Jump to content

Mateo Kovačić

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 79.106.109.165 (talk) at 16:16, 31 January 2013. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mateo Kovačić
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-05-06) 6 May 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Linz, Austria
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Internazionale
Number 10
Youth career
2000–2007 LASK Linz
2007–2010 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Dinamo Zagreb 43 (6)
2013– Internazionale 15 (7)
International career‡
2008 Croatia U-14 2 (1)
2008 Croatia U-15 2 (0)
2009–2011 Croatia U-17 15 (0)
2011– Croatia U-19 2 (0)
2011– Croatia U-21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 December 2011
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 December 2011

Mateo Kovačić (born 6 May 1994), is a Croatian footballer who currently plays for Serie A club, Internazionale. He is a member of the Croatia national under-19 football team and Croatia national under-21 football team. He is yet to be capped to the senior national squad.

Club career

Born in Linz in Austria to Bosnian Croats 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]

Dinamo Zagreb

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 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]

In his first senior season with Dinamo Zagreb he managed to appear in 7 matches, making a contribution in winning the league title.[9]

In 2011/2012 season Kovačić rapidly established himself as the first team regular. In the beginning of the season he helped the team to reach the group stage of Champions League, for the first time in 12 years. Being only 17 years old, he appeard in the starting lineup of Dinamo Zagreb first group match against Real Madrid.[10] During the league match against NK Lučko he became the youngest player to wear the captain armband in Dinamo Zagreb history, taking the captaincy from Leandro Cufre.[11] He scored a goal against Olympique Lyonnais in the last game of Champions League group stage in Zagreb and thus becoming the second youngest ever scorer in the Champions League. He appeard in 31 domestic league match during that season, helping them win their seventh consecutive league title. He also scored in the Croatian Cup final against NK Osijek on Maksimir Stadium.

In 2012/13 season Kovačić played in all six Dinamo Zagreb`s matches in the Champions League group stage, against F.C. Porto, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and Dynamo Kiev. On October 2012 he was nominated for Golden Boy, an award that is given by sports journalists to the young player from Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a season.[12]

Inter Milan

On 30 January 2013 Kovačić agreed to a transfer to [SportItalia calcio&mercato] for a fee of €11 million. Italian reports also claimed that Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea were interested in Mateo Kovačić, but he preferred Inter Milan. [13]

International career

He appeared for the Croatian national team at various youth levels, debuting in May 2008 in a U15 friendly match against Slovakia.[14] As of 2011, he is a regular member of the Croatia U19 team. In August 2012, Kovačić received his first call-up for Croatia national football team match against Switzerland, but did not play because of the injury.[15]

Style of play

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: 14 December 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 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 1
2011–12 24 4 7 1 0 0 12 1 43 6
Total Template:Bg-red|31 Template:Bg-red|5 Template:Bg-red|2 Template:Bg-red|0 Template:Bg-red|0 Template:Bg-red|0 Template:Bg-red|12 Template:Bg-red|1 Template:Bg-red|51 Template:Bg-red|7

References

  1. ^ "Mateo Kovačić - Player changes, player transfers". Transfermarkt. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Židak, Tomislav. "Meteor Kovačić: Svi su ludi za dječakom koji je već sa 13 igrao zrelo kao nekad Maradona". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  3. ^ Rupnik, Borna (31 May 2010). "Kadeti Dinama za naslov prestigli Hajduk". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Mateo Kovačić od danas trenira sa seniorima Dinama: Plaši me nadimak Hrvatski Messi". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 6 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Arsenal došao po Matea Kovačića, Dinamo našao novo čudo od djeteta - Miralema Ramića". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 29 October 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  6. ^ Rupnik, Borna (20 November 2010). "I Kovačić strijelac u Dinamovoj šestici". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Mateo Kovačić najmlađi je strijelac Prve HNL" (in Croatian). TPortal. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  8. ^ Plavčić, Mario (13 November 2010). "Špehar spasio bijelo-plave". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  9. ^ "Mateo Kovacic - Leistungsdaten der Saison 10/11". Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Spielbericht - Spielbericht GNK Dinamo Zagreb - Real Madrid, 14.09.2011 - UEFA Champions League - transfermarkt.de" (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Kvačić najmlađi kapetan u Dnamovoj povijesti". tportal.hr. 27.08.2011. Retrieved 31 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Mateo Kovačić u konkurenciji za nagradu "Golden boy 2012."". 30.10.2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Kovacic agrees Inter transfer". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Statistike - Nastupi: Mateo Kovačić" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Štimac pozvao Kovačića" (in Croatian). 30.07.2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mateo_Kovačić&oldid=535876745"