Bilica is infamous for his statement during his time at
Venezia when, during a game against
Brescia, he claimed that he would break the legs of
Roberto Baggio. Baggio wound up getting injured and stayed on the sidelines for several months, but the tackle was made by
Antonio Marasco. While playing for Venezia during the
1999–2000 Serie A season, Bilica replaced the goalkeeper who had been sent off, then saved a penalty from
AC Milan striker
Andriy Shevchenko. Bilica made his debut at
Bahia. He then later played for clubs including
Palermo,
1. FC Köln and many more. In 2004, Bilica was approached by
Goiás Esporte Clube, as part of the manager
Celso Roth's preparations for the
2004 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. However, the negotiations with the
Goiânia club did not go as expected. Bilica was then signed by the
Porto Alegre club
Grêmio. At Grêmio, Fábio Bilica was part of the squad that was relegated to the
Série B. In a disastrous campaign, Grêmio was virtually relegated with four rounds to go to the end of the season, and Bilica was dismissed by the team after problems with the club, such as a verbal altercation with heckling fans, arguments with the coach
Cláudio Duarte, and the poor campaign and financial conditions of the club. Bilica was released by the club after the end of the season, amidst problems with the club president,
Paulo Odone, and allegations of indiscipline and improper conduct. In November 2007, he arrived in Romania at
Universitatea Cluj. There, he played in 17 matches, including the last game of the season, the
Cluj derby against
CFR Cluj. In that game, Bilica fouled an opponent in his own penalty area, allowing CFR Cluj to score the winning goal. After this match, it was suspected that he did not play fair against CFR Cluj, helping them to win the
Romanian championship instead of
Steaua Bucharest. He later stated in an interview that he was contacted by some players from CFR Cluj three days before the match who tried to convince him to "take it easy" against them, telling him they have a lot of money for him, but he refused. Bilica signed for
Sivasspor in July 2008 and caught the attention of
Fenerbahçe. He later signed with Fenerbahçe on 8 June 2009 in exchange for
Yasin Çakmak and €1.5 million. ==International career==