Milan Badelj

Milan Badelj

Badelj representing the Croatian national football team.
Personal information
Full name Milan Badelj[1]
Date of birth (1989-02-25) 25 February 1989
Place of birth Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Fiorentina
Number 5
Youth career
1995–2002 Ponikve
2002–2005 NK Zagreb
2005–2007 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Dinamo Zagreb 113 (25)
2007–2008 → Lokomotiva (loan) 28 (7)
2012–2014 Hamburger SV 62 (2)
2014– Fiorentina 51 (3)
National team‡
2004 Croatia U16 1 (0)
2004–2005 Croatia U17 28 (2)
2005–2006 Croatia U18 5 (0)
2006–2008 Croatia U19 13 (0)
2009 Croatia U20 2 (0)
2008–2010 Croatia U21 14 (0)
2010– Croatia 25 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:26, 19 September 2016 (UTC).

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

Milan Badelj (pronounced [míːlan baːdêʎ]; born 25 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Fiorentina and the Croatia national football team.

Club career

Early career

Milan Badelj signed for Dinamo Zagreb as a 17-year-old in 2007, just after he was snapped up from the youth system of Dinamo Zagreb's city rival, NK Zagreb. For the 2007–08 season, he was sent on loan to Dinamo Zagreb's affiliate Lokomotiva to gain first–team experience at the senior level. He played in 28 matches and scored seven goals for Lokomotiva in the Croatian Third League.

Dinamo Zagreb

Badelj playing for Dinamo Zagreb in April 2009.

At an early age, Badelj was already spotted as a possible replacement for Luka Modrić, a key figure in the Dinamo Zagreb's first-team squad that was moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.[2]

In 2008, Badelj joined the first team and immediately established himself as an important player. He made his senior debut for Dinamo in Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Linfield. He then made his domestic debut in the opening match of the 2008–09 season against HNK Rijeka, scoring the first goal in 2–0 victory.[3] He finished his first season with Dinamo with 31 domestic appearances and 12 UEFA Cup appearances.

Badelj continued to impress at his young age, establishing himself as a first–team regular for the 2009–10 season. In March 2011, he scored a goal in a 2–0 victory in the derby match against great rivals Hajduk Split.[4] Badelj continued with impressive performances in the 2010–11 season as well, even wearing the captain's armband in some matches.

In the 2011–12 season, Badelj was one of the key players in the Dinamo squad that reached the 2011–12 Champions League group stage for the first time in 12 years. He appeared in all six of Dinamo's group stage games against Real Madrid, Lyon and Ajax.

In what would be his final game at the Stadion Maksimir for Dinamo in a Champions League playoff match against Slovenian side NK Maribor, Badelj scored an own goal that gave the opposition an equaliser in the first leg match in Zagreb. The midfielder, however, later scored the winning goal at the other end in the second half.[5]

Hamburger SV

Badelj with HSV.

Badelj joined Hamburger SV of the German Bundesliga in August 2012 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of €4.5 million, according to the Croatian media.[6] He made his domestic debut soon after joining the club in a match against Werder Bremen. He immediately established himself as the first-team regular starter, typically situated as a deep-lying playmaker. Badelj scored his first Bundesliga goal against Schalke 04 in November 2012.[7]

Fiorentina

On 31 August 2014, it was announced that Badelj had signed for Italian Serie A team Fiorentina for a fee believed to be in the region of €5 million.[8]

International career

Badelj earned 63 caps during his time in the Croatian youth ranks, nine of which came in the UEFA U21 Championship where he was very impressive. He was often called up to the first team but usually sat the whole game on the bench. He made his competitive debut in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Malta in which he scored a goal.[9] He was a part of the Croatia team on Euro 2012, being an unused substitute. He was a part of Croatia national team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, being selected after Ivan Močinić's injury and once again, he was an unused substitute in the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 April 2016.[10]
Club performance League Cup Other Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Croatia League Croatian Cup Other Europe Total
2007–08Lokomotiva (loan)Treća HNL287———287
2008–09Dinamo ZagrebPrva HNL31471—121506
2009–10271121—1124014
2010–11296831[lower-alpha 1]0110499
2011–1224362—121426
2012–1321——6182
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
2012–13 Hamburger SV Bundesliga 31 1 ——— 31 1
2013–14 29 1 4 0 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 — 35 1
2014–15 2 0 1 0 —— 3 0
Italy League Coppa Italia Other Europe Total
2014–15 Fiorentina Serie A 21 1 3 0 — 13 0 37 1
2015–16 23 1 1 0 — 7 0 31 1
Total Croatia 141322371052521744
Germany 6225020—692
Italy 44240—200682
Career total 247363273072535448
  1. ↑ Appearance in Croatian Super Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in Bundesliga Promotion/Relegation play-offs

International

As of 5 September 2016.[11]
YearAppsGoals
201020
201111
201240
201320
201420
201560
201680
Total251

International goal

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2011 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard  Malta 0–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours

Club

Dinamo Zagreb[10]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 12. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Milan Badelj – Modrićev nasljednik" (in Croatian). nogometni-magazin.com. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  3. ↑ "Badelj novi junak Maksimira" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "Golovi i igra vrijedni naslova prvaka" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Badelj na oproštaju s Maksimirom pogodio za pobjedu Dinama" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Badelj predstavljen u HSV-u, debitira već u subotu: "Bit će to derbi kao Dinamo-Hajduk"" (in Croatian). Index.hr. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Hamburger SV 3–1 FC Schalke 04" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Fiorentina to sign Milan Badelj from Hamburg". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Malta 1–3 Croatia". Croatian Football Federation. 2 September 2011.
  10. 1 2 "M. Badelj". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Milan Badelj at National-Football-Teams.com
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