Goran Blažević (born 7 June 1986), nicknamed ''Šiljo'', is a Croatian retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Early career

A product of the famous HNK Hajduk Split youth academy and one-time

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n U16, U17 and U19 national team player, Goran began his senior career in 2004 on loan at

HNK Trogir HNK Trogir is a Croatian football club based in town of Trogir on the Croatian coast. Trogir plays home matches at Igralište Batarija. History HNK Trogir was founded in 1912. In 2009 the club fell into financial difficulties and resigned ...

, then playing in the 1. Županijska liga Splitsko-dalmatinska. The club topped the table and moved to the 3. HNL – South and Goran played another season there. Dismissed from

Hajduk A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

as surplus, Goran played two more seasons in 3. HNL – South, first for

NK Zagora Unešić Nogometni klub Zagora Unešić (), commonly referred to as NK Zagora Unešić or simply Zagora Unešić, is a Croatian football club based in Unešić. They currently play in the Croatian Third Football League. The club has 400 members, in spit ...

and then

NK Junak Sinj Nogometni Klub Junak Sinj (''Football Club Junak Sinj''), commonly referred to as Junak Sinj or just Junak, is a professional Croatian football club based in the town of Sinj, in the southern Croatian region of Dalmatia. They currently compete ...

, where he was the star player in a season that resulted in their promotion to 2. HNL, catching the attention of some 1. HNL clubs.

HNK Šibenik

In 2008, Blažević moved to

HNK Šibenik Hrvatski nogometni klub Šibenik (), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, SuperSport HNL, t ...

, quickly becoming a first team player (50 first team caps in his first two seasons at the club). With

in financial difficulties, Blažević cancelled his contract with the club in December 2011.

Hajduk Split

In January 2012, Blažević signed a four-year contract with

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

. As Hajduk's former first choice goalkeeper Subašić had just left the club for French Ligue 2 side AS Monaco, Blažević immediately was bestowed the first choice at the historic club.

Levski Sofia

In September 2013 Blažević passed successfully his medical and signed a 2-year contract with Bulgarian side

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. He quickly became first choice at the expense of Plamen Iliev, but gradually lost his starting spot following the appointment of Antoni Zdravkov.

Torpedo Moscow

In the summer of 2014, Blažević moved to the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

nside

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their colours are white and b ...

, where he took on the role of backup to Yuri Zhevnov. He went on to play only one game for the club, in the Russian Cup, a 2-0 away loss to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, before succumbing to an Achilles tendon injury requiring surgery at the start of 2015. Blažević was released by the club that summer.

Slaven Belupo

At the start of 2016, Blažević signed to

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

, playing only two matches before a shoulder injury forced him off the pitch until the end of the season. Returning in the summer of 2016. At the start of the season, Blažević, not fully healed, lost the starting place to Antun Marković, but after full recovery, took it over in September 2016. Marković would ultimately secure said position the following year, and Blažević would stay second-choice until his contract expired at the end of 2017.

Return to Hajduk Split

In September 2018, Blažević was signed by his former club

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

, requiring a backup goalkeeper for

Josip Posavec Josip Posavec (born 10 March 1996) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Slovenian PrvaLiga club Primorje on loan from HNK Rijeka. Early life He was born in Varaždin and grew up in Zajezda, within the municipality of Budin ...

and Marin Ljubić, due to Tomislav Duka's injury. In October 2018, after Posavec was injured and Ljubić relegated to the reserve team, Blažević stepped in, featuring in 5 league matches and one cup match. Following Posavec and Duka's recovery in December 2018, Blažević was relegated again to a backup role, before he was released from the club after his second one-season contract expired at the end of June 2020. After his retirement which came in the wake of leaving Hajduk, Blažević started working at the academy of

as a goalkeeper coach.Goran Blažević za ‘Slobodnu‘ o prvoj dalmatinskoj bitki za Kup: Zbog kvara na autobusu skoro smo zakasnili na finale!
zdravlje.slobodnadalmacija.hr, 23 May 2023

International career

While in the

academy, Blažević was capped four times for the Croatia U16 team, and once for the Croatia U17, as backup to Filip Lončarić. In September 2009 he received his first call-up for

, for friendly match vs.

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. However, he was on the bench, while Danijel Subašić played the whole match. In May 2010 he received his second call-up, for friendly matches against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, following the injury of

Vedran Runje Vedran Runje (; born 10 February 1976) is a Croatian retired association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. A product of Hajduk Split academy, Runje spent the majority of his career abroad with St ...

. Being the third choice, after Danijel Subašić and

Stipe Pletikosa Stipe Pletikosa (; born 8 January 1979) is a Croatian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. As of 29 July 2021, he works at the Croatian Football Federation as the tech ...

, he didn't get his cap that time.

References

External links

*
Profile at Levskisofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blazevic, Goran 1986 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football goalkeepers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers HNK Trogir players NK Zagora Unešić players NK Junak Sinj players HNK Šibenik players HNK Hajduk Split players PFC Levski Sofia players FC Torpedo Moscow players NK Slaven Belupo players Croatian Football League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia 21st-century Croatian sportsmen