Haris Duljević
Haris Duljević (born 16 November 1993) is Bosnian football player who currently plays as a winger for FK Sarajevo in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier league, and also Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.[1][2] A quick and skillful player, Duljević is regarded as one of the best prospects in Bosnian football, but he often tends to perform inconsistently, which has led his critics to seriously question his ability to make a leap towards the bigger leagues, as he is expected to do soon.
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Club career
Born in Sarajevo, Duljević started his footballing career in a local youth side Novi Grad, which is associated with FK Olimpic, a Bosnian Premier league side. It was already there that he has shown plenty of promise, but his senior debut would not come in Olimpic. Instead, he spent six months in season 2010/2011 in neighbouring town of Zenica, playing for NK Čelik Zenica, also a Premier league side, albeit at a time a slightly weaker one than Olimpic.
Olimpic where revolving around youth players at a time, so after six months spent at Čelik, Duljević came back to the capital city after being assured that his role in the team would be increased for the 2011/2012 season. However, it wasn't until the very end of the season that Duljević was officially promoted from Olimpic youth team to the senior side. He made a meagre five appearances for his side, failing to score any goals.
It was in the season 2012/2013 that Duljević started appearing regularly for Olimpic, also scoring his first Premier League goal. He netted his side's only goal in the home draw against Mostar side Velež, thus ending season with 25 games and one goal.
Amidst transfer speculation, Duljević started season 2013/2014 in a very good form, scoring 2 goals in first two games. Goals soon dried up, but Duljević completely transformed his playing style, becoming a very reliable starter for his side, playing in his preferred winger position, where his quickness and good technique would come to the fore. He ended his second season in Olimpic shirt with 4 goals from 20 games, which was not a bad return, and it wasn't too long before Sarajevo came knocking.
2014/2015 season
Duljević cited European football as a large factor in his decision to sign for Sarajevo, and on one of his first European nights, he scored his first Sarajevo goal. Duljević managed to net a goal in an away match in Greece, which Sarajevo won with 3-1 against Atromitos, to advance to the Europa League playoff. It was there that the exciting Bosnian powerhouse met a true footballing giant, a Borussia Mönchengladbach. Once again Duljević scored, but this time Sarajevo wouldn't progress, losing the tie 10 goals to two on aggregate.
Duljević soon became one of the most valuable attacking assets of his side, as opposition couldn't easily man-mark him. In addition to important goals scored against Atromitos and Borussia Mönchengladbach, Duljević also developed a habit of scoring goals against difficult rivals in the Premier league. He netted first goal of the game in 3-1 win over Borac in Banja Luka (Sarajevo rarely wins there), and he also decided the biggest game there is in Bosnian football. Coming off the bench, Duljević scored a game-winning goal against city rivals Željezničar away from home. Even though he was supposed to be celebrated as a hero for his side, he was actually stripped of his wages for that week because of missing host of excellent chances to completely humiliate city rivals. The decision was carried out by the then sporting director of FK Sarajevo, Abdulah Ibraković, who confirmed that the money Duljević was penalised for would be given to charity.
Sarajevo would not go through season 2014/2015 without a drama, as coach Dženan Uščuplić was fired for failing to keep Sarajevo in title race. His replacement Meho Kodro made Sarajevo play efficient and attractive football, but his reign was short-lasted as wheels slowly started coming apart from his Sarajevo engine and the side slowly started losing ground on their rivals. Dženan Uščuplić came back to win title for Sarajevo, and Duljević was very important player for both coaches, amassing 34 appearances, scoring 6 goals along with adding three assists. Sarajevo won the Premier league title for the first time after eight years and it also happened to be Duljević's first football trophy.
2015/2016 season
Despite certain level of interest shown in Duljević from foreign clubs, he decided to stay with Sarajevo for season 2015/2016. Sarajevo once more suffered from same old troubles, as coaches were easily fired for failing to meet goals set by the very ambitious board. In September 2015, Dženan Uščuplić was replaced by Miodrag Ješić, who very quickly sacked more than a dozen first team players, including captain Ivan Tatomirović. Duljević was given captain's armband and a new-look Sarajevo based their football around Duljević, whose certain skills had really outgrown the level required to be successful in the Premier league.[3] However, Duljević still tends to overcomplicate and overplay in certain situations, which has led critics to claim that he was never going to make it at the top level.
Duljević was a subject of large controversy during winter transfer period in Premier league, as city rivals Željezničar reportedly made a bid of 400 000 euros for his services, which angered Sarajevo, who value their captain much more. Bid was soon rejected, but war of words between two clubs, including their very passionate fanbases, continued to this day.
International career
Two days before his 19th birthday, Haris Duljević made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina U-21 national football team. He went on to appear in total of 13 games with this team, scoring three goals in process.
When Mehmed Baždarević took over Bosnian national team, one of his aims was to start using Bosnian Premier league players in national team more. Duljević was immediately seen as a very good prospect for the future, as the team has been going through shortage of good wingers in recent years. However, it wasn't until March 2016. that Duljević received international call-up. He was called up for friendlies against Luxembourg and Switzerland.[4] He appeared in both of these games, almost getting an assist for providing Muhamed Bešić with golden opportunity, which Everton man has failed to score.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 15 May 2016.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Čelik | 2010–11 | Premijer Liga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | |
| Olimpic | 2011–12 | Premijer Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 20 | 4 | |||
| Total | 50 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | 50 | 5 | |||
| Sarajevo | 2014–15 | Premijer Liga | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 6 |
| 2015–16 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Total | 50 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 66 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 104 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 120 | 14 | ||
International
- As of match played 29 March 2016.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2016 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
Honours
Club
- Sarajevo
