Marija Maredinho Banušić (born 17 September 1995) is a Swedish 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

. She previously played for

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

Eskilstuna United DFF Eskilstuna United DFF is a football club from Eskilstuna, in Södermanland County, Sweden. The club was established in 2002 and was promoted into the Women's Premier Division ( Damallsvenskan) for the first time in 2014. The club play their home ...

and

Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Skånes Fotbollförbund. History The original club Wä IF played in from 1989 to 1994 in the Damallsvenskan. The club was reformed ...

of the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

, spent a season in England with FA WSL club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, a season in China with Beijing BG Phoenix and two seasons in France with Montpellier before spending half a season with

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its ...

in 2021 and a subsequent year with

Pomigliano Pomigliano d'Arco is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, located north of Mount Vesuvius. It is known for its industrial pole among the largest and most influential in southern Italy. In the industrial area there is, amon ...

. She won her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Sweden women's national team in November 2014. She has previously worn the name Maredinho on her shirt, originally a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

her father had given her in homage to male footballer

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional association football, footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deplo ...

, which she later adopted as her

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be ...

Club career

In 2012 Banušić scored 16 goals for Norrettan club

IK Sirius IK Sirius is a Swedish bandy club located in Uppsala, currently playing in Elitserien. IK Sirius were formed in 1907 and play their home games at Studenternas Idrottsplats. History IK Sirius' first success was becoming Swedish runners-up in ...

and became a

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

target for clubs in the

, Sweden's top division. Banušić made a favourable early impression after signing for Kristianstads in 2013. Teammate and fellow Uppsala-native

Josefine Öqvist Anna Lenita Josefine Öqvist (born 23 July 1983) is a Swedish former footballer who played for Montpellier of the French Division 1 Féminine and the Swedish national team. She scored a critical goal at the 86' minute in the 2003 FIFA Women's ...

called her a potential "världsspelare" ( en, world-class player), while

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir declared her the biggest talent in the history of Swedish women's football. Marija Banušić Kristianstads

Banušić gave Kristianstads the lead in the 2014

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

( en, Swedish Cup) final, but they were defeated 2–1 by

. After the season she decided to leave Kristianstads and returned to Uppsala, where she considered several offers from other clubs from Sweden and abroad. Banušić agreed a transfer to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based FA WSL club Chelsea Ladies in January 2015. With Chelsea Banušić started three of her eight league appearances as the club won the

2015 FA WSL The 2015 season of the Women's Super League was the fifth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season was played from 25 March to 4 October. Liverpool were the defending champions from the 2014 FA WSL. Ch ...

title. She was an unused substitute in Chelsea's 1–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

at the

2015 FA Women's Cup Final The 2015 FA Women's Cup Final was the 45th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 22nd to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA) and ...

, staged at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

for the first time. Banušić had fallen further down the pecking order when Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign

Fran Kirby Francesca "Fran" Kirby (born 29 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. She began her career with hometown club Reading before moving to Chelsea in July 20 ...

during the season. In December 2015 Banušić announced that she would return to Sweden to play for Damallsvenskan club

in 2016. After moving to

the following season, her new club won the

2017 Damallsvenskan The 2017 Damallsvenskan was the 29th season of the Swedish women's association football top division, Damallsvenskan. It began on 16 April 2017, and ended on 12 November. Linköpings FC were the defending champions, having won the competition in 2 ...

title. While her team mates celebrated, an emotional Banušić invited her critics to eat their words. In July 2018 she was reunited with her former Linköping coach

Kim Björkegren Lars Kim Björkegren (born 18 December 1981) is a Swedish football manager who currently serves as the manager of Racing Louisville FC in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League. He was hired from Cyprus champions Apollon Ladies FC after the 2 ...

when she transferred to the

Chinese Women's Super League The Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL) is the top level women's association football, football league in China. It was called the Chinese Women's National Football League from 2011 to 2014. History The league started in 1997 as the Chinese Wome ...

club Beijing Phoenix. On 1 February 2021, Banušić signed with Italian

team

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. She made her Roma debut on 6 February 2021, coming off the substitutes' bench in Roma's 4–0 away victory over Pink Bari. In her third appearance for Roma, Banušić scored an overhead kick against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

in what would prove to be the winning goal on the day. Banušić was also part of the Roma squad that won the 2021

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

final against

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

in May 2021. In total, Banušić made five appearances for Roma and scored one goal during her half-year stay in the Italian capital. On 14 July 2021, it was announced that Banušić had moved from Roma to newly-promoted Serie A club

. Seven goals in 21 appearances helped Pomigliano avoid relegation, before Banušić signed for

in July 2022.

International career

In June 2013 Banušić was named in senior national team coach

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. She is the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired a ...

's squad for a 1–1 friendly draw with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. She was hopeful of a surprise call-up to Sweden's

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the mos ...

squad, but was not selected and went to the

2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2013 Final Tournament was held in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Players born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to participate in this competition. It was the first time Wales played in the final tournam ...

instead.

Sweden - Switzerland, 5 April 2015 (17047684701)

In November 2014 Banušić made her senior Sweden debut against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The match, which finished in a 1–0 defeat, was played behind closed doors but still counted as a full FIFA international fixture. Banušić was disappointed with the result but satisfied with her performance after coming on as a second-half substitute. She hoped to stay in contention for a place at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

. She was particularly disappointed to be dropped from the national team for

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national tea ...

, although she was recalled shortly afterwards. Because of her Croatian origin, she was also eligible to represent

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 ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...

(SvFF) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banusic, Marija 1995 births Living people Swedish women's footballers Sweden women's international footballers Kristianstads DFF players Damallsvenskan players Chelsea F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate women's footballers Eskilstuna United DFF players Women's association football forwards Expatriate women's footballers in China Beijing BG Phoenix F.C. players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in China Linköpings FC players Division 1 Féminine players Montpellier HSC (women) players A.S. Roma (women) players Pomigliano C.F. players Parma Calcio 2022 players Serie A (women's football) players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Swedish people of Croatian descent Footballers from Uppsala