Sergej Barbarez (born 17 September 1971) 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 ...

who played as a forward. Barbarez played for several clubs in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is considered one of the all-time great players of

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of thr ...

where he scored 65 goals in 174

games. Mainly used as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, he also played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In the 2000–01 Bundesliga season while playing for

, Barbarez was joint top scorer with 22 goals with Ebbe Sand of

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

at the end of the season.

Early life

Barbarez was born in

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

, present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

to a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

father and a half-

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

and half-

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

mother. As a young child, he was actually not very interested in football but in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and athletics. However, at the age of eleven, Barbarez started playing football though mostly for fun with friends after school.

Club career

In 1984, Barbarez took a step further and started playing football for the youth team of Velež in his native city of Mostar. Some six years later, he signed with the first team of Velež at the age of 19. However, briefly after, Barbarez served in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska arm ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

in 1991 before returning to Mostar to continue his career. In 1991, he returned to Velež and soon after everyone realized that Barbarez was a true talent. The same year, he visited his uncle who was living in Germany. Some time later, Barbarez was preparing to return to Mostar but his uncle surprised him by extending his stay in Germany for two weeks. The uncle had arranged for him a two weeks try-out practise with

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betw ...

. The coach of Hannover 96 was so impressed by Barbarez that he signed him for the club. During those same two weeks the political situation throughout

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

was deteriorating by the minute and fighting was even occurring in some places. So Barbarez came to an agreement with his father to stay with his uncle in Germany for the near future. In April 1992, the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

escalated in the city of Mostar. A month prior of the actual war, the father and sister of Barbarez fled with his high school sweetheart Ana to the city of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in Germany. His mother Zlata stayed in Mostar throughout the whole war. Barbarez played for Hannover 96 during the second half of the 1991–92 and the whole

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

season. Between 1993 and 1996, he played for Union Berlin at the third level before signing with Hansa Rostock. Barbarez played there between 1996 and 1998. In 1998, he signed with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional foot ...

and played there until joining

in July 2000. During the first season with Hamburger SV, Barbarez became the top scorer for his club with 22 goals and joint top scorer of the

with Ebbe Sand. Though, he could not help Hamburg's elimination from the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League at the group stages despite his two goals, when the club qualified for that competition for the first time, after a third place in the previous domestic Bundesliga season. On 17 May 2006, Barbarez signed a two-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen. He finished his career at Bayer after his contract with the club expired in June 2008.

International career

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team in 2002

On 14 May 1998, Barbarez made his debut for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. Barbarez scored two goals against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

in a World Cup qualification match on 28 March 2001. He was denied a hat-trick as his second-half penalty was saved by Lichtenstein goalkeeper

Peter Jehle Peter Karl Jehle (born 22 January 1982) is a Liechtensteiner retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his career with Vaduz, representing the club in both the Swiss Super League and the Challenge League. He also compete ...

.Connelly 2002, 142 Before he retired from international football on 13 October 2005, Barbarez was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and leader of the Bosnian national team. On 2 December 2005, he announced his comeback to the national team and played in the

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

. He became captain of the team once again. On 12 October 2006, Barbarez officially stepped down from playing for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team and retired permanently from professional football in June 2008. His final international was an October 2006 European Championship qualification match against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

Coaching career

Barbarez announced on 14 December 2009 that he wanted to be the head coach of the

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team ( bs, Nogometna/Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovine; sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Боснe и Херцеговинe, Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovi ...

in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers. However, the Football Association of Republika Srpska blocked his entry and later on,

Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of TFF First League club Akhisarspor. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and techni ...

was selected as the new head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. On 5 January 2011, Barbarez received his UEFA Pro Licence in the

Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...

's educational facility in Jablanica.

Personal life

Barbarez is married to his high-school sweetheart Ana, who is also from

. They have two sons together, Filip-André (born 1994) and Sergio-Luis (1999). Barbarez was a member of the board of directors of

between 25 January 2009 and 28 May 2010.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

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

Honours

Player

Hamburger SV * DFB-Ligapokal:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International F ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Individual

Awards * Bosnian Footballer of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003 Performance * Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 2000–01 (22 goals)

References

* Connelly, Charlie (2002) ''Stamping Grounds: Exploring Liechtenstein and Its World Cup Dreams''. Abacus.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbarez, Sergej 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Mostar Association football midfielders Association football forwards Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina international footballers FK Velež Mostar players Hannover 96 players 1. FC Union Berlin players FC Hansa Rostock players Borussia Dortmund players Hamburger SV players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Germany Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Serbian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Croatian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Bosniak descent