Veroljub "Vero" Salatić (Serbian Cyrillic: Верољуб Веро Салатић; born 14 November 1985) is a Bosnian-born Swiss football coach and a former player who played as a central midfielder.

Career

A Bosnian Serb, Salatić moved to Switzerland as a child and started training with local team SC Zug in 1992, aged 7. In 2000, he moved on to Grasshopper Club Zürich. In the 2003–04 season he broke into the first team. He is used mostly as a holding midfielder or as a central defender.

AC Omonia

In July 2011, he signed a contract with Cypriot side AC Omonia.

Ufa

On 31 August 2017, Salatić signed for Russian Premier League side FC Ufa.[1] He left Ufa on 3 June 2019 upon the expiration of his contract.[2]

Return to Grasshoppers

On 17 June 2019, he returned to Grasshoppers for the second time, signing a 2-year contract.[3] The contract was terminated by the club on 11 August 2020,[4] and he retired from playing.

International career

Salatić has represented Switzerland at various levels including at the U-19 European Championship in 2004 in Switzerland. In 2005, he starred at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The side were managed by Pierre-André Schürmann. Salatić starred alongside a Swiss team including Blerim Džemaili, Tranquillo Barnetta and Valon Behrami.

His success has not gone unnoticed by the Football Association of Serbia who have twice attempted to call him up, both times he refused saying he wished to play for Switzerland. He played his last match for the U21 side against England in 2006 and since then neither Köbi Kuhn or Ottmar Hitzfeld have shown any interest in calling him up.

As an ethnic Serb from Bosnia, he first expressed his desire to play for Serbia[5] but he was never called, so he later stated that he would like to play for national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[6][7]

Honours

Club

Grasshopper Zurich
AC Omonia
FC Sion

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 May 2018
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Grasshoppers 2003–04 Swiss Super League 10 0 0 0 1 0 – 11 0
2004–05 32 0 1 0 – – 33 0
2005–06 30 1 2 2 7 2 – 39 5
2006–07 27 2 2 0 11 1 – 40 3
2007–08 33 2 3 0 – – 36 2
2008–09 32 3 4 0 5 1 – 41 4
2009–10 34 3 2 0 – – 36 3
2010–11 31 1 3 1 2 1 – 36 3
Omonia 2011–12 Cypriot First Division 25 1 7 2 4 0 1[a] 0 37 3
Grasshoppers 2012–13 Swiss Super League 31 3 5 0 – – 36 3
2013–14 31 1 2 0 4 0 – 37 1
2014–15 10 1 0 0 3 0 – 13 1
Total (2 spells) 301 17 24 3 33 5 0 0 358 25
Sion 2014–15 Swiss Super League 16 0 3 0 – – 19 0
2015–16 32 3 3 0 8 1 – 43 4
2016–17 29 1 4 1 – – 33 2
Total 77 4 10 1 8 1 0 0 95 6
Ufa 2017–18 Russian Premier League 18 0 1 0 – – 19 0
Career total 421 22 42 6 45 6 1 0 509 34

Notes

  1. ^ One appearance in the Cypriot Super Cup

References

  1. ^ Веролюб Салатич в Уфе!. fcufa.pro (in Russian). FC Ufa. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  2. ^ Веролюб Салатич покидает ФК "Уфа" [Veroljub Salatić leaves Ufa] (in Russian). FC Ufa. 3 June 2019.
  3. ^ "VEROLJUB SALATIC RETURNS TO GC". Grasshoppers. 17 June 2019.
  4. ^ "GC PLANT SPORTLICHE ZUKUNFT OHNE CAPTAIN SALATIC" (in German). Grasshoppers. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  5. ^ Tandem iz Grashopersa želi da igra za Republiku Srpsku i Srbiju
  6. ^ Salatić: Iz BiH me nikada niko nije zvao, ali imam bh. pasoš i veliku želju da zaigram za Zmajeve!
  7. ^ Na pomolu novi Zmaj: Bila bi mi čast otići u Brazil sa BiH
  8. ^ "Super League - Salah zum SL-"Spieler des Jahres" gewählt". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 27 January 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vero_Salati%C4%87
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