a three-year contract with

Kayseri Erciyesspor Kayseri Erciyesspor was a Turkish sports club based in Kayseri. History In 1965, Orhan Şefik Apak, then president of the Turkish Football Federation, asked cities in Turkey to combine their amateur football clubs into one singular club that wo ...

Vardar

On 9 February 2015, Ibričić has moved to the Macedonian side

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

. Later, on 15 March he was scored first goal from penalty, in his third game in the club against Turnovo.

Sepahan

Ibričić joined Persian Gulf League side

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (, ''Bâšgâh-e Farhangi-Varzeši-ye Fulâd-e Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan, is an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan. It is best known for their football section that play in the P ...

in January 2016. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

Koper

Ibričić joined

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

in Slovenia on 16 June 2016, signing a two-year contract.

International career

Ibričić established himself in the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina when his former coach at NK Zagreb,

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian-Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. A former right winger, his professional ...

became the national team's manager. He made his debut for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in a February 2005

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

away against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and has earned a total of 44 caps, scoring four goals. He participated in each of Bosnia's 12 games in their

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifying campaign (ten in the regular qualification, and two playoff games). He scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He also scored against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in a record-breaking 7–0 victory in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...

. His final international was a June 2014 pre-World Cup tournament friendly against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. As of 21 July 2014, Ibričić has retired from international football for

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ibričić goal.''

Honours

Hajduk Split *

: 2009–10 Vardar *

Macedonian First League The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of t ...

: 2014–15

References

External links