- Mateo Kovačić
-
Mateo Kovačić Personal information Date of birth 6 May 1994 Place of birth Linz, Austria Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) Playing position Attacking midfielder Club information Current club Dinamo Zagreb Number 8 Youth career 2000–2007 LASK Linz 2007–2010 Dinamo Zagreb Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2010– Dinamo Zagreb 19 (4) National team‡ 2008 Croatia U14 2 (1) 2008 Croatia U15 2 (0) 2009– Croatia U17 15 (0) 2011– Croatia U21 2 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 September 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 September 2011Mateo Kovačić (born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who currently plays for Prva HNL team Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatia national under-17 football team in the Attacking Midfielder role.
Contents
Career
Born in Linz in Austria to Bosnian Croat parents who had moved there in 1991 from Kotor Varoš in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovačić began playing at an early age at the local LASK Linz's academy.[1][2] In 2007, when Kovačić was 13, the talented midfielder was spotted by scouts from several prominent European clubs including VfB Stuttgart, Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich, but his family opted to move to Zagreb instead where he joined Croatian giants' Dinamo Zagreb academy.[2]
Kovačić suffered a serious injury in 2009 in which his leg was broken, but he returned to the pitch after a lengthy recovery on 31 May 2010, appearing in the last match of the Croatian U17 academy league, a 5–0 win against RNK Split U17s.[3]
The young midfielder started training with the club's senior squad under manager Vahid Halilhodžić four months later on 6 October 2010,[4] but continued to appear for the club in academy league matches during October. Later that month it was reported by the local sports daily Sportske novosti that Arsenal's chief scout Steve Rowley had arrived in Zagreb to watch him perform in U17 matches against Cibalia and NK Zagreb.[5]
Kovačić eventually had his professional league debut in the 2010–11 Prva HNL away match against Hrvatski Dragovoljac on 20 November 2010, in which he scored Dinamo's fourth goal in their 6–0 win.[6] This made him the youngest debutant and goalscorer in the history of the league, at the age of 16 years and 198 days, breaking the record set only a week earlier by Dino Špehar who had scored for NK Osijek at the age of 16 years and 278 days on 13 November 2010.[7][8]
He also appeared for the Croatian national team at various youth levels, debuting in May 2008 in a U15 friendly match against Slovakia.[9] As of October 2010 he is a regular member of the Croatia U17 team. His fast development and huge talent drew comparisons with Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney by local sports pundits, and the Croatia under-17 manager Martin Novoselac reportedly said of Kovačić: "I haven't seen a youngster with so much talent since the days of Robert Prosinečki".[2][4]
Career statistics
Last update: 12 August 2011
Club Season Prva HNL CC CSC Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GNK Dinamo Zagreb 2010–11 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 2011–12 8 3 0 0 0 0 6 0 14 3 Total 15 4 2 0 0 0 6 0 23 4 References
- ^ "Mateo Kovačić - Player changes, player transfers". Transfermarkt. http://www.transfermarkt.de/en/mateo-kova%C4%8Dic/transfers/spieler_51471.html. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ a b c Židak, Tomislav. "Meteor Kovačić: Svi su ludi za dječakom koji je već sa 13 igrao zrelo kao nekad Maradona" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. http://www.jutarnji.hr/mateo-kovacic-kao-maradona--modric--pele---/905740/. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ Rupnik, Borna (31 May 2010). "Kadeti Dinama za naslov prestigli Hajduk" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. http://www.hrsport.net/vijesti/398143/nogomet-1-hnl/kadeti-dinama-za-naslov-prestigli-hajduk. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Mateo Kovačić od danas trenira sa seniorima Dinama: Plaši me nadimak Hrvatski Messi" (in Croatian). Sportske novosti. 6 October 2010. http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/mateo-kovacic-od-danas-trenira-sa-seniorima-dinama--plasi-me-nadimak-hrvatski-messi/892846/. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "Arsenal došao po Matea Kovačića, Dinamo našao novo čudo od djeteta - Miralema Ramića" (in Croatian). Sportske novosti. 29 October 2010. http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/arsenal-dosao-po-matea-kovacica--dinamo-nasao-novo-cudo-od-djeteta---miralema-ramica/899213/. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ Rupnik, Borna (20 November 2010). "I Kovačić strijelac u Dinamovoj šestici" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. http://www.hrsport.net/vijesti/407740/nogomet-1-hnl/i-kovacic-strijelac-u-dinamovoj-sestici. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "Mateo Kovačić najmlađi je strijelac Prve HNL" (in Croatian). TPortal. 20 November 2010. http://www.tportal.hr/sport/TcomPrvaHNL/97374/Mateo-Kovacic-najmladi-je-strijelac-Prve-HNL.html. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ Plavčić, Mario (13 November 2010). "Špehar spasio bijelo-plave" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. http://www.hrsport.net/vijesti/407385/nogomet-1-hnl/spehar-spasio-bijelo-plave. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ "Statistike - Nastupi: Mateo Kovačić" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. http://www.hns-cff.hr/?ln=hr&w=statistike&repka=U&id=156397. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
External links
- Mateo Kovačić profile at Transfermarkt.de
- Mateo Kovačić at nogometni-magazin (Croatian)
- Mateo Kovačić international stats at the Croatian Football Federation website
GNK Dinamo Zagreb – current squad 2 Bručić · 3 Ibáñez · 4 Šimunić · 5 Calello · 6 Ademi · 7 Leko · 8 Kovačić · 9 Kramarić · 10 Sammir · 11 Tomečak · 12 Lončarić · 13 Tonel · 14 Vrsaljko · 15 Chago · 16 Badelj · 17 Sylvestr · 18 Šitum · 19 Barbarić · 20 Alispahić · 21 Bećiraj · 22 Bišćan (c) · 23 Pokrivač · 24 Vida · 25 Cufré · 26 Špehar · 28 Puljić · 30 Kelava · 31 Zelenika · 33 Palić · 55 Rukavina · 77 Morales · 99 Krstanović · Atta · Manager: Jurčić
Categories:- 1994 births
- Living people
- People from Linz
- Croatian footballers
- Prva HNL players
- GNK Dinamo Zagreb players
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
