Josip Brekalo (; born 23 June 1998) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Brekalo is a youth exponent from

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 made his league debut on 19 December 2015 against Inter Zaprešić. On 15 May 2016 he signed for

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 ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

for €10 million. On 31 January 2017, Brekalo was loaned out to

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

until the end of the season with an option for a further year. The loan deal was initially automatically extended until June 2018 when Stuttgart secured promotion. Brekalo scored his first senior goal on 17 February 2017 coming off the bench for VfB Stuttgart against 1. FC Heidenheim. Brekalo returned prematurely to Wolfsburg on 1 January 2018. On 8 May 2021, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 3–0 victory over

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

. On 31 August 2021, Brekalo joined

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

on a loan with options to buy. On 28 January 2023, Brekalo returned to Italy and signed with

International career

Brekalo is a youth international and has represented Croatia in 2015 UEFA Under-17 Euro,

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, 2016 UEFA Under-19 Euro and 2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro. He made his debut 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 ...

's senior squad on 15 November 2018 in a 3–2 Nations League victory over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. On 8 September 2020, Brekalo scored his first international goal for Croatia in a 4–2 Nations League defeat to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 1 June 2021, Brekalo was named in Croatia's final 26-man squad for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. On 31 October 2022, he was named in the preliminary 34-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

; however, this time he didn't make the final 26.

Style of play

He usually plays on the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

for both club and national team. However, he played some international matches on different positions. In the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

he played as a

right 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 ...

due to absence of

Šime Vrsaljko Šime Vrsaljko (; born 10 January 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Croatian national team. Vrsaljko made his debut for Croatia in 2011 and went on to represent his ...

. In

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

he was used as one of two

false 9 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

strikers in 4-1-2-1-2 formation, a formation which does not support wingers.

Personal life

Brekalo's father Ante (nicknamed ''

Šargija thumb The ''šargija'' ( sh, šargija, шаргија; sq, sharki or sharkia), anglicized as ''shargia'', is a plucked, fretted long necked lute used in the folk music of various Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croati ...

'') is a former footballer, having represented

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 ...

on various youth levels, as he hails from the Bosnian region of

Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning from t ...

. His career was halted at the age of 21, when the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

broke out and he got wounded on the battlefield. On 2 June 2021, Brekalo and his partner Dominika Kralj became parents of a girl, whom they named Nika. On 17 July, Brekalo and Kralj married in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Controversies

In summer 2018, Brekalo sparked controversy in German and Croatian media after stating that he would not like to wear a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

's armband with

LGBT flag The rainbow flag, also known as the (gay) pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality ...

colours, after

decided that captains of all their teams would wear such an armband during the 2018–19 season. The reason for that was cited to be the club's "stance for tolerant society" and "stance against discrimination". After ' liking'

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

comments under club's

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

post of captain

Josuha Guilavogui Josuha Jérémy Akoi Fara Guilavogui (born 19 September 1990) is a French professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. Early life Guilavogui was born in Ollioules, France, t ...

wearing the armband, Brekalo blamed it on a mobile phone malfunction in an interview with ''

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

''. He then went on to state:

"I have to say that I can't stand completely behind this action, because it contradicts my
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
belief. I've been raised religiously. I’m fine with people living a different lifestyle, because that's their business. But I don't want and don't have to carry a symbol representing them."

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Brekalo goal.''

Honours

Individual * 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament

References

External links

Profile
at the ACF Fiorentina website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brekalo, Josip 1998 births Living people Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers Association football forwards Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Serie A players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players VfL Wolfsburg players VfL Wolfsburg II players VfB Stuttgart players GNK Dinamo Zagreb II players Torino F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players UEFA Euro 2020 players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Footballers from Zagreb First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Roman Catholics