Marko Pjaca

Marko Pjaca
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-05-06) 6 May 1995
Place of birth Zagreb, Croatia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Juventus
Number 20
Youth career
2004–2009 Dinamo Zagreb
2009–2010 ZET
2010–2012 Lokomotiva
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Lokomotiva 49 (9)
2014–2016 Dinamo Zagreb 61 (19)
2016– Juventus 5 (0)
National team‡
2011 Croatia U17 8 (1)
2012 Croatia U18 4 (0)
2012 Croatia U19 1 (0)
2013–2015 Croatia U20 5 (0)
2013– Croatia U21 7 (0)
2014– Croatia 12 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 October 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 September 2016

Marko Pjaca (pronounced [mâːrko pjât͡sa]; born 6 May 1995) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club Juventus and the Croatian national team.

He began his professional club career in Croatia with Lokomotiva in 2012, before moving to Dinamo Zagreb in 2014. After winning consecutive domestic doubles with Dinamo, he joined Juventus in 2016. At international level, Pjaca represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016.

Early life

His father Željko was a wrestler and mother Višnja was a judoka. He has two elder sisters: Martina and Iva.[1] In childhood he trained handball, basketball and table tennis.[2]

Club career

Lokomotiva

Pjaca started his professional career with Croatian side Lokomotiva Zagreb. He made his debut in the 2011–12 Croatian First Football League on 24 February 2012 in a 3–0 victory over NK Zadar, a match in which he managed an assist.[3] It was his only appearance that season. The following season, Pjaca was much more prominent in the first team at Lokomotiva, especially after the winter break. He ended the 2012–13 Prva HNL season with 2 goals in 17 appearances.[4] Although it was his performances in the 2013–14 Prva HNL season which really caught the eye of bigger clubs, with the winger scoring 7 times in 31 appearances.[5]

Dinamo Zagreb

In the summer of 2014, Pjaca was signed by reigning champions GNK Dinamo Zagreb, for a fee believed to be in the region of €1m.[6] He made his debut for the new club in the opening match of the new season, when he scored against Slaven Belupo.[7] On 11 December 2014, he scored a hat-trick as Dinamo defeated Celtic 4–3 in the last match of UEFA Europa League group stage.[8] Pjaca finished the season with 14 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions, as Dinamo Zagreb won the league title for the 10th consecutive time.[9] Pjaca also played the full match as Dinamo beat RNK Split in the 2015 Croatian Football Cup Final on penalties. On 20th July 2016, Pjaca himself confirmed that Champions League second-round qualifying tie against FK Vardar would be his last for Dinamo Zagreb. He scored two goals, assisted for the third and got standing ovation from the fans on his farewell game on Stadion Maksimir.

Juventus

On 21 July 2016 it was announced that Pjaca signed a five-year contract with Juventus for a fee of €23 million.[10] With the transfer, Pjaca became the most expensive ever sale by Dinamo Zagreb and the 1. HNL.[11] He made his Juventus and Serie A debut on 27 August, coming on as a substitute for Paulo Dybala in the second half of a 1–0 away win over Lazio.[12]

International career

Pjaca made his senior international debut for the Croatia national football team on 4 September 2014, replacing Mateo Kovačić for the last 12 minutes of a 2–0 friendly win over Cyprus at the Stadion Aldo Drosina in Pula.[13] On 3 September 2015, he made his competitive debut for the national team in the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Azerbaijan, starting and playing the entire fixture, which ended in a 0–0 draw.[14] On 4 June, 2016, he scored his first international goal for Croatia in a 10–0 win over San Marino.[15]

Euro 2016

Pjaca was included in Croatia's UEFA Euro 2016 squad.[16] He played a major role in Croatia's impressive 2-1 victory against Spain, the reigning European champions, at Bordeaux's Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. During that match he completed an impressive seven of his eight attempted take-ons, took one shot, created one clear scoring opportunity and won one tackle. Pjaca took a seat on the bench for the clash with Portugal in the next round, only to be brought on late in extra time with just 10 minutes of the additional 30 remaining. Being introduced as a substitute he brought some much-needed attacking impetus to the side, completing three dribbles against a previously impenetrable Portugal defence.[17] Croatia eventually lost to Portugal 1-0 after Portugal's Ricardo Quaresma scored an 117th-minute winner to send Croatia out of the tournament.

Playing style

Regarded as a talented and promising young prospect, Pjaca is a winger who is capable of playing on either flank, although his preferred position is on the left, where he likes to cut inside from wide positions and either shoot on goal or create chances with his stronger right foot; he has also been deployed as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker on occasion. A dynamic, agile, and technically gifted player, Pjaca is known for his direct and offensive style of play; due to his physique, speed, dribbling skills, and ability to change direction quickly, he often takes on players in one-on-one situations, and is also known for his ability to make intelligent attacking runs behind the oppontents' defensive line.[18]

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of last match played on 2 October 2016.
Club Season League Cup Europe Other1 Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lokomotiva 2011–12 10–––10
2012–13 17262––234
2013–14 317–20–337
Total 4996220–5711
Dinamo Zagreb 2014–15 32117083104814
2015–16 28821123–4212
2016–17 100012–22
Total 611991218109228
Juventus 2016–17 5000200070
Total 5000200070
Career total 115281532381015439
1Includes appearance in 2014 Croatian Football Super Cup

International

As of 5 September 2016[19]
Croatia national team
YearAppsGoals
201410
201550
201661
Total121

International goal

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 4 June 2016 Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia  San Marino 1–0 10–0 Friendly

Honours

Club

Dinamo Zagreb[9]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Bevanda, Antonio (13 December 2014). "Pjaca faca: Tata hrvački prvak, a mama Višnja prva u džudu...". 24sata.hr (in Croatian). 24sata. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Junaci, Robert (4 August 2015). "Uvede li Dinamo u Ligu prvaka, vrijedit će mnogo više od 12 milijuna koliko nudi Milan!" [If he leads Dinamo to the Champions League, he will be worth much more than 12 million which Milan offers!]. vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  3. ↑ https://www.whoscored.com/Players/242432
  4. ↑ https://www.whoscored.com/Players/242432
  5. ↑ https://www.whoscored.com/Players/242432
  6. ↑ http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/hrvatski-mercato-velik-promet-mala-zarada/769002.aspx
  7. ↑ "Video: Dinamo rutinskom pobjedom protiv Slaven Belupa otvorio novu sezonu". Sportnet. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Dinamo Zagreb 4-3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  9. 1 2 "M. Pjaca". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Official: Juventus sign Pjaca". Football Italia. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Korać, Branimir. "Potvrđeno je: Marko Pjaca novi je igrač Juventusa". HRSport (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lazio-Juventus 0-1, il tabellino: sblocca Khedira" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Croatia 2-0 Cyprus". eu-football.info. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Azerbaijan 0 - 0 Croatia". Sky Sports. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Croatia 10 - 0 S. Marino". Sky Sports. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  16. ↑ Aleksandar Holiga (6 June 2016). "Croatia Euro 2016 team guide: tactics, key players and expert predictions". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  17. ↑ Digby, Adam. "Scouting Juventus Transfer Target Marko Pjaca". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  18. ↑ Nemanja Grbic (6 July 2016). "Marko Pjaca: Why Croatia's gem is luring Liverpool into a European tug-of-war". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Marko Pjaca at National-Football-Teams.com
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