Anas Sharbini (Arabic: أنس الشربيني; born 21 February 1987) is a Croatian professional footballer, currently playing for OSK Omišalj. He played as an attacking midfielder or winger, and was best known for his dribbling and crossing skills.
 Sharbini with Hajduk Split in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 February 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Rijeka, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | OSK Omišalj | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 99 | Rječina | ||
| 1998–2005 | Rijeka | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2009 | Rijeka | 72 | (28) |
| 2009–2012 | Hajduk Split | 63 | (15) |
| 2012–2013 | Al-Ittihad | 15 | (0) |
| 2013–2018 | Rijeka | 65 | (11) |
| 2016 | → Osmanlıspor (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Grobničan | 0 | (0) |
| 2021– | OSK Omišalj | 40 | (19) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2002–2003 | Croatia U16 | 6 | (0) |
| 2003 | Croatia U17 | 7 | (4) |
| 2004 | Croatia U18 | 4 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Croatia U19 | 11 | (6) |
| 2006 | Croatia U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2009–2015 | Croatia | 3 | (2) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2023-9-14 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2023-9-14 | |||
Club career
editRijeka
editBorn in Rijeka, Sharbini rose through the ranks of his home-town club HNK Rijeka, starting his professional career with the club in 2005. Despite his young age, he was chosen to captain the side in the 2007–08 season. At Rijeka, he gained a reputation as one of the league's best dribblers and was famous for often scoring late equalizers. He was also selected by IMScouting as a "Player to Watch".[1] Sharbini was Rijeka's top scorer with 14 goals in 2008–09 and second top scorer with 11 goals in 2007–08. Overall, prior to his transfer, he scored 28 goals in 72 league appearances for Rijeka.
Hajduk Split
editOn 13 August 2009 he signed for Hajduk Split in a deal which included bringing his brother Ahmad Sharbini to the Dalmatian club.[2] The talented youngster had some troubles adjusting to his new environment and due to the club's struggles in finding and then keeping a coach for a longer term, he often found himself on and off the starting XI. He struggled to score as freely as he did at Rijeka but in between his consistent runs, he also put in some top notch performances carrying his struggling club on their way to consecutive second-place finishes in the Prva HNL in 2009–10 and 2010–11.
Sharbini reignited himself as a player in the 2011–12 season under coach Krasimir Balakov, who employed him as a left winger. After receiving heavy criticism for underperforming for some time, he scored a brace against NK Istra 1961 in a 3–0 win for Hajduk.[3]
Ittihad
editIn July 2012, Sharbini was transferred to Ittihad for a sum of €1.8 million and signed a two-year contract.[4]
Return to Rijeka
editOn 23 May 2013, Sharbini returned to Rijeka. He signed a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.[5] On 29 July 2015, Sharbini signed a new three-year contract with Rijeka, extending his stay at the club until June 2018.[6] In November 2015, after finding out he would be on the substitute's bench, Rijeka's captain Sharbini refused to travel with his teammates to Rijeka's league match against NK Osijek.[7] He was fined €10,000 for the incident and stripped of the club's captaincy.[7]
On 2 February 2016, Sharbini was loaned to Osmanlıspor, who play in the Turkish Süper Lig, until June 2016. He did not make any appearances during his time with Osmanlıspor due to injury. After his loan to Osmanlıspor ended, Sharbini had two years of his Rijeka contract remaining. In an unusual situation, Sharbini was not wanted back at Rijeka by both the club and coach Kek, but refused to sign for another club. According to some sources Sharbini was Rijeka's second highest paid player in 2017, despite not having played a single game.[8]
Grobničan
editOn 3 July 2018 Sharbini signed for fourth tier club Grobničan.[9] Even though he played a friendly match against Opatija during pre-season he did not play in any official matches for the club even though he was signed as a played and did not have any injuries.[10]
OSK Omišalj
editAt the start of 2021, Sharbini returned to football, rejoining his brother Ahmad at OSK Omišalj. [11]
International career
editSharbini won 29 caps and scored 10 goals in various youth levels of Croatia and made his biggest impact with the Croatian U19 team. Due to his fine form in the 2007–08 season, national manager Slaven Bilić called him up to represent Croatia in their Euro 2008 campaign, as a reserve in case of injuries. As a highly rated youngster, he was also called up as a reserve for the Croatia national football team at Euro 2008, and most recently, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against England in September 2009.[12] Finally, he made his first appearance in the match against Qatar on 8 October 2009, which Croatia won 3–2.[13] He scored his first international goal in his second cap five years later, opening a 1–2 defeat in a friendly match against Argentina in London on 12 November 2014.[14]
Achievements
editBrothers Anas and Ahmad Sharbini are the only siblings to have each scored a hat-trick in the same match in top-tier European football leagues.[15] In the first round fixture of the 2009–10 Croatian First Football League season against NK Lokomotiva, the brothers took turns. Ahmad opened the scoring after four minutes, Anas doubled the lead in the 27th minute and Ahmad made it 3–0 in the 35th minute. In the second half Anas converted a penalty in 51st minute, Ahmad completed his hat-trick in the 68th minute and two minutes later Anas scored his third goal.[16]
Anas Sharbini holds the Croatian First Football League record in the number of assists since 2007–08, the first season for which assist data was collected. In 184 appearances for Rijeka and Hajduk Split, Sharbini set up 67 goals.
With 39 goals to his account, Sharbini is Rijeka's third top scorer in the Croatian First League.
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 13 December 2015[17]
| Club | Season | League | Cup and Supercup | Continental | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rijeka | 2005–06 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | – | 30 | 12 | ||
| 2008–09 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 17 | |
| 2009–10 | 1 | 3 | – | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Total | 72 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 84 | 33 | |
| Hajduk Split | 2009–10 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | 25 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 31 | 5 | |
| 2011–12 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 7 | |
| Total | 63 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 83 | 15 | |
| Ittihad | 2012–13 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Rijeka | 2013–14 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 5 |
| 2014–15 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 43 | 5 | |
| 2015–16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3 | |
| Total | 65 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 95 | 13 | |
| Career total | 215 | 54 | 30 | 5 | 37 | 2 | 282 | 61 | |
International
edit| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2009 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 3 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sharbini goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 November | Boleyn Ground, London, England |  Argentina
|
1–2 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 7 June | Stadion Varteks, Varaždin, Croatia |  Gibraltar
|
4–0 | Friendly |
Personal life
editSharbini's older brother, Ahmad Sharbini, was also a professional footballer who played with Rijeka. Sharbini is of Albanian,[19][20] Palestinian and Croatian descent. He was born in Rijeka, to a local Albanian Croatian mother and Palestinian father, Jamal Al-Sharbini, from Damascus, Syria.[21]
Honours
edit
Individual
- Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award (1): 2011–12
- Most assists in the Croatian First Football League: 2010–11
References
edit- ^ "IMScouting's top 50 transfer tips". 101 Great Goals. 2 January 2009. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ "VIDEO: Braća Sharbini potpisali za Hajduk". Gol.hr (in Croatian). 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^ "Uvjerljiva pobjeda Hajduka na Anasov pogon". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 13 August 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ Gulić, Mišo (25 July 2012). "Anas Sharbini potpisao za Al Ittihad". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- ^ "Anas Sharbini potpisao dvogodišnji ugovor s "Rijekom"". Novi list (in Croatian). 24 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ^ "Sharbini produžio ugovor do 2018. godine!". HNK Rijeka (in Croatian). 29 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Sharbinijeva najnovija glupost: Odbio putovati u Osijek, Rijeka ga kažnjava s 10 tisuća eura". Index (in Croatian). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ^ Jukic, Renato. "Anas Sharbini ne igra 14 mjeseci..., a i danas je drugi najplaćeniji igrač Rijeke!?". Goal.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ^ "Grobnišćina se trese: Anas potpisao za Grobničan!". Rijekadanas.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- ^ "Anas zaigrao nakon dvije i pol godine: Bolje i to nego sjediti kod kuće..." Goal.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ VIDEO Ahmad i Anas Sharbini danas u Omišlju uživaju u nogometu. Popričali smo s njima at Novi List
- ^ "Bilic names Croatia squad to tackle England". ESPN. 24 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
- ^ "Croatia – Qatar 3:2". Croatian Football Federation. 8 October 2009.
- ^ "Argentina 2–1 Croatia". BBC Sport. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ "Has any team ever used more than Blackpool's 51 players in a season?". The Guardian. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ^ "Rijeka-Lokomotiva 6:0". HRnogomet.com. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ^ "Anas Sharbini » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- ^ "Shqipëria sinonim i Brazilit në Evropë (Foto)". Archived from the original on 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Shqiptarët, brazilianët e Europës". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ "Sharbini Brothers Reject Offer from Palestinian Team". 24 Sata. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
External links
edit- Anas Sharbini at Soccerway
- Anas Sharbini at Croatian Football Statistics (national team profile) (archived) (in Croatian)
- Anas Sharbini at National-Football-Teams.com
- Anas Sharbini at the Croatian Football Federation Semafor site
- Anas Sharbini at the Croatian Football Federation
- Anas Sharbini Archived 21 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine at HNK Rijeka (in Croatian)