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, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

Club career

Early career

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

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 ...

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 resigne ...

, 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 ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

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

NK Zagora Unešić Nogometni klub Zagora Unešić ( en, Football Club 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. ...

and then NK Junak Sinj, 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 ( en, Croatian Football Club Šibenik), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, and plays their ...

, 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 () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

. 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 Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) 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 b ...

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

Antoni Zdravkov Antoni Ivanov Zdravkov (born 20 August 1964) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer. As a defender, he enjoyed spells at Levski Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia, Yantra Gabrovo, Marítimo, Nacional, Benfica Castelo Branco, Velbazhd Kyustendil and ...

Torpedo Moscow

In the summer of 2014, Blažević moved to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

nside

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pr ...

, where he took on the role of backup to

Yuri Zhevnov Yuri Zhevnov ( be, Юры Жаўноў; born 17 April 1981) is a professional football coach and a former player from Belarus. He is the goalkeepers' coach with Zenit St. Petersburg. Career Zhevnov started his career at third division. In 2000 ...

. 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 (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 a central piece ...

, 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 ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

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 ...

, 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 () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

, requiring a backup goalkeeper for Josip Posavec 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.Bašić, Blažević i Vučur istekom ugovora napustili Hajduk
at Nogometplus.net

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

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 ...

, for friendly match vs.

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

. However, he was on the bench, while

Danijel Subašić Danijel Subašić (born 27 October 1984) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Hajduk Split. Subašić began his career in Croatia with Zadar and Hajduk. In January 2012, he joined Monaco, and went on to make 292 ...

played the whole match. In May 2010 he received his second call-up, for friendly matches 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 ...

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

, and

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

, 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

and Stipe Pletikosa, 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 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 footballers Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia