Boris Smiljanić

Boris Smiljanić (born 28 September 1976 in Zürich) is a former Swiss football player of Croatian and Serbian descent who played in defence for Grasshopper and FC Basel.

Club career

Smiljanić started his career with local club Grasshopper Club Zürich in 1993 where he made his debut in 1993–94 season. He was a fringe player for his first few seasons but his leadership qualities and winning mentality soon got him noticed by the manager, Christian Gross, who started to include him among the substitutes before eventually including him in the first-team after injuries in the squad. He played well on his debut and kept his place in the team. He was eventually made captain of Grasshopper and made over 200 appearances for the club before the lure of European football was too much for him when he signed for FC Basel in January 2003. His old manager Christian Gross had remembered his no-nonsense defending techniques and bought him strengthen his Basel defence. He went straight in to the first-team at Basel where he went on to play 106 games. Smiljanić returned to Grasshopper at the beginning of the 2007–08 season after the arrival of defenders François Marque from FC Baulmes and Patrik Baumann through the youth system threatened his place in the Basel team. He inherited his old number, 6, and became team captain regular again.

International career

Although he was eligible to play for Croatia or Serbia, the countries of his parents, he chose to play for Switzerland, the country of his birth. He made his international debut in a 3–0 friendly defeat against the Czech Republic on 18 August 1999. He played two more games for Switzerland under Gilbert Gress, but when Enzo Trossero took over he was forced out of the squad. He made a shock return to the Switzerland squad in 2006.

Honours

• Swiss Championship: 1994-95, 1995-96, 1997-98, 2000-01
• Swiss Cup: 1993-94

• Swiss Super League: 2003-04, 2004-05
• Swiss Cup: 2006-07