He is well known as a player in the Bundesliga, but now a former BVB professional wants to put himself on the map as a coach.
Sergej Barbarez is to become coach of the Bosnian national team. The 52-year-old confirmed this more than clearly on Instagram. He posted a picture of himself celebrating with the caption “… to be continued” (German: “…it will be continued”). Accompanied by the Bosnian flag.
Barbarez played 47 international matches for Bosnia-Herzegovina during his playing days, scoring 17 times. Most recently, Bosnia-Herzegovina missed out on qualifying for the 2024 European Championship in Germany. The previous national coach Savo Milosevic had to leave as a result.
The name Barbarez was already being bandied about in the Bosnian media. The contract has not yet been signed, as some details still need to be clarified, writes “kicker”. However, association president Vico Zeljkovic had already revealed that Barbarez was “closest to the post of national coach” among all possible candidates.
Barbarez comes from the youth ranks of Bosnian club Velez Mostar and moved to Germany in the summer of 1992 – to Hannover 96. He was never to leave the country and ended his career with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the summer of 2008.
In between, Barbarez, a striker, made 330 Bundesliga appearances for Hamburger SV (174 games, 66 goals, 42 assists), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (61, 11, 12), FC Hansa Rostock (59, 13, 10) and Borussia Dortmund (36, 6, 7).
Barbarez was under contract with BVB from the summer of 1998 until the summer of 2000, before moving on to Hamburger SV. In the early summer of 2001, he supposedly made FC Schalke 04 champions with his goal against FC Bayern Munich. But the end is well known. Bayern responded to the goal in the 90th minute with an indirect free-kick. Patrik Andersson scored (94′) and Bayern became champions, leaving Schalke in second place.
Barbarez himself became the Bundesliga’s top scorer that season with 22 goals. He was also Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Footballer of the Year in 2001, 2002 and 2003