Deni Jurić (born 3 September 1997) is a Croatian-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 ...

who plays as a forward for Koper, on loan from Prva HNL club

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 is the younger brother of Australian international

Tomi Jurić Tomi Juric ( ; hr, Jurić, ; born 22 July 1991) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a striker for A-League club Melbourne Victory and the Australia national soccer team. Club career Adelaide United On 10 February 2013, after ...

Club career

Although born in Australia, Deni grew up playing his early career in Croatia, partly due to his Croatian origin, which began with the Sesvete club. He later joined the youth team of Hajduk Split for a season as well as playing in Slovenia for Triglav Kranj. He later wandered through Croatian clubs in the second division,

Solin Solin (Latin and it, Salona; grc, Σαλώνα ) is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro. Solin developed on the location of ancient city of ''Salona'', which was the ...

and Rudeš before moving to top-flight once more, joining for

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

where he played alongside another fellow Croatian Australian Doni Grdić.

Dinamo Zagreb

In 2021, he was signed by

, making him the first-ever Australian soccer player since

Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian retired football player who played as a centre forward. He captained the Australia national team to the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup which remains their best ever performance ...

, also another famous Croatian Australian, to play for the club. He was also loaned to his former club

, representing the team in only four matches.

International career

Deni had played for both Croatian and Australian youth levels, as he carries the nationalities of both countries. In 2021, he has expressed interest in representing

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 ...

, although he remains open to the potential opportunity to represent Australia; he is also available 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 ...

due to his parents are Bosnian Croats.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

External links

Deni Jurić
at the official Croatian Football Federation Semafor site

References

1997 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Croatian descent Australian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Men's association football forwards Australian men's soccer players Australia men's youth international soccer players Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers NK Croatia Sesvete players NK Sesvete players HNK Hajduk Split II players NK Solin players NK Triglav Kranj players NK Rudeš players HNK Šibenik players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players HNK Gorica players HNK Rijeka players First Football League (Croatia) players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Croatian Football League players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia {{Croatia-footy-forward-stub