Nemanja Bilbija

Nemanja Bilbija (Bosnian pronunciation: [němaɲa bîlbija]; born 2 November 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bosnian Premier League club Zrinjski Mostar and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Nemanja Bilbija
Bilbija playing for Borac Banja Luka in 2009
Personal information
Full name Nemanja Bilbija
Date of birth (1990-11-02) 2 November 1990
Place of birth Banja Luka, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Zrinjski Mostar
Number 99
Youth career
2000–2008 Borac Banja Luka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Borac Banja Luka 30 (11)
2010–2013 Vojvodina 43 (2)
2012–2013 → Borac Banja Luka (loan) 23 (14)
2013–2015 Sarajevo 30 (7)
2015–2016 Split 9 (0)
2016–2018 Zrinjski Mostar 86 (40)
2019 Gangwon 6 (2)
2020– Zrinjski Mostar 3 (2)
National team‡
2009–2012 Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 22 (9)
2018– Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 January 2018

A former youth international for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bilbija made his senior international debut in 2018.

Club career

Early career

Bilbija started his career with his hometown club Borac Banja Luka, whose academy he joined in 2000.[1] He made his professional debut on 8 November 2008 against Posušje at the age of 18.[2] He scored his first goal as a professional against Orašje on 7 March 2009.[3]

On 29 January 2010 Bilbija moved to Serbian side Vojvodina signing a four-year contract.[4] During his time at the club, he was sent on two loans to his former club, Borac Banja Luka.[5]

In August 2013, Bilbija signed a two-year deal with Sarajevo.[6]

In July 2015, he joined Split on a two-year contract.[7]

Zrinjski Mostar

On 11 February 2016, Bilbija signed with Zrinjski Mostar on free transfer.[8] He scored on his competitive debut for the club against his former team Sarajevo on 28 February.[9]

In August 2017, Bilbija signed a new two-year deal with Zrinjski Mostar.[10] In a game against Vitez on 26 August, Bilbija scored his first hat-trick for the team.[11] A year later, he scored four goals in a convincing triumph over Zvijezda 09.[12]

On 10 November 2018, Bilbija scored a brace on his 100th appearance for the club.[13]

Gangwon

On 23 December 2018, Bilbija joined South Korean side Gangwon for an undisclosed transfer fee.[14] On 4 January 2019, Bilbija officially joined Gangwon after signing a contract with the club.[15]

He made his debut for Gangwon on 2 March 2019, in a 2–0 away loss against Sangju Sangmu coming in as a substitute in the 71st minute.[16]

Bilbija scored his first goal for Gangwon on 15 May 2019, in a 2–0 home win against Paju Citizen in the round of 16 of the 2019 Korean FA Cup.[17]

Return to Zrinjski Mostar

On 24 December 2019, Bilbija came back to Zrinjski almost a year after joining Gangwon, signing a three and a half year contract which will last until the summer of 2023 with the Mostar based club.[18] In his first game back, Bilbija scored a goal in a 2–0 league win against Čelik Zenica on 23 February 2020.[19]

International career

Bilbija represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at various youth levels. He was the captain of the under-21 side and also top goalscorer in team's history with 9 goals.[20]

In August 2017 he received his first senior call-up, for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Gibraltar.[21] He debuted in friendly game against United States on 28 January 2018.[22]

Personal life

Bilbija's father Milorad was also a professional footballer who works as football manager.[23]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 March 2020.[24]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Borac Banja Luka 2008–09 Bosnian Premier League 17500–175
2009–10 Bosnian Premier League 13631–168
Total 301132–3313
Vojvodina 2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga 10100–101
2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga 18130–211
2011–12 Serbian SuperLiga 50000050
2012–13 Serbian SuperLiga 902030140
2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga 10004151
Total 4325071553
Borac Banja Luka (loan) 2011–12 Bosnian Premier League 11610–126
2012–13 Bosnian Premier League 128––128
Total 231410–2414
Sarajevo 2013–14 Bosnian Premier League 10362–165
2014–15 Bosnian Premier League 2041062276
Total 30772624311
Split 2015–16 1. HNL 90––90
Zrinjski Mostar 2015–16 Bosnian Premier League 94––94
2016–17 Bosnian Premier League 311032203612
2017–18 Bosnian Premier League 301200203212
2018–19 Bosnian Premier League 161410622316
Total 86404210210044
Gangwon 2019 K League 1 6221–83
Zrinjski Mostar 2019–20 Bosnian Premier League 3200–32
Career total 2307722623527588

International
As of match played 28 January 2018.[25]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Bosnia and Herzegovina
201810
Total10

Honours

Sarajevo[24]

Zrinjski Mostar[24]

References
  1. "Bilbija ponovo u Borcu?". radiosarajevo.ba (in Bosnian). 23 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  2. "Travničani prekinuli post". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 8 November 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  3. "Dvije pobjede i tri remija". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 7 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  4. "Službeno: Bilbija četiri godine u Vojvodini". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 29 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  5. "Nemanja Bilbija se nakon posudbe iz Borca vratio u Vojvodinu". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 17 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  6. "Službeno: Bilbija potpisao za Sarajevo!". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 29 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  7. "Nemanja Bilbija potpisao za Split". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 4 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  8. "Službeno: Bilbija potpisao za Zrinjski". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  9. "Čudo neviđeno: Otpisani obilježili derbi u Mostaru". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 28 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  10. "Bilbija i Jakovljević produžili ugovore sa Zrinjskim". scsport.ba (in Bosnian). 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  11. "Super Nemanja: Hat-trick Bilbije za pobjedu Plemića u Vitezu". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 26 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. "Nemanja Bilbija četiri puta pogađao mrežu Zvijezde 09". radiosarajevo.ba (in Bosnian). 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  13. "Nemanja Bilbija novi rekorder Zrinjskog". faktor.ba (in Bosnian). 13 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  14. "Nemanja Bilbija napustio Zrinjski i potpisao za Gangwon". bih.ba (in Bosnian). 23 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  15. Nemanja Bilbija potpisao za Gangwon: Sretan sam što sam došao u ovu ligu at klix.ba, 4 January 2019
  16. "Sangju Sangmu vs Gangwon". Soccerway.com. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  17. S. Mlaćo (15 May 2019). "Zaboravljeni Nemanja Bilbija konačno se upisao u listu strijelaca" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  18. E.B. (24 December 2019). "Zvanično: Nemanja Bilbija u Zrinjskom do ljeta 2023. godine" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  19. "NK ČELIK - HŠK ZRINJSKI (0 : 1) 0 : 2". nfsbih.ba (in Bosnian). 23 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  20. "Najbolji premijerligaški igrač: Od toga neće biti ništa, nemojte mene pitati zašto me nema u reprezentaciji". sport1.ba (in Bosnian). 2 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  21. "Baždarević otkrio karte za Kipar i Gibraltar". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 16 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  22. "Prosinečki debitovao remijem: Zmajevi bez golova protiv SAD". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  23. "Tamara Bilbija: Otac je "krivac" što Nemanja i ja volimo Borac, Velikan iz Platonove će biti hit". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 5 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  24. "N. Bilbija". soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  25. "Nemanja Bilbija". eu-football.info. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
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