Anas Sharbini

Anas Sharbini

Sharbini withHajduk Splitin 2010
Personal information
Date of birth	(1987-02-21)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

Anas Sharbini(Arabic:أنس الشربيني;born 21 February 1987) is a Croatian professionalfootballer,currently playing forOSK Omišalj.He played as anattacking midfielderorwinger,and was best known for his dribbling and crossing skills.

Club career

Rijeka

Born inRijeka,Sharbini rose through the ranks of his home-town clubHNK Rijeka,starting his professional career with the club in 2005. Despite his young age, he was chosen to captain the side in the2007–08 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".Sharbini was Rijeka's top scorer with 14 goals in2008–09and second top scorer with 11 goals in2007–08.Overall, prior to his transfer, he scored 28 goals in 72 league appearances for Rijeka.

Hajduk Split

On 13 August 2009 he signed forHajduk Splitin a deal which included bringing his brotherAhmad Sharbinito the Dalmatian club.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 thePrva HNLin 2009–10 and 2010–11.

Sharbini reignited himself as a player in the 2011–12 season under coachKrasimir Balakov,who employed him as a left winger. After receiving heavy criticism for underperforming for some time, he scored a brace againstNK Istra 1961in a 3–0 win for Hajduk.

Ittihad

In July 2012, Sharbini was transferred toIttihadfor a sum of €1.8 million and signed a two-year contract.

Return to Rijeka

On 23 May 2013, Sharbini returned to Rijeka. He signed a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.On 29 July 2015, Sharbini signed a new three-year contract with Rijeka, extending his stay at the club until June 2018.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 againstNK Osijek.He was fined €10,000 for the incident and stripped of the club's captaincy.

On 2 February 2016, Sharbini was loaned toOsmanlıspor,who play in the TurkishSüper 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.

Grobničan

On 3 July 2018 Sharbini signed for fourth tier clubGrobničan.Even though he played a friendly match againstOpatijaduring 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.

OSK Omišalj

At the start of 2021, Sharbini returned to football, rejoining his brotherAhmadatOSK Omišalj.

International career

Sharbini won 29 caps and scored 10 goals in various youth levels ofCroatiaand made his biggest impact with theCroatian U19 team.Due to his fine form in the2007–08 season,national managerSlaven Bilićcalled him up to represent Croatia in theirEuro 2008campaign, as a reserve in case of injuries. As a highly rated youngster, he was also called up as a reserve for theCroatia national football teamatEuro 2008,and most recently, for the2010 FIFA World Cupqualifier againstEnglandin September 2009.Finally, he made his first appearance in the match againstQataron 8 October 2009, which Croatia won 3–2.He scored his first international goal in his second cap five years later, opening a 1–2 defeat in a friendly match againstArgentinain London on 12 November 2014.

Achievements

Brothers Anas and Ahmad Sharbini are the only siblings to have each scored ahat-trickin the same match in top-tier European football leagues.In the first round fixture of the2009–10 Croatian First Football Leagueseason againstNK 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.

Anas Sharbini holds theCroatian First Football Leaguerecord in the number ofassistssince 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'sthird top scorerin the Croatian First League.

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 December 2015

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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

Appearances and goals by national team and year

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.

List of international goals scored by Anas Sharbini

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

Sharbini's older brother,Ahmad Sharbini,was also a professional footballer who played with Rijeka. Sharbini is of Albanian,Palestinian and Croatian descent. He was born in Rijeka, to a localAlbanian Croatianmother andPalestinianfather, Jamal Al-Sharbini, fromDamascus,Syria.

Honours

Sharbini with teammates winning the2006 Croatian Cupwith Rijeka

Rijeka

• Croatian Football Cup(2):2005–06,2013–14
• Croatian Football Super Cup(1):2014

Hajduk Split

• Croatian Football Cup(1):2009–10

Individual

• Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award(1): 2011–12
• Mostassistsin theCroatian First Football League:2010–11

External links

• Anas Sharbiniat Soccerway
• Anas Sharbiniat Croatian Football Statistics (national team profile) (archived)(in Croatian)
• Anas Sharbiniat National-Football-Teams.com
• Anas Sharbiniat theCroatian Football FederationSemafor site
• Anas Sharbiniat theCroatian Football Federation
• Anas SharbiniArchived21 September 2015 at theWayback MachineatHNK Rijeka(in Croatian)