Albin Pelak

Albin Pelak

Personal information
Full name	Albin Pelak
Date of birth	(1981-04-09) 9 April 1981
Place of birth	Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1997	Varteks	3	(1)
1997–2003	Sarajevo	107	(21)
2003	Cerezo Osaka	3	(1)
2003–2004	Dinamo Zagreb	0	(0)
2004–2005	Sarajevo	52	(14)
2006–2007	Željezničar	19	(7)
2007	Zvezda Irkutsk	6	(0)
2007–2009	Željezničar	23	(6)
2009–2010	Olimpik	13	(1)
Total		226	(51)
International career
2002	Bosnia U-21	12	(1)
2002–2005	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Albin Pelak (born 9 April 1981) is a Bosnian retired football player.

Club career

Pelak is most famous in Bosnian and Sarajevo circles for signing with Željezničar after making an explicit promise to FK Sarajevo supporters that he would never play there.

Prior to signing with Željezničar, Pelak was one of the most popular players for Sarajevo, earning the praise of the press as well supporters for his high work rate and leadership ability. He was a key part of Sarajevo's exceptionally talented youth squad composed of players born in 1981/1982 that was one of the most talented squads in Bosnia and Herzegovina's history. Many players from that generation such as Alen Škoro, Džemal Berberović, Damir Mirvić went on to have relatively successful careers in Europe.

Pelak himself also made several tries, albeit unsuccessful at playing abroad, going to Cerezo Osaka of Japan in 2002 and Dinamo Zagreb of neighboring Croatia in 2003. While he did not stay at either club for very long, it was reported that he had been paid handsomely for his failed bids abroad; his deal with Cerzo Osaka reportedly netted him €1 million. On 4 April 2009, Pelak ended his contract with Željezničar and joined Olimpik, playing in the Bosnian Premier League.

International career

He made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in an August 2002 friendly match against Serbia and Montenegro and has earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was an October 2005 World Cup qualification match against San Marino.

Club statistics

Club performance			League
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals
Bosnia and Herzegovina			League
1999/00	Sarajevo	Premier League	8	0
2000/01			35	10
2001/02			24	1
2002/03			17	7
Japan			League
2003	Cerezo Osaka	J1 League	3	1
Bosnia and Herzegovina			League
2003/04	Sarajevo	Premier League	20	4
2004/05			11	3
2005/06			12	4
2005/06	Željezničar Sarajevo	Premier League	6	2
2006/07			13	5
Russia			League
2007	Zvezda Irkutsk	First Division	6	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina			League
2007/08	Željezničar Sarajevo	Premier League	11	3
2008/09			12	3
2009/10	Olimpik Sarajevo	Premier League
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina		129	37
	Japan		3	1
	Russia		6	0
Total			138	38

National team statistics

Bosnia and Herzegovina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2002	1	0
2003	0	0
2004	0	0
2005	1	0
Total	2	0

External links

• Albin Pelak at National-Football-Teams.com
• Albin Pelak at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)