Branimir Hrgota (; born 12 January 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 le ...

who plays as a striker for and captains 2. Bundesliga club Greuther Fürth. Born in

Bosnia 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 He ...

, he plays for the

Sweden national football team The Sweden national football team ( sv, svenska fotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden in men's international football and it is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body of football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is F ...

Club career

Jönköpings Södra IF

Hrgota started his career as a youth player in lower league side

IK Tord IK Tord is a Swedish football club located in Rosenlund in Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, ...

which he combined with competing in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

. In 2008, he made the decision to give up martial arts and transferred to

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

team

Jönköpings Södra IF Jönköpings Södra IF, also known as J-Södra IF, J-Södra or simply Jönköping, is a Swedish football club based in Jönköping. The club, founded in 1922, returned to the Swedish second division Superettan in 2018 after relegation from the 2 ...

. He made his debut with the first team in 2011 and became the league top scorer that season, netting 18 goals in 25 games. After the season Hrgota received the Player of the Year award from the club supporters. Several clubs were interested in buying him after his successful debut year but Hrgota decided to stay with Jönköpings Södra so that he could finish school in the spring. He went on to score 10 goals in 14 games the following season before moving to Germany in the summer.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 4 July 2012, he completed his move to the German club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. He made his Bundesliga debut against

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

as 74th-minute substitute, replacing

Mike Hanke Mike Hanke (; born 5 November 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played the position of forward. He has been described as a player who "gives it his all in attack and is always dangerous in the opponent's penalty area." He ear ...

. On 11 May 2013, he made the first eleven for the first time against 1. FSV Mainz 05. He made a big impact on the game scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. His first ever Bundesliga goal was a converted penalty five minutes before half-time. In the second half he scored two more goals, both with his left foot. After 85 minutes he was substituted for

Lukas Rupp Lukas Peter Rupp (; born 8 January 1991) is a German professional footballer who most recently played as a midfielder for club Norwich City. Rupp has played for Karlsruher SC, Borussia Mönchengladbach, SC Paderborn 07, VfB Stuttgart, and 1899 ...

. On 15 June 2016, it was announced that Hrgota would join fellow

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 ...

team

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 ...

on a three-year contract.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Hrgota scored in his first goal in the game in a 4–3 penalty shoot-out victory against 1. FC Magdeburg in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

on 21 August 2016. On 20 December 2016, before the winter break, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga. Despite failing to score in the semi-final cup tie away from home against his former club Borussia Mönchengladbach on 25 April 2017, Hrgota slotted home the winning penalty in the shoot-out which Eintracht Frankfurt won 7–6, having drawn the game 1–1 in normal time.

Greuther Fürth

On 7 August 2019, Hrgota joined Greuther Fürth on a two-year deal. On 12th of February 2022, Hrgota's opener against Hertha Berlin, after 27 seconds, was the fastest goal in that season.

International career

Hrgota was eligible to play national team football for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and

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 ...

. The Croatia U21 coach

Ivo Šušak Ivo Šušak (born 10 June 1948) is a Croatian football manager. He was the head coach of Dinamo Vinkovci, NK Zagreb, Zagreb, NK Osijek, Osijek, NK Maribor, Maribor, and FC Dinamo Tbilisi, Dinamo Tbilisi. He was also the head coach of Croatia nati ...

contacted him during the fall of 2012 in an attempt to bring Hrgota over to his team. However, in the summer of 2014, prior to Sweden's game against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers, Hrgota was called up to, and accepted to join, the Sweden national team. On March 16, 2022 Hrgota was selected for the World Cup Qualifier playoff 2022 against the Czech Republic and Poland, but did not get playing time.

Personal life

Hrgota was 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 ...

during 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 ...

. His parents are ethnic

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

. The family moved to

when Branimir was a child, settling in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Eintracht Frankfurt *

: 2017–18 Sweden U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

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 ...

Individual *

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

top scorer:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hrgota, Branimir 1993 births Living people Footballers from Zenica Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Swedish people of Croatian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Sweden Naturalized citizens of Sweden Men's association football forwards Superettan players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Jönköpings Södra IF players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Borussia Mönchengladbach II players Eintracht Frankfurt players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany