Edhem Šljivo

Edhem "Etko" Šljivo (pronounced [edxem ʃʎiʋo]; born 16 March 1950) is a Bosnian former professional footballer. He started his career with FK Sarajevo, going on to become one of the best midfielders of the Yugoslav First League.^[1][2][3][4] At international level, he represented the Yugoslavia national team.

Edhem Šljivo

Personal information
Date of birth	(1950-03-16) 16 March 1950 (age 74)
Place of birth	Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1964–1968	FK Sarajevo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1968–1978	FK Sarajevo	268	(37)
1978–1981	RFC Liège	91	(29)
1981–1982	Nice	36	(3)
1981–1982	Nice B	1	(0)
1982–1984	1. FC Köln	32	(2)
1983–1987	RFC Liège	101	(14)
Total		529	(85)
International career
1976–1982	Yugoslavia	12	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Sarajevo, Edhem Šljivo joined FK Sarajevo as a kid from elementary school, passed through all club's age categories, and made his first senior team debut at the age of 18. He played 424 games for the club in all competitions, counting friendlies. In Yugoslav First League and Yugoslav Cup (Serbo-Croatian: Kup Maršala Tita) he played for the club 268 games scoring 37 times.^[2]

In 1978, he joined Belgian side RFC Liège, whom he represented for three seasons. He made his debut for them 30 August 1978 against Winterslag^[5] and later made a move to the French Ligue 1 and joined OGC Nice. From Nice he moved to 1. FC Köln^[6] on personal insistence of Rinus Michels and after winning the German cup (the first Bosnian to do so)^[7] he moved back to Liège.^[3] There he concluded his career in 1987 after a traffic collision on 17 December 1986, in which he was severely injured. Šljivo barely survived a life threatening spinal injuries after 40 days of doctors' struggle to save him.^[4][2] His final game for Liège was on 14 December 1986 against Berchem Sport.^[5]

International career

Šljivo debuted for the Yugoslavia national team on 18 February 1976 in a friendly match away against Tunisia. He was capped in 12 official games (four friendlies, five qualifiers for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and all three matches of the 1982 FIFA World Cup) and scored two goals, while also featuring in two unofficial exhibition-friendlies, 14 games overall. He was first-team regular at play-making midfielder position under Miljan Miljanić, and featured in the same role in 1982 World Cup in Spain.^[4] His final international was a June 1982 World Cup match against Honduras.^[8]

Personal life and legacy

Šljivo lives and works in Liege, Belgium, where he opened a restaurant "Taverne 8", in reference to a number he used to wear on his shirt as a midfielder. The place is a popular meeting place for Yugoslav expatriate footballers in Belgium and surrounding countries.^[4]

Challenge Šljivo Tournament

The Indoor tournament, largest of its kind in Europe, carrying his name, "Challenge Šljivo",^[9] with seniors Futsal competition as a main event, is organized in his honor in Marche-en-Famenne, during pre-New Year Eve week for over three decades. Tournament comprises several competitions in Indoor varieties of Association football, for all categories and age. It takes place at Wallonie Expo S.A. (WEX) venue, in Marche-en-Famenne, on eight pitches. Qualifying rounds of the competitions including more than 400 teams and 5.000 football players, while games are followed up to 40.000 spectators in attendance. In final round 72 qualified teams take part. Tournament is very popular, with final game being in live broadcast in Belgium by public TV service.^[10][2]

Family

Edhem Šljivo's brother Mehmed was also a football player. He played for Edhem’s FK Sarajevo bitter city rivals, in the "blue side of the city", FK Željezničar Sarajevo.^[2]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[4]

Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FK Sarajevo	1968-69	1	15	0
	1969–70	1	34	1
	1970–71	1	26	2
	1971–72	1	33	3
	1972–73	1	30	2
	1973–74	1	33	5
	1974–75	1	32	9
	1975–76	1	33	9
	1977–78	1	32	6
	Total		268	37
RFC Liège	1978–79	1	31	13
	1979–80	1	30	8
	1980–81	1	30	8
	Total		91	29
Nice (B)	1981–82		1	0
Nice	1981–82	1	36	3
1. FC Köln	1982–83^[11]	1	28	2	5	1	6	2	39	5
	1983–84^[11]	1	4	0	1	0	4	0	9	0
	Total		32	2	6	1	10	2	48	5
RFC Liège	1983–84	1	23	6
	1984–85	1	33	7
	1985–86	1	30	1			4	0
	1986–87	1	15	0
	Total		101	14			4	0
Career total			529	85

1. Includes DFB-Pokal

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[4]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Yugoslavia	1976	3	1
	1980	2	0
	1981	4	1
	1982	3	0
Total		12	2

References

1. "Edhem Šljivo, legendarni fantazista FK Sarajevo i jedan od najboljih igrača Kluba svih vremena". FKSInfo (in Bosnian). Retrieved 16 March 2019.
2. . Oslobođenje (in Bosnian). Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
3. . Doznajemo.com (in Bosnian). Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
4. "Šljivo Edhem". Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian). 20 January 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
5. 30 ans après son accident, nous avons rencontré Edhem Sljivo: «Je viendrai voir Liège cette saison» - Sudinfo (in French)
6. Profile - Kicker
7. Eintracht šokirao Bayern, a prije 35 godina prvi Bosanac osvojio je DFB pokal - Radio Sarajevo (in Bosnian)
8. "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
9. "Challenge Sljivo - Challenge Sljivo". www.sljivo.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
10. ""Challenge Šljivo"". Sportizon. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
11. "Edhem Šljivo » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 June 2023.

External links

• Challenge Šljivo
• Edhem Šljivo at National-Football-Teams.com
• Edhem Šljivo at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
• Profile - DFB