Smail Prevljak (; born 10 May 1995) is a Bosnian 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 plays as a forward for 2. Bundesliga club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. Prevljak started his professional career at

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

, playing mainly in its

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. In 2014, he was loaned to Red Bull Salzburg, who assigned him to Liefering later that year. The following year, he moved to Red Bull Salzburg on permanent basis. Prevljak was sent on loan to Mattersburg in 2017 and to

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

in 2020, with whom he signed permanently later that year. In 2023, he joined Hertha BSC. A former youth international 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 ...

, Prevljak made his senior international debut in 2018, earning over 20

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

until 2023.

Club career

Early career

Prevljak started playing football at his hometown club Igman Konjic, before joining the youth academy of German team

in 2013. He made his professional debut against

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

on 2 August 2014 at the age of 19.

Red Bull Salzburg

In August, Prevljak was sent on a season-long loan to Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg. He made his official debut for the side on 9 November against

Altach Altach is a municipality in the district of Feldkirch, in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Neighboring municipalities Five other municipalities surround Altach: Hohenems in the district of Dornbirn, Götzis and Mäder in the dist ...

. On 3 October, he scored his first professional goal playing for Red Bull Salzburg's feeder squad, Liefering, in a triumph over

Wacker Innsbruck FC Wacker Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol. History The ''Fußball-Club Wacker'' ("Valiant") ''Innsbruck'' was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and o ...

. In June 2015, he moved to Red Bull Salzburg permanently. On 23 August, he scored his first goal for the team against

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

. Prevljak scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a defeat of FAC on 6 November. In April 2016, he suffered a severe knee injury, which was diagnosed as an anterior cruciate ligament tear and was ruled out for at least six months. Over ten months after the injury, on 24 February 2017, he returned to the pitch. In June, Prevljak was loaned to Mattersburg until the end of the season. In June 2018, he signed a new four-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg. On 16 December, he scored four goals in a victory over St. Pölten. He won his first trophy with the club on 1 May 2019, by beating

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

in the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

final.

Eupen

In January 2020, Prevljak was sent on a six-month loan to Belgian side

. He made his competitive debut for the squad against St. Truiden on 8 February and managed to score a goal. In August, Eupen signed Prevljak on a three-year deal. He scored his first hat-trick for the club in a win over

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

on 17 April 2021.

Hertha BSC

In July 2023, Prevljak joined

on a contract until June 2025. He debuted officially for the team on 4 August against Wehen Wiesbaden. On 26 August, he scored his first goal for Hertha BSC in a beating of Greuther Fürth.

International career

Prevljak was a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 team under coach Darko Nestorović. In March 2018, he received his first senior call up, for friendly games 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 ...

and

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. He debuted against the former on 23 March. On 15 November 2020, in a

2020–21 UEFA Nations League A The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A was the top division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. Le ...

match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Prevljak scored his first senior international goal.

Personal life

Prevljak married his long-time girlfriend Nejra in March 2017. Together they have two sons named Sami and Kani.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2018–19 *

: 2018–19

References

External links