Vero Salatić

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.

Vero Salatić
Salatić with Ufa in 2018
Personal information
Full name Veroljub Salatić
Date of birth (1985-11-14) 14 November 1985
Place of birth Zvornik, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1992–1994 SC Zug
1994–2000 Zug 94
2000–2003 Grasshopper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2011 Grasshopper 229 (12)
2011–2012 AC Omonia 25 (1)
2012–2015 Grasshopper 72 (5)
2015–2017 Sion 77 (4)
2017–2019 Ufa 30 (0)
2019–2020 Grasshopper 33 (2)
International career
2004–2006 Switzerland U-21 25 (2)
Managerial career
2020–2021 Grasshopper U21 (assistant)
2021–2022 Rapperswil-Jona II
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Grasshoppers 2003–04 Swiss Super League 1000010–110
2004–05 32010––330
2005–06 3012272–395
2006–07 27220111–403
2007–08 33230––362
2008–09 3234051–414
2009–10 34320––363
2010–11 3113121–363
Omonia 2011–12 Cypriot First Division 25172401[lower-alpha 1]0373
Grasshoppers 2012–13 Swiss Super League 31350––363
2013–14 3112040–371
2014–15 1010030–131
Total (2 spells) 301172433350035825
Sion 2014–15 Swiss Super League 16030––190
2015–16 3233081–434
2016–17 29141––332
Total 7741018100956
Ufa 2017–18 Russian Premier League 18010––190
Career total 421224264561050934

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.
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