Mario Vušković (; born 16 November 2001) 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 ...

who played as a centre-back for

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

until his suspension from football for 2 years for Doping on March 30, 2023

Club career

Early career

Vušković started playing football by joining

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split, commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was founded on 16 April 1912 as Anarch, but has had se ...

academy, before moving to the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

of Dalmatian giants Hajduk Split in 2016. Initially a

defensive 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 boundari ...

, he was moved back to the

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 ...

position in the youth teams. In October 2018, he was included in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s ''Next Generation'' list.

Hajduk Split

On 18 August 2019, Vušković made his Prva HNL debut for Hajduk in the 3–0 victory over Gorica. However, he did not proceed to get many opportunities during Damir Burić's tenure at the club. On 16 November, he fractured his arm while on international duty in

Elbasan Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central ...

, in Croatia U20's friendly 1–0 victory over

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, which sidelined him for three months. During the tenure of Igor Tudor at the club, Vušković solidified his spot in the starting XI following the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

suspension of the league and injuries of

Ardian Ismajli Ardian Ismajli (born 30 September 1996) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), centre-back for club Empoli F.C., Empoli. Born in Kosovo, he plays for the Albania national football team, ...

and Nihad Mujakić. He scored his first goal for Hajduk Split on the 16 June 2020 in the 2–3 defeat to

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. On 25 July, the last matchday, he was shown two

yellow cards Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

and

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 1–4 victory over Inter Zaprešić. Ahead of and during the 2020–21 season, Vušković attracted attention of various

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 ...

clubs, most notably

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. However, club president Lukša Jakobušić stopped the transfer, dubbing Vušković the "club project". On 27 January 2021, Vušković scored the opener in a 3–1

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

defeat to

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 ...

. On 20 March, he assisted Marin Ljubičić for the only goal in a 1–0

victory over

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

. In the beginning of May, Vušković sparked significant interest from Celtic and

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 12 May, he scored the first goal and provided Stipe Biuk with an assist for the fourth in a 4–0 victory over Gorica.

Hamburger SV

On 31 August 2021, Vušković signed a two-year loan deal with

club

, with an option to buy. He made his debut on 18 September in a 2–0 victory over

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

. Despite initial struggles, within the first three months he became a nailed-on starter, and his performances led to the club signing him permanently on 15 March 2022. On 16 April, Vušković scored his debut goal for Hamburg, a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in a 3–0 victory over

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. On 12 November 2022, Vušković failed a drug test, prompting German Football Association (DFB)'s anti-doping department to launch an investigation. On 30 March 2023, Vušković was banned by the

DFB Sports Court The DFB Sports Court (German: DFB-Sportgericht) is a regulatory body in the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fussball-Bund, DFB) and may adopt different sanctions on clubs and players. History Together with the Bundesliga, the DFB Sp ...

for two years due to EPO doping. The club and the player filed an appeal for the ban due to multiple irregularities during the investigation; however, Nationale Anti Doping Agentur (NADA) did the same seeking a four-year ban. The ban is set to run retroactively from 15 November 2022 to 14 November 2024.

International career

Vušković was part of Dario Bašić's 18-man squad for UEFA Under-17 Euro 2017. He made one appearance at the tournament, in the 1–1 draw with

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, as

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 ...

finished at the bottom of the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

. He earned his first call-up to Croatia under-21 team in August 2020, ahead of UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021 qualifiers against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He made his debut on 12 November, in a 2–2 away draw with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. On 9 March 2021, Vušković was named in

Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Croatia national under-21 team. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every position in th ...

's 23-man squad for the group stage of the tournament. On 17 May, he was named in Bišćan's 23-man squad for the knockout stage of the tournament.

Personal life

Vušković's great-grandfather Marko made three appearances for Hajduk Split on the liberated territory of Vis during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and later worked as a club executive. Vušković's grandfather

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

, whom he was named after, attended the Hajduk academy in the 1970s and won a junior league title during

Tomislav Ivić Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spo ...

's tenure. Vušković's father Danijel is a former player who played as a defender. His brother,

Luka Luka may refer to: People * Luka (given name), a South Slavic masculine given name cognate of Luke, and a Japanese given name * Luka (singer), stage name of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Karina Santos de Lima (born 1979) * Luka Keʻelik ...

and cousin,

Moreno Moreno may refer to: Places Argentina *Moreno (Buenos Aires Metro), a station on Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro *Moreno, Buenos Aires, a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina * Moreno Department, a depatnent of Santiago del Estero Province, ...

, are also professional players who play as defender and forward respectively. He named Sergio Ramos as his football idol.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

External links

*
Mario Vušković
at hajduk.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Vuskovic, Mario 2001 2001 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers HNK Hajduk Split players HNK Hajduk Split II players Hamburger SV players First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players 2. Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Croatian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in association football