Antonio-Mirko Čolak (; born 17 September 1993) is a 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 ...
who plays as a
forward for
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
club
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
. Born in Germany, he represents the
Croatia national team.
Čolak began his senior career in the lower divisions of German football and has since gone on to play in the top flights of German, Polish, Croatian, Greek, Swedish and Scottish football. He was the top scorer in the 2019–20
Prva HNL season while playing for Croatian club
HNK Rijeka
Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional football club from the city of Rijeka.
HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top division, HT Prva lig ...
. He won the
2021 Allsvenskan
The 2021 Allsvenskan was the 97th season since its establishment in 1924 of Sweden's top-level football league, Allsvenskan. A total of 16 teams participated. Malmö FF were the defending champions after winning the title in the previous season, ...
title while on loan at Swedish club
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
from Greek club
PAOK.
Čolak played more than 20 times for Croatia's youth national teams, before making his senior international debut for the country in November 2020, in a friendly against
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
Club career
Early career
The Čolak family immigrated to Germany in 1992 to avoid the war in the former Yugoslavia, where Antonio was born on 17 September 1993. Born in
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
, in 2000 he signed for
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers.
History
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
, where he remained for eight years before returning to Freiburg in 2008. From there he joined the youth academy at Hoffenheim in 2010 for just one year, and in 2011 moved to Karlsruhe, where he made his professional debut in the lower leagues. In 2012 he was signed by
1. FC Nürnberg, initially for the reserve team. Čolak made his debut on 19 October 2013 in a
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 ...
game against
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 ...
. He entered the field after 78 minutes for
Tomáš Pekhart. He stayed in Nuremberg until 2015, playing in seven games, while for one season he was loaned out to
Lechia Gdańsk, where he scored ten goals in 31 games, also contributing two assists.
Hoffenheim and loan spells
In the summer of 2015 he signed a contract with
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, but he did not play with the club throughout his contract. Initially he joined
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...
on a season-long loan. On 25 July 2016, Čolak joined
Darmstadt 98
Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...
on a season-long loan. For the following season he was again sent out on loan, to
2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
side
FC Ingolstadt
Fußball-Club Ingolstadt 2004 e.V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingols ...
.
Rijeka
Following the mutually agreed termination of the loan at Ingolstadt, in January 2018, Čolak was loaned to
HNK Rijeka
Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional football club from the city of Rijeka.
HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top division, HT Prva lig ...
in Croatia until June 2019. Following the end of the loan, on 22 June 2019 Čolak officially joined HNK Rijeka on a three-year contract. In the 2019–20 season, he was the top scorer in the Croatian championship with 20 goals, while with Rijeka he also won two
Croatian Cups. His performances also saw him win a place in the
Croatia national football team
The Croatia national football team ( hr, Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a ...
.
PAOK and loan to Malmö
On 20 September 2020,
PAOK agreed terms with
Rijeka for the purchase of Čolak. The Greek club paid a fee over €3,000,000, while Čolak signed a four-year contract worth €450,000 per year.
On 6 March 2021, Čolak moved to Swedish side
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...
, on a loan deal until December 2021. At Malmö FF, Čolak quickly established himself as a prolific goalscorer with ten goals in his first 15 appearances and went on to win the title with Malmö. In December 2021, with Malmö FF unwilling to pay the buy out of €3 million that had been set in his loan contract, Croatian newspaper "Sportske Novosti" linked Čolak with a move to
Dinamo Zagreb
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...
. He returned to
PAOK from the beginning of January 2022.
On 20 March 2022, he scored a goal after an
Alexandru Mitriță
Alexandru Ionuț Mitriță (; born 8 February 1995) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Saudi Professional League club Al-Raed, on loan from MLS club New York City FC, and the Romania natio ...
assist, helping PAOK to gain a 1–0 away win against rivals
AEK Athens
A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...
for the
Play-off round
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
. It was his first goal for the club after his return from Malmö FF.
Rangers
On 7 July 2022, Čolak joined his eleventh club
Rangers, signing a three-year deal with the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
team. He made his debut for the club against
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
side
Livingston, starting the match on 30 July. Čolak scored his first goal for Rangers in
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
match against
Kilmarnock on 6 August then followed this by netting in the next two consecutive matches verse
Union Saint-Gilloise
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jo ...
and
St Johnstone.
On 24 August, Čolak scored the winning goal in the
Champions League play-off second leg against
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...
to send Rangers to the group stage for the first time since 2010.
Parma
On 15 July 2023, Čolak left Rangers to join
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
side
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £2.5 million.
International career
Čolak played youth international football for Croatia at
under-18,
under-19 and
under-20 levels. On 27 August 2020
Croatia national team head coach
Zlatko Dalić
Zlatko Dalić (; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of the Croatia national team since 2017 and led them to a runners-up finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and third place at the ...
included Čolak in the list of players for the
Nations League fixtures against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
on 5 September 2020 and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
on 8 September 2020.
On 31 October 2022, Čolak was named in Croatia's preliminary 34-man squad for the
2022 FIFA World Cup, but did not make the
final 26.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Rijeka
*
Croatian Cup:
2018–19,
2019–20
Malmö FF
*
Allsvenskan:
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
PAOK
*
Greek Cup
The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
The Greek Cup is the second most ...
runner-up:
2021–22
Rangers
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
runner-up:
2022–23
Individual
*
Croatian First Football League Top goalscorer:
2019–20 (20 goals)
*
Croatian Cup Top goalscorer:
2018–19
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colak, Antonio
1993 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ludwigsburg
Footballers from Stuttgart (region)
German people of Croatian descent
Men's association football forwards
German men's footballers
Croatian men's footballers
Croatia men's youth international footballers
Croatia men's international footballers
Karlsruher SC II players
1. FC Nürnberg II players
1. FC Nürnberg players
Lechia Gdańsk players
1. FC Kaiserslautern players
1. FC Kaiserslautern II players
SV Darmstadt 98 players
FC Ingolstadt 04 players
FC Ingolstadt 04 II players
HNK Rijeka players
PAOK FC players
Malmö FF players
Rangers F.C. players
Parma Calcio 1913 players
Regionalliga players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Ekstraklasa players
Croatian Football League players
Super League Greece players
Allsvenskan players
Scottish Professional Football League players
Croatian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Poland
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden