Amer Đidić (born December 28, 1994) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

and the Canadian national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...

, Bosnia and raised in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, Đidić began playing soccer with Sherwood Park District SA and later spent time in the

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

Academy system before playing four years of college soccer at

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Art ...

, where he was a two-time NAIA All-American. As a senior in 2015, he was named a

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...

and NAIA All-American, as well as being named the

Heart of America Athletic Conference The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...

Most Valuable Player.

Swope Park Rangers

Đidić was signed by

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

side

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Swope S ...

on March 2, 2016. In August 2016,

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

announced that they had signed Đidić on a short-term loan, to play in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League against

Central FC Central Football Club is a Trinidad and Tobago professional football club, based in California, that plays in the TT Pro League. Founded in 2012, the ''Sharks'' were the 21st team to join the Pro League and plays its home matches in Ato Boldon St ...

. Đidić made his first team debut on August 16, 2016 in the competition. After receiving rave reviews in his first season with Swope Park Rangers, Đidić was named to the 2016 USL All-League First Team.

Sporting Kansas City

In May 2017, after six games with Swope Park in 2017, Đidić was signed by

for the remainder of the 2017 season, with options for 2018, 2019 and 2020. This made him the first

Baker Wildcats The Baker Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Baker University, located in Baldwin City, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing as a founding me ...

soccer player to sign with an MLS club. He remained on loan with Swope Park for the remainder of the season. Upon conclusion of the 2017 season, Sporting KC announced they would exercise Didic's option for the 2018 season. Đidić made his first appearance for

Sporting KC Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

since the 2016 season when he started in a 2–0 victory over

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, ...

in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on June 6, 2018. After three seasons with Sporting KC, Đidić was released at the end of the 2018 season.

San Antonio FC

In December 2018, Đidić signed with

club

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio F ...

for the 2019 season. After starting the first two matches of the season on March 9 and 16, Đidić was relegated to the bench for the following two games before being left out of the matchday 18 in April. On April 15, 2019, Đidić and San Antonio agreed to mutually terminate his contract so that he could pursue other opportunities.

FC Edmonton

Right after his departure from San Antonio, Đidić signed with his hometown club,

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

side

. That season, he made nineteen league appearances and one appearance in the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

. While out of contract during the off-season, Đidić went on a preseason trial with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

. On February 24, 2020, he concluded his trial with Vancouver and returned home. On March 2, 2020, Đidić officially re-signed with Edmonton for the 2020 season.

Pacific FC

On February 9, 2022, Đidić signed with champions

International career

Đidić represented the

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

team at the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in 2015. In March 2017, Đidić received his first Canadian youth national team call-up for an under-23 tournament in Qatar. In September of that year, he also received his first senior team call-up for a friendly against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, but did not appear in the match. He was recalled to the national team in October 2019 for a

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On January 10, 2020, he made his debut and scored his first goal against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Personal life

When he was a toddler, Đidić and his family emigrated to Canada in the wake of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

, eventually settling in

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Individual * NAIA All-American: 2014,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* HAAC Most Valuable Player:

All-American: 2015 *

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

All-League First Team:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Didic, Amer 1994 births Living people Association football defenders Canadian soccer players Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Soccer players from Edmonton Sportspeople from Zenica Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Canada Yugoslav Wars refugees Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian expatriate soccer players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in the United States Baker Wildcats men's soccer players Sporting Kansas City II players Sporting Kansas City players San Antonio FC players FC Edmonton players Pacific FC players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players