Ivan 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

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 ...

Club career

After playing for the youth teams of Croatian club

, Smolčić made his professional debut for the club's first team on 13 April 2019, when he entered as a substitute in a 7–0 victory against

Inter Zaprešić Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

. The following three seasons he was loaned to Orijent and

Hrvatski Dragovoljac Nogometni klub Hrvatski dragovoljac ( en, Football Club Hrvatski dragovoljac), commonly referred to as NK Hrvatski dragovoljac or simply Hrvatski dragovoljac, is a Croatian football club based in the Novi Zagreb neighbourhood of the country's c ...

. In the summer of 2022, he returned to Rijeka, where he soon established himself as a starter.

International career

In November 2022, Smolčić was capped twice for the Croatian under-21 team.

Personal life

Ivan's twin brother

Hrvoje Hrvoje is a Croatian male ethnic first name derived from "Hrvat" meaning "Croat". Notable people with the name include: * Hrvoje Čale (born 1985), Croatian football back * Hrvoje Horvat (born 1946), Croatian handball back * Hrvoje Klasić (born ...

is also a professional footballer, currently playing with

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 ...

. The twins moved to

HNK Rijeka Academy HNK Rijeka Academy is the youth academy of HNK Rijeka. There are a total of eleven age categories within the academy, the oldest being the ''Juniori'' (under-19) and youngest the ''Morčići'' (under-8). Rijeka's football academy was officially ...

together in 2014.poduckun.net
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smolcic, Ivan 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 HNK Orijent players NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players Croatian Football League players Croatian twins Identical twins