Ajdin Hrustic ( bs, Hrustić; born 5 July 1996) is an Australian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

and the Australia national team.

Early life

Born in

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

, Victoria Hrustic played youth football with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

and

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

before moving to

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

, where he made his professional debut in 2017. In 2020 he signed for the German football club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

Club career

Groningen

In June 2015, Hrustic signed a three-year contract with

, his first senior professional deal. He made his competitive debut for the club as a substitute in a draw against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

on 2 April 2017. His first goal for the club came two weeks later, with a shot from long range to seal a 5–1 win over

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 28 September 2020, Hrustic signed a contract with German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

that will keep him at the club through to 2023, and was given the No. 7 jersey. He made his debut on 19 December 2020 in a 2–0 victory against

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

, coming off the bench for

Aymen Barkok Aymen Barkok (; born 21 May 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Mainz 05. Born in Germany, he plays for the Morocco national team. Club career On 20 October 2016, Barkok, previously playing with the ...

. Hrustic scored his first goal for Eintracht Frankfurt against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, on 9 May 2021, with an improvised finish where he managed to chip the ball over goalkeeper

Robin Zentner Robin Zentner (born 28 October 1994) is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Mainz 05. Career Zentner played for SpVgg Eltville until 2006, when he joined the youth team at 1. FSV Mainz 05. There, from 2012 until 2 ...

. On 18 May 2022, Hrustic became the first Australian player to win the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

in its history, after

triumphed over Scottish opponent

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in the 2022 final, winning a penalty shootout 5–4 after the match ended 1-1 after extra time, with Hrustic converting his team's second penalty of the shootout. He became the first Australian since

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...

in 2005 to win a major UEFA competition.

Hellas Verona

On 1 September 2022, Hrustic signed a four-year contract with

in Italy.

International career

Due to his Bosnian and Romanian heritage, Hrustic was eligible to represent

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

internationally. He was contacted by the

Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...

in May 2017, but ultimately rejected the offer and expressed his wish to represent the Socceroos. Hrustic was called up to an Australian under-23 development squad in March 2017. This was the first time Hrustic had been involved with

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

in several years, having previously not been involved with the Australian setup since moving to Europe. On 22 May 2017, Hrustic was named in the Australian national side's 30-man preliminary squad for the month of June, including the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 20 ...

, a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He was retained in the final 23-man squad. He made his Socceroos debut on the losing side of a 4–0 friendly against Brazil, coming on as a 57th-minute substitute. On 4 June 2021, Hrustic scored his first goal for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in a

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

qualifying match, bending the ball off the inside of the post and in from a 30-odd-metre free-kick. His second goal also came off a free-kick bouncing off the crossbar to go in underneath the goal against Japan in 2021.

Personal life

Hrustic was born in

a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia to a Bosnian father and a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

mother.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hrustic goal.''

Honours

Eintracht Frankfurt *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hrustic, Ajdin 1996 births Living people Association football midfielders FC Groningen players Eintracht Frankfurt players Hellas Verona F.C. players Eredivisie players Derde Divisie players Bundesliga players UEFA Europa League winning players Australian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Australian people of Romanian descent Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Germany Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in England 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players Australian people of Bosniak descent Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players 2022 FIFA World Cup players People from Dandenong, Victoria