Admir Smajić

Admir Smajić

Personal information
Full name	Admir Smajić
Date of birth	(1963-09-07) 7 September 1963
Place of birth	Bijeljina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
0000–1979	Radnik Bijeljina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1988	Partizan Belgrade	194	(9)
1988–1993	Neuchâtel Xamax	99	(15)
1993–1997	FC Basel	111	(12)
1997–1999	BSC Young Boys	26	(2)
Total		430	(38)
International career
1984	Yugoslav Olympic	5	(0)
1986–1987	Yugoslavia	4	(1)
1995–1996	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	(0)
Managerial career
1998–1999	BSC Young Boys
2003–2004	Yverdon-Sport FC
2004	FC Sion
2014	FC Sion
Medal record Men's Football Representing Yugoslavia Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Admir Smajić (born 7 September 1963) is a Bosnian former footballer who played for SFR Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later in his career he also became a football coach.

Club career

Partizan

Born in Bijeljina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Admir Smajić began his career in his local town with FK Radnik Bijeljina. In 1979 Radnik reached the 1/8 finals of the Yugoslav Cup with Smajić being part of the team and that sealed him a move to Belgrade to play in FK Partizan. He made his senior debut with Partizan in the 1979–80 Yugoslav First League. He played 9 consecutive seasons with Partizan, where he won 3 Yugoslav championships. Whilst at Partizan he represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where they reached the semi-finals before being eliminated by France. Later, in 1987 he also debuted for the main Yugoslav National team.

Switzerland

In 1988 he moved abroad to Neuchâtel Xamax who had just had won the two previous editions of the Swiss Nationalliga A. Neuchâtel Xamax failed to win the title during the time Smajić played, and all they managed was to be runners-up of the Swiss Cup in 1990. He played there for almost five years before joining FC Basel in the winter break of the 1992–93 season. He played with Basel for the following 4 years, and then he moved to BSC Young Boys in the winter break of the 1997–98 season. He eventually took up a player-manager role in 1998. He was sacked at the end of the season and he also retired from playing.

International career

After representing Yugoslavia at the 1984 Olympics, he later became A international for the Yugoslav National team. Between friendly games, and qualifiers for the 1988 UEFA European Championship, he has made 5 appearances, all in 1987.

Almost a decade later, and after the break-up of Yugoslavia, he became part of national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, making two appearances in 1996. Smajić was given an emotional farewell in what was likely his last appearance for the Bosnian national team on 25 April 2000 in Sarajevo, a 0–1 result in a friendly against FIFA All Stars Thomas Häßler Roberto Baggio Mustapha Hadji Bernard Lama Dunga among others).

Honours

Club

Partizan

• Yugoslav First League: 1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87

National team

Yugoslavia

• Olympics: 1984 (Bronze Medalist)