Daniel Majstorović

Daniel Majstorović

Majstorović playing for Celtic
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Majstorović
Date of birth	5 April 1977 (1977-04-05) (age 34)
Place of birth	Stockholm, Sweden
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Celtic
Number	5
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–1997	Brommapojkarna	34	(1)
1997–1998	Fortuna Köln	24	(2)
1999–2000	Västerås	44	(9)
2001–2004	Malmö FF	86	(9)
2004–2005	Twente	49	(4)
2006–2008	Basel	85	(23)
2008–2010	AEK Athens	67	(4)
2010–	Celtic	41	(1)
National team‡
2003–	Sweden	47	(2)
Honours Gold Allsvenskan 2004 Gold Axpo Super League 2008 Gold Swiss Cup 2008 Gold Scottish Cup 2011
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

Daniel Majstorović (Serbian: Данијел Мајсторовић, Danijel Majstorović) (born on 5 April 1977) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a centre back for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Swedish national team.

He started his career with IF Brommapojkarna in his native Sweden. After a year with the club he moved to German side SC Fortuna Köln in 1997. He moved back to Sweden a year later when Västerås SK signed him. His form then earned him a move to Malmö FF. It was with the Swedish giants that he won his first trophy, the 2004 Allsvenskan and his first international call-up in 2003. He moved to Eredivisie club FC Twente in 2004 for a fee of €800,000. After one season he was signed by Swiss Super League side FC Basel for €1.3 million. Where he won the double of league and cup in the 2007-08. He also had a good scoring record at the club, getting 11 goals in the double winning season alone and finishing as the club's second top goalscorer. In 2008 he moved to Greek Super League side AEK Athens on a free transfer. He was released in 2010 due to financial problems at the club. He was then signed by Scottish Premier League team Celtic.

Club career

Early career

Majstorović started his career with IF Brommapojkarna in his native Sweden in 1995 where he played 20 games in his debut season.^{[citation needed]} The next year he only played 14 games and scored once but was still spotted German club SC Fortuna Köln who snapped him up in 1997. He did not play many games there and returned to Sweden the following year, this time to Västerås SK. He became a fans' favourite at Västerås and was watched by scouts from the Swedish national team, the Serbian national team and Malmö FF.^{[citation needed]}

Malmö

Majstorović good performances for Västerås earned him a move to Swedish giants and boyhood heroes Malmö FF,^{[citation needed]} where he rose to become a cult hero. There were also economic reasons behind Majstorović's transfer to the club as Västerås were in deep economic trouble and in the risk of being relegated, Malmö FF would lose six points in the league if this happened and therefore made a bid to save the club and buy a good player at the same time.^[2] Majstorović spent four years at Malmö, playing 86 games and scoring nine goals. He then sought a bigger challenge and a better league to play in so he could earn more international caps.

Twente

Majstorović moved to Dutch club FC Twente in 2004 for €800,000, with whom he played 50 games, accompanied by four goals.^{[citation needed]} His most notable moment with the club was when the won the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006.^{[citation needed]} Although he played well at Twente, his time there was shrouded in controversy — in March 2005, he was cleared of a seven game Eredivisie ban for allegedly elbowing FC Groningen forward Martin Drent^{[citation needed]} and in December of the same year he was involved in a training ground confrontation with team-mate Blaise Nkufo.^{[citation needed]}

Basel

In January 2006, Majstorović was signed by Swiss champions FC Basel for €1.3 million despite interest from Ajax, PSV, and Newcastle United.^{[citation needed]} He made an instant impact at Basel by scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with AS Monaco in France in his second game for the club, which helped the team go through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. He was sent off during the second leg of that UEFA Cup quarter-final tie against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium while Basel were leading on away goals rule after beating Middlesbrough 2–0 at St. Jakob-Park.^{[citation needed]} Middlesbrough went on to win the match 4–1 and the tie 4–3, and many of the Basel supporters held Majstorović partly responsible.^{[citation needed]}

Majstorović was also vice-captain at Basel and led the team out whenever Ivan Ergić was not playing. Majstorović had an excellent scoring record at Basel, averaging nearly one goal every seven games. He regularly lingered in the opposition's penalty area when attacking corners and due to his great heading ability, he usually converted high balls into the back of the net. He is also a spot-kick specialist and scored the winner for Basel in the 2007 Swiss Cup final by netting from the penalty spot in the 93rd minute. He showed his love for Basel and their passionate fans by kissing the badge on his shirt as his goal celebration.^{[citation needed]} At the end of the 2007–08 season, he was Basel's second top goal-scorer with 11 goals, behind 12-goal Marco Streller. The explanation for his many goals is because during his time with Basel, Majstorović became the clubs first choice penalty taker.^[3] In January 2008, he was set to move to Turkish club Trabzonspor but the move fell through.^{[citation needed]}

AEK Athens

On 19 May 2008, Majstorović signed a three-year contract with Greek club AEK Athens,^[4] having turned down an offer from Lazio. He played his first competitive match for AEK on 14 August 2008, in a 1–0 defeat to Cypriot side AC Omonia at the Olympic Stadium in a UEFA Cup qualifying match. Majstorović's first goal for AEK was against Asteras Tripolis. He scored again against Asteras Tripolis giving the win to his team on the 22 February 2009. He co-operated in the defence with the Greek international defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos, and Geraldo Alves. Majstorović scored his third goal for AEK in the Greek Cup semi-finals against Panserraikos on 18 March 2009.^{[citation needed]} Majstorović scored the winning goal against Benfica in the Europa League on 1 October 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Celtic

On 16 August 2010, Majstorović signed a two year deal with Scottish Premier League club Celtic on a free transfer.^[5] He was able to play in the Europa League game against FC Utrecht on 19 August as a "wild card".^[6]

Majstorović made his Celtic debut in the Europa League match against Dutch side FC Utrecht on 19 August 2010 in a 2-0 victory^[7] and his SPL debut three days later in a 4-0 win at home against St Mirren.^[8] Majstorović captained the side to a 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock when captain Scott Brown went off injured,^[9] captained the side again three days later against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a League Cup tie which ended in a 6-0 win for Celtic.^[10]

Majstorović scored his first goal for Celtic on 9 January 2011 in a 2-0 Scottish Cup win against Third Division side Berwick Rangers.^[11] He scored his first league goal for Celtic in a 3-1 win over Dundee United on 13 February 2011 at Tannadice.^[12]

International career

Majstorović playing for Sweden

Majstorović was selected for the Sweden squad after turning in good performances for Malmö in the UEFA Cup and Swedish Allsvenskan. He made his international debut in the 3–2 King's Cup win against Qatar^[13] and scored in his second match against Thailand in a 4–1 victory.^[13] His role in the Swedish team is reserve centre-back, but he makes regular substitute appearances. He has came off the bench against Iceland in Reykjavík and Northern Ireland in Belfast during the Euro 2008 qualifiers,^{[citation needed]} as well as starting against Liechtenstein in Vaduz^{[citation needed]} and Latvia in Solna.^{[citation needed]} Majstorović was also on stand-by for Euro 2004 in Portugal^{[citation needed]} and the 2006 World Cup in Germany.^{[citation needed]} He was called into the squad to take part at Euro 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Career statistics

Club

As of 6 November 2011

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brommapojkarna	1996	20	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	0
	1997	14	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	1
	Total	34	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	1
Fortuna Köln	1997-98	17	1	4	1	-	-	-	-	21	2
	1998-99	7	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	1
	Total	24	2	4	1	-	-	-	-	28	2
Västerås	1999	19	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	19	4
	2000	25	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	25	5
	Total	44	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	44	9
Malmö	2001	23	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	3
	2002	24	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	4
	2003	21	0	-	-	-	-	2	0	23	0
	2004	18	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	2
	Total	86	9	-	-	-	-	2	0	88	9
FC Twente	2004-05	30	2	3	0	-	-	-	-	33	2
	2005-06	19	2	2	0	-	-	0	0	21	2
	Total	49	4	5	0	-	-	0	0	54	4
Basel	2005-06	18	5	-	-	-	-	6	1	24	6
	2006-07	35	8	-	-	-	-	6	1	41	9
	2007-08	32	10	4	2	-	-	6	0	42	12
	Total	85	23	4	2	-	-	18	2	107	27
AEK Athens	2008-09	34	2	6	1	-	-	2	0	42	3
	2009-10	33	2	1	1	-	-	6	1	40	4
	Total	67	4	7	2	-	-	8	1	82	7
Celtic	2010-11	32	1	5	1	2	0	1	0	40	2
	2011-12	9	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	15	0
	Total	41	1	5	1	4	0	5	0	55	2
Career total		430	53	25	6	4	0	33	3	492	61

International

National team	Season	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2003	03	1
	2005	02	0
	2006	02	0
	2007	05	0
	2008	08	0
	2009	11	1
	2010	08	0
	2011	08	0
Total		47	2

Last updated: 11 October 2011
Source: ^[14]

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	20 February 2003	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	0-4	1-4	2003 King's Cup
2.	10 June 2009	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Malta	2-0	4-0	2010 World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Malmö

• Allsvenskan: 1

2004

Basel

• Axpo Super League: 1

2008

• Swiss Cup: 1

2008

Celtic

• Scottish Cup: 1

2011

Individual

• Swedish Goal of the Year: 1

2002

Personal life

Majstorović is a father of three; he has a son, Antonio, and two daughters, Danielle and Celine.^{[citation needed]} He has appeared in Swedish sport documentaries Malmö FF – Allsvenskan 2004 and Vägen tillbaka – Blådårar 2.^{[citation needed]} He speaks seven different languages; Serbian, Danish, Dutch, English, Norwegian, German, Greek and his native Swedish.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Backen som gjorde årets mål Sydsvenskan, 25 July 2009
3. ^ Daniel Majstorovic Celtic FC
4. ^ AEK FC signs Daniel Majstorovic^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Celtic sign Swedish defender Daniel Majstorovic". BBC Sport. 16 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/8914013.stm. 
6. ^ Celtic sign AEK defender Daniel Majstorovic ESPN Soccernet, 16 August 2010
7. ^ "Celtic 2-0 Utrecht". BBC Sport. 19 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8925667.stm. 
8. ^ "Celtic 4-0 St Mirren". BBC Sport. 22 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/8930126.stm. 
9. ^ "Kilmarnock 1-2 Celtic". Daily Record. 19 September 2010. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/celtic/2010/09/19/spl-kilmarnock-1-celtic-2-86908-22573407/. 
10. ^ "Daniel Majstorovic: We could open up a small lead if Rangers struggle with Europe and SPL games". Daily Record. 26 September 2010. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/celtic/2010/09/26/daniel-majstorovic-we-could-open-up-a-small-lead-if-rangers-struggle-with-europe-and-spl-games-86908-22588218/. 
11. ^ "Berwick Rangers 0-2 Celtic". BBC Sport. 9 January 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9350659.stm. 
12. ^ "Dundee United 1-3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 13 February 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9393233.stm. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "International Matches 2003". RSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/intldetails/2003ic.html. 
14. ^ Daniel Majstorović at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Daniel Majstorović profile Soccerway
• Daniel Majstorović Celtic FC
• Daniel Majstorović Svenska Fotbollförbundet
• Daniel Majstorović ESPN Soccernet
• Daniel Majstorović TransferMarkt

Persondata
Name	Majstorovic, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 April 1977
Place of birth	Stockholm, Sweden
Date of death
Place of death