Daniel Majstorović

Daniel Majstorović

Majstorović playing for Sweden
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Majstorović
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Celtic F.C
Number	5
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1997	Brommapojkarna	30	(1)
1997–1998	Fortuna Köln	24	(2)
1999–2000	Västerås	44	(9)
2001–2004	Malmö	86	(9)
2004–2005	Twente	30	(2)
2006–2008	Basel	85	(26)
2008–2010	AEK Athens	67	(7)
2010–	Celtic	0	(0)
International career‡
2003–	Sweden	35	(2)
Medal record Allsvenskan 2004 Axpo Super League 2008 Swiss Cup 2008
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:33, 8 June 2010 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:43, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Daniel Majstorović (Serbian: Данијел Мајсторовић, Danijel Majstorović) (born on 5 April 1977 in Malmö, Sweden) is a Swedish international footballer of Serbian origin currently playing as a centre back for Celtic FC in the SPL.

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. The next year he only played 14 games, scoring 1 goal 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' favorite at Västerås and was watched by scouts from the Swedish national team, the Serbian national team and Malmö FF.

Malmö

Majstorović did not earn any international caps during his time at Västerås but his good performances there did earn him a move to Swedish giants and boyhood heroes Malmö FF, 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 would happen and therefore made a bid to save the club and buy a good player at the same time. As he is of Serbian ancestry he considered changing nationalities so he could play international football for Serbia if he could not break into the Sweden squad. He did eventually get into the Sweden squad after turning in good performances for Malmö in the UEFA Cup and Swedish Allsvenskan. 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. This earning him an international recall. His most notable moment with the club was when the won the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006. 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 and in December of the same year he was involved in a training ground confrontation with team-mate Blaise Kufo.

Basel

In January 2006, Majstorović was signed by Swiss champions FC Basel for €1.3 million despite interest from Ajax, PSV, and Newcastle United. He made an instant impact at Basel by scoring the eqaliser 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. Middlesbrough went on to win the match 4–1 and the tie 4–3, and many of the Basel supporters held Majstorović partly responsible.

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 FCB, averaging nearly one goal every seven games. He regularly lingers in the opposition's penalty area when attacking corners and due to his 6' 4" figure and great heading ability, he usually converts 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. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he was Basel's second top goal-scorer with 11 goals, behind 12-goal Marco Streller. In January 2008, he was set to move to Turkish club Trabzonspor but the move fell through.

AEK Athens

On 19 May 2008, Majstorović signed a three-year contract for Greek club AEK Athens, 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. Majstorovic'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 now he co-operates with Geraldo Alves. Majstorović scored his third goal for AEK in the Greek Cup semi-finals against Panserraikos on 18 March 2009. Majstorović scored the winning goal against Benfica in the Europa League on 1 January 2009.

Celtic

On 16 August 2010 Majstorović signed a 2 year deal with Scottish Premier League club Celtic on a free transfer, he was registered for the 23 man Europa League squad and will play in the game against FC Utrecht on 19 August 2010.

International career

Majstorovic for Sweden

Majstorović made his international debut in the 3–2 King's Cup win against Qatar and scored in his second match against North Korea in a 4–1 victory. 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, as well as starting against Liechtenstein in Vaduz and Latvia in Solna. Majstorović was also on stand-by for Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was called into the squad to take part at Euro 2008

Statistics

As of 16 August 2010

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	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0
	Total	18	1	4	1	-	-	-	-	22	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	17	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	2
	Total	85	9	-	-	-	-	2	0	87	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
Career total		382	51	20	5	-	-	28	3	430	59

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	03	0
Total		34	2

Last updated: 8 June 2010
Source: Daniel Majstorović at National-Football-Teams.com

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1
2	10 June 2009	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Malta	2–0	4–0	2010 WCQ Honours Malmö Template:Sport honours Basel Template:Sport honours Template:Sport honours Personal life Majstorović is a father of two; he has a son, Antonio, and a daughter, Danielle. He has appeared in Swedish sport documentaries Malmö FF – Allsvenskan 2004 and Vägen tillbaka – Blådårar 2. He speaks seven different languages; Serbian, Danish, Dutch, English, Norwegian, German, and his native Swedish. He is also learning Greek. External links Profile Soccerway References