Hrvoje Smolčić (born 17 August 2000) is a Croatian 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Austrian club

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional Football team, football club, from the Upper Austria, Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and pl ...

on loan from the German club

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 ...

Club career

After playing for the youth teams of Croatian club

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, Smolčić made his professional debut for the club's first team on 17 March 2019, when he appeared as a starter in a 3–1 victory against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. In the 2019–20 season, he played 24 league matches and won the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

with his team, appearing in three cup matches, but missing the final against Lokomotiva Zagreb due to being suspended after receiving two yellow cards in the semi-final. On 31 May 2022, it was announced that Smolčić will move to

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 ...

side

for the 2022–23 season, on a five-year deal until 2027. On 24 June 2024, Smolčić was loaned by

in Austria.

International career

On 14 August 2018, Smolčić played his first international game for the Croatian under-19 team, coming off the bench for Leon Kreković in a friendly match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After playing four more matches for the under-19 team and appearing in two matches for the under-20 squad, he debuted for the under-21 team on 8 October 2021 in a European Under-21 Championship qualifying match against Norway.

Career statistics

Personal life

Hrvoje's twin brother

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...

is also a professional footballer, currently playing with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

. The twins moved to HNK Rijeka Academy together in 2014.

Honours

Rijeka *

: 2018–19, 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smolcic, Hrvoje Living people 2000 births Sportspeople from Gospić Men's association football central defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers HNK Rijeka players Eintracht Frankfurt players LASK players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Croatian twins Identical twins