Elvir Bolić

Elvir Bolić
Personal information
Full name	Elvir Bolić
Date of birth	10 October 1971; (age 40 years, 111 days)
Place of birth	Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
National team
Teams managed
2008	Bosnia and Herzegovina (assistant)
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.; † Appearances (Goals).;

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Not to be confused with Elvir Baljić.

Elvir Bolić (born October 10, 1971 in Zenica) is a former Bosnian football (soccer) forward. He is the all-time leading scorer for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.

Bolić was briefly served as the assistant manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Elvir Bolić is considered a legend in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Loved by the fans and respected by his teammates, Bolić was always admired for his hard work on the pitch and great footballing skills.

[edit] Career

[edit] Yugoslavia

His career started in his hometown, Zenica, where he played for a local club, Čelik from 1988 to 1991. He was the member of Čelik's most successful youth generation ever, from which several other players emerged and later on played for the Bosnian national team, including former team captain Mirsad Hibić, Nermin Šabić and Senad Brkić.

During those years, Čelik struggled in the lower leagues of ex-Yugoslavia and was often forced to bring up fresh new talent from its youth system, which allowed Bolić to showcase his skills. He and a couple of his teammates earned a call-up for the ex-Yugoslavian U18 national team.

This led to Bolić being noticed by Yugoslav powerhouse Red Star Belgrade, which brought him to their team in December 1991. Red Star management, led at the time by Dragan Džajić and Vladimir Cvetković, thought very highly of Bolić's talent and groomed him to take over an important midfield role. However, because of the political situation in SFR Yugoslavia at the time, the young 20-year-old Bolić defected from the Yugoslav national side training camp in France in June 1992. He later informed Red Star's management he would not be coming back to Belgrade.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Turkey

From there, he went to Turkey where he became a legend and one of the best foreign players ever to appear in the Turkish Süper Lig. Bolić spent most of his club career in Turkey, where he played for Galatasaray (1992), Gaziantepspor (1993-95), Fenerbahçe (1995-2000), Istanbulspor (2003-04), and Gençlerbirligi, Malatyaspor (2004-2005).

He is known for breaking Manchester United's 40-year unbeaten home record in Europe when he scored for Fenerbahçe in their 1-0 win on October 30, 1996.

[edit] Spain

He also played for Spain's Rayo Vallecano (2000-03).

[edit] Return to Turkey

In 2003-2004, he returned to Istanbulspor, but only for a season.^[2] He left for Gençlerbirliği S.K..^[3]

[edit] Croatia

He played for NK Rijeka in 2006–07 season, left the club in September 2006.

[edit] International career

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bolić has appeared 51 times, scoring 22 goals.^[4] He holds the record for most goals for the national team, while Zvjezdan Misimović surpassed his number of caps in September 2010 after Bolic had held that record as well for several years.^[5] His first appearance came in 1996 against Greece.

Bolić made a non-friendly appearance for national team on 6 September 2006 against Hungary.

[edit] International goals

^[6]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	06 November 1996	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Italy	2–1	2–1	Friendly match
2.	10 November 1996	Bežigrad Central Stadium, Ljubljana	Slovenia	1–0	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	05 November 1997	Stade El Menzah, Tunis	Tunisia	1–2	1–2	Friendly match
4.	20 August 1997	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Denmark	2-0	3–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	20 August 1997	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Denmark	3-0	3–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	10 September 1997	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Slovenia	1-0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.	05 June 1999	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Lithuania	2-0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
8.	09 June 1999	Svangaskarð, Toftir	Faroe Islands	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
9.	09 June 1999	Svangaskarð, Toftir	Faroe Islands	2–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
10.	04 September 1999	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Scotland	1–1	1–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
11.	16 August 2000	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Turkey	1–0	2–0	Friendly match
12.	27 March 2002	Grbavica, Sarajevo	Macedonia	1–0	4–4	Friendly match
13.	27 March 2002	Grbavica, Sarajevo	Macedonia	4–2	4–4	Friendly match
14.	29 March 2003	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Luxembourg	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
15.	11 October 2003	Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Denmark	1-1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
16.	31 March 2004	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2-0	2–1	Friendly match
17.	08 September 2004	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Spain	1-1	1–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
18.	02 February 2005	Teheran	Iran	1–0	1–2	Friendly match
19.	30 March 2005	Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Lithuania	1–0	1–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
20.	08 October 2005	Bilino Polje, Zenica	San Marino	1–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
21.	08 October 2005	Bilino Polje, Zenica	San Marino	2–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
22.	08 October 2005	Bilino Polje, Zenica	San Marino	3–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification