Refik Šabanadžović

Šabanadžović began his career with a Montenegrin club FK Dečić. He was spotted there by Titograd's Budućnost and moved there shortly after. Before the 1983–84 season, following his senior debut with OFK Titograd, he moved to Sarajevo's Željezničar where he became one of the more notable Yugoslav defenders under the guidance of Ivica Osim. He gave his contribution to the club's best European result, UEFA Cup semi-finals in the 1984–85 season. After four seasons playing for this Bosnian side, he left for Red Star Belgrade. He won three Championships and one Cup at the club, but the most important moment of his entire career was winning the European Cup in the 1991 against Marseille. On 15 July 1992, Šabanadžović went to Greece and was transferred to AEK Athens for a fee of 18.7 million drachmas, after personal actions by the manager, Dušan Bajević. He established himself immediately, as modern defensive midfielder, who played box to box. Alongside Savevski they formed one of the greatest midfield duos in the history of the club. In his first three seasons he won as many championships, along with a Greek Cup and a Greek Super Cup, with Šabanadžović being one of the protagonists. His last year at AEK was accompanied by stunning football, with the addition of Tsiartas and Ketsbaia in the midfield, with the club winning the Cup and finishing second in the league. In the summer of 1996, his contract was expired and Šabanadžović, followed Bajević to Olympiacos, as they offered them…

Šabanadžović's appearances in the Yugoslavia national team were largely sporadic. With 8 caps in total (6 starts and 2 substitute appearances) spanning four years from 1986 until 1990, all under head coach Ivica Osim, the highlight of Šabanadžović's time with the national team was his appearance at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Though he made 4 starting appearances during the competition, with confident defensive displays, he is mostly remembered for getting sent-off in the 31st minute of the quarter-final versus Argentina.

Euro 1988 qualifying

Šabanadžović made his national team debut on 29 October 1986, as a starter in defensive line in the opening Euro 88 qualifier versus Turkey in Split. National team head coach Ivica Osim—himself only in his 4th match overall leading the squad and his first one doing it alone as he had previously shared the coaching duties with Ivan Toplak—knew the twenty-one-year-old Željezničar defender well from their time together at Grbavica from 1983 until 1986 and decided to include him in the team as a result of an injury incurred by defensive mainstay Faruk Hadžibegić thereby causing a bit of a surprise by having a debutante in the starting lineup of a competitive match. In fact, Šabanadžović was one of three players to get a start on their debut that day—the other two being yet another Željo youngster Radmilo Mihajlović (about to turn twenty two) and Rijeka goalkeeper Mauro Ravnić (almost twenty seven years of age). Yugoslavia…

Šabanadžović lives in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina with his wife Zerina Dervišević and their four children. His son Anel is a footballer who also plays for AEK Athens.

Red Star

European Cup: 1990–91 Yugoslav First League: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91 Yugoslav Cup: 1989–90 AEK Athens

Alpha Ethniki: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 Greek Cup: 1995–96 Greek Super Cup: 1996 Olympiacos

Alpha Ethniki: 1996–97, 1997–98