Saša Bjelanović Explained

Saša Bjelanović
Birth Date:1979 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Zadar, SR Croatia,
SFR Yugoslavia
Height:1.88 m[1]
Position:Forward
Years1:1996–1999
Years2:1999
Years3:1999–2000
Years4:2000–2002
Years5:2002–2003
Years6:2003
Years7:2003
Years8:2003–2005
Years9:2004–2005
Years10:2005–2007
Years11:2007–2009
Years12:2008–2009
Years13:2009–2010
Years14:2010–2011
Years15:2011
Years16:2011–2012
Years17:2012–2013
Years18:2013–2014
Years19:2014
Years20:2015
Clubs1:Zadar
Clubs2:Dinamo Zagreb
Clubs3:Istra
Clubs4:Varteks
Clubs5:Como
Clubs6:Chievo (loan)
Clubs7:Perugia (loan)
Clubs8:Genoa
Clubs9:Lecce (loan)
Clubs10:Ascoli
Clubs11:Torino
Clubs12:Vicenza (loan)
Clubs13:Vicenza
Clubs14:CFR Cluj
Clubs15:Atalanta
Clubs16:Verona
Clubs17:CFR Cluj
Clubs18:Varese
Clubs19:Messina
Clubs20:Pordenone
Caps1:76
Goals1:18
Caps2:1
Goals2:0
Caps3:18
Goals3:4
Caps4:51
Goals4:27
Caps5:15
Goals5:2
Caps6:12
Goals6:4
Caps7:0
Goals7:0
Caps8:41
Goals8:12
Caps9:22
Goals9:5
Caps10:57
Goals10:11
Caps11:19
Goals11:0
Caps12:39
Goals12:12
Caps13:35
Goals13:8
Caps14:13
Goals14:3
Caps15:10
Goals15:1
Caps16:26
Goals16:5
Caps17:14
Goals17:4
Caps18:22
Goals18:4
Caps19:10
Goals19:2
Caps20:12
Goals20:1
Nationalyears1:2005
Nationalteam1:Croatia
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0

Saša Bjelanović (pronounced as /hr/;[2] [3] [4] born 11 June 1979) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He has held an Italian passport since 2007, as his grandmother was from Trieste, Venezia Giulia; this made him eligible to acquire Italian nationality at birth.[5]

Club career

Saša Bjelanović started his career at Zadar. At the age of 20, he had already made 76 appearances for his native club. In summer 1999, he was signed by Croatian giant Dinamo Zagreb. However, he made only one appearance before being transferred to NK Istra from Pula and then NK Varteks.[6]

On 31 May 2002, Como, at that time in Serie A, brought Bjelanović to Italy. He played 15 Serie A games for Como, and left on loan to Chievo.

As Como was relegated in summer 2003, on 16 July 2003, Bjelanović was loaned to Perugia. But on 30 August 2003, he was sold to Genoa C.F.C. of Serie B on a co-ownership deal for €1 million.[7] Genoa was owned by former Como owner Enrico Preziosi.

Bjelanović played 41 out of possible 46 games for Genoa, and as Como was relegated again, this time to Serie C1, Genoa bought all the registration rights at the end of the season for another €150,000.[7] [8]

Genoa did not win promotion in summer 2004 and Bjelanović played his second Serie A season for US Lecce on loan.

In summer 2005, Genoa finally won promotion to Serie A, but due to match fixing scandal, Genoa was relegated to play in the Serie C1 next season. As a result, Bjelanović was sold to Ascoli, the team which was promoted in Genoa's place, on a co-ownership deal.

Bjelanović scored four goals in 31 Serie A appearances for Ascoli in the 2005–06 season. He then went on to score seven goals in the 2006–07 season and became the top scorer for Ascoli for the season. This is due to players leaving the club and Ascoli relegated to Serie B after finishing at 19th.

Bjelanović signed for his 6th Italian club, Torino, along with Paolo Zanetti, on 21 June 2007, on a co-ownership deal. In June 2008 Torino full contracted with Bjelanović.

In August 2008, Bjelanović was transferred to Vicenza.[9] On 1 July 2009, he joined Vicenza definitely in 3-year contract for €700,000 as part of Nicolás Gorobsov's deal (for €800,000).[10] [11] [12]

In June 2010 he was transferred to Liga I champions CFR Cluj for €250,000.[12] . He played only six months in Romania, in January 2011 being sold back in Italy, to Serie B club Atalanta for €385,000.[13] However he was transferred to Serie B club Hellas Verona F.C. for free from the 2011 Serie B champion on 31 August 2011, the last day of Italian transfer window, after a nil game in 2011–12 Serie A.[13] [14] At Verona he re-joined the former Cluj coach, Italian Andrea Mandorlini. On 3 September 2012, the last day of Romanian transfer window, he returned to Cluj for undisclosed fee.[15]

He then joined Lega Pro club Messina for the 2014–15 season, but left the club in December 2014 by mutual consent,[16] successively signing for Pordenone, another Lega Pro club, five days later.[17] [18]

International career

Bjelanović was a member of the Croatian Youth team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he made only one appearance and scored one goal.

He made his debut for the Croatian senior national team on 9 February 2005, coming on as a second-half substitute for Eduardo da Silva in a friendly match against Israel, which ended in a 3–3 draw.[19] In late March 2005, he was also part of the Croatian squad that played Iceland and Malta in the 2006 World Cup qualifying, but remained an unused substitute in both matches.

Post career

On 25 May 2018 Bjelanović was confirmed as the Director of Football at Hajduk Split.[20] Bjelanović was dismissed from the position of sports director of Hajduk after only eighteen months, without having spent a full season at the club. In June 2022, Bjelanović was appointed Director of Football Operations in NK Istra 1961 where, after just one season, he achieved historic success and fifth place in the Croatian Football League 2022–23, where they fought until the very end for the first ever appearance in any of the European competitions.

Honours

Perugia

2003[21]

CFR Cluj

Atalanta

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Scheda anagrafica di Sasa Bjelanovic. AIC.Football.it . Italian . 22 December 2014 .
  2. Web site: Aleksándar1. Sàša. Hrvatski jezični portal. 2018-03-19. sh.
  3. Web site: Sȁša. Sȁša. Hrvatski jezični portal. 2018-03-19. sh.
  4. Web site: bijȇl. Bjelánović. Hrvatski jezični portal. 2018-03-19. sh.
  5. News: Bjelanovic italiano fa gola a molti. 29 May 2007. 8 October 2011. Il Resto del Carlino. Italian.
  6. Web site: Hrvatska nogometna liga. Statistika: Saša Bjelanović. Croatian. 8 December 2009.
  7. News: COMUNICATO UFFICIALE N. 54/CDN (2007–08). 15 May 2008. 25 May 2011. FIGC. Italian. 20 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110920132514/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/91.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_18752_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf. dead.
  8. Calcio Como SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2004
  9. News: Bjelanovic al Vicenza. 7 August 2008. 8 October 2011. Torino FC. Italian. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722055618/http://www.torinofc.it/content/view/3227/61/. 22 July 2011.
  10. News: Leggo – Gorobsov fa impazzire i tifosi . TuttomercatoWeb . Italian . 15 July 2009 . 14 October 2009.
  11. Vicenza Calcio SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2009, CCIAA
  12. Vicenza Calcio SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2010, CCIAA
  13. Atalanta BC Report and Accounts on 31 December 2011, CCIAA
  14. News: Calciomercato, Bjelanovic e Lepiller all'Hellas Verona. 31 August 2011. 5 November 2012. Hellas Verona FC. Italian.
  15. News: Ufficiale: Bjelanovic ceduto al Cluj. 3 September 2012. 5 November 2012. Hellas Verona FC. Italian.
  16. News: UFFICIALE: Messina, rescinde l'attaccante Bjelanovic . TuttoMercatoWeb . Italian . 22 December 2014 . 22 December 2014 .
  17. News: UFFICIALE: Pordenone, colpo in attacco . TuttoLegaPro . Italian . 29 December 2014 . 27 December 2014 .
  18. Web site: GRAN "COLPO" IN ATTACCO, BJELANOVIĆ È NEROVERDE. 27 December 2014. 29 September 2015. Pordenone Calcio. Italian.
  19. Web site: Player Database. 12 June 2022. EU-football.
  20. News: Saša Bjelanović novi sportski direktor Hajduka. Hrvatska radiotelevizija. 2018-08-23.
  21. Web site: Wolfsburg 0-2 Perugia (Aggregate: 0 – 3). https://web.archive.org/web/20031006122354/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/IntertotoCup/FixturesResults/Round=1691/Match=73025/Report=MS.html . dead . 6 October 2003 . UEFA . 15 June 2020.