Matej Delač (; born 20 August 1992) 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

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for

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club

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

Club career

Inter Zaprešić

A product of Inter Zaprešić youth academy, Delač started to impress very early on and after only a few appearances for Croatia U-15 he attracted attention from bigger clubs across Europe. During summer 2008, Delač went on trial at Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club Benfica and came very close to joining them, but the two clubs couldn't agree terms so he stayed at

Zaprešić Zaprešić () is a town in Hrvatsko zagorje, Zagreb County in Croatia. It has a population of 19,644 inhabitants in the town proper, with 25,223 in the administrative area. The town's metropolitan area, which encompasses the seven neighbouring m ...

. He had his professional debut for

NK Inter Zaprešić Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić was a Croatian professional football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb. The team are nicknamed ''Keramičari'' (The ceramics makers), because they were sponsored by a ceramics facto ...

in the 2008–09 season on 22 February 2009 against

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of ...

, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the Croatian first division (at 16 years and 186 days of age). He impressed football pundits in his debut by miraculously saving a penalty from

Davor Vugrinec Davor Vugrinec (born 24 March 1975) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as a striker, but also operated as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He is all-time top scorer of the Croatian First Football Leagu ...

in the 85th minute, contributing to Inter's 1–0 victory and becoming man of the match. Delač continued with good performances and finished the 2008-09 season with 15 appearances, as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.

Chelsea

On 11 September 2009, two days after

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 defeat at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, Croatian news reports revealed that Delač had stayed in London for a medical examination and was on the verge of signing a pre-contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

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 ...

. Reports claimed that Chelsea scouts had been following Delač's performances in the Croatian first division for months and that their Director of Football

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...

previously went to Zagreb to agree terms of the transfer. It was announced at a press conference held by Inter on 17 September 2009 that Delač had indeed penned a five-year contract with Chelsea which will come into effect in the January 2011 transfer window. In the meantime, Delač will continue playing at Inter, his wages will be paid by Chelsea, and he is also expected to participate in training at Chelsea's

training ground A training ground is an area where professional association football teams prepare for matches, with activities primarily concentrating on skills and fitness. They also sometimes form part of a club's youth system, as clubs consider it important t ...

whenever his

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

obligations allow.

Loan to Vitesse

On 24 August 2010, Delač joined Chelsea's feeder club Vitesse on loan for the 2010–11 campaign. However, after being deployed as a back-up to

Eloy Room Eloy Victor Room (born 6 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Curaçao national team. Club career Vitesse Room joined Vite ...

and appearing on the bench for the majority of the campaign, Delač returned to Chelsea without making a single appearance for the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

side.

Loan to Dynamo České Budějovice

On 13 September 2011,

Dynamo České Budějovice "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundat ...

chairman Karel Poborský confirmed that Delač would join the club on loan for the rest of the season. However, on 4 January 2012, Delač was recalled by Chelsea after just making one appearance in a 4–0 league defeat against

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

Loan to Vitória de Guimarães

On 17 July 2012, Delač joined

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

side

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

on a season-long loan along with Chelsea team-mate Milan Lalkovič. However, after six months with the club, Delač had failed to make a first-team league appearance and therefore returned to Chelsea in January 2013. However, he made one appearance in an early round of the

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, which Vitória eventually won, making him a Cup winner.

Return to Inter Zaprešić

On 10 January 2013, Delač returned to boyhood club Inter Zaprešić on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 campaign. On 15 February 2013, Delač made his Inter Zaprešić return in their 1–0 home defeat against

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. Delač went onto feature thirteen more times for the Croatian side in their unsuccessful relegation fight before returning to Chelsea.

Loan to Vojvodina

In July 2013, Delač joined

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n side

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

on a season-long loan. On 25 July 2013, Delač made his Vojvodina debut 3–1 victory against Hungarian side Honvéd in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualifying tie. On 11 August 2013, Delač made his league debut for the Serbian side in their 0–0 draw with Donji Srem. Having established himself as a first choice keeper, Delač played an instrumental role in helping Vojvodina reach

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...

, where Vojvodina lost to

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n side

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnist ...

. At the same time he quickly became a crowd favorite. Midway through the first half of the season, Delač lost his place as a starting keeper. By the end of December, he decided to cut his stay in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

short, and return to Chelsea.

Loan to Sarajevo

Preceding his return from Vojvodina, Delač joined

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

side

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. On 1 March 2014, he made his Sarajevo debut in a 1–0 defeat against Čelik Zenica. A couple of weeks later, Delač registered his first clean sheet in Sarajevo's 2–0 away victory over Mladost Velika Obarska. He returned to Chelsea at the end of the campaign after appearing seven times for the Bosnian side.

Loan to Arles-Avignon

On 1 September 2014, Delač joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side Arles-Avignon on loan for the 2014–15 campaign. On 12 September 2014, Delač made his debut for Arles-Avignon in their 1–0 league victory over

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

. Delač fell out of favour whilst at the French side and went onto make ten more league appearances before terminating his loan spell in January 2015.

Return to Sarajevo

On 27 February 2015, Delač returned to Sarajevo for the remainder of the 2014–15 campaign. On 14 March 2015, he marked his Sarajevo return with a clean sheet in their 0–0 draw with

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...

. Delač went onto register seven more clean sheets, helping Sarajevo win their first league title since 2006. On 7 August 2015, Delač's loan spell with Sarajevo was extended for a further season. On 26 October 2015, he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, during the international break, therefore excluding him out Sarajevo's plans for the season.

Loan to Excel Mouscron

On 22 July 2016, Delač joined Belgian side Excel Mouscron on a season-long loan. On 17 September 2016, Delač made his Excel Mouscron debut in a 3–1 victory over

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

. On 27 October 2016, Delač registered his first clean sheet for Excel Mouscron in their 0–0 away draw with

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

AC Horsens

On 3 April 2018, it was announced that Delač would join Danish Superliga side

in the summer of 2018 on a free transfer when his contract with Chelsea ended.

International career

After earning 8 caps for Croatia's U-17 and U-19 teams between 2007 and 2008, Delač was called up by

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 ...

manager

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of EFL Championship side Watford. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown c ...

on 30 August 2009 to join the squad as third-choice goalkeeper (behind

Vedran Runje Vedran Runje (; born 10 February 1976) is a Croatian retired association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. A product of Hajduk Split academy, Runje spent the majority of his career abroad with St ...

and

Danijel Subašić Danijel Subašić (born 27 October 1984) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Hajduk Split. Subašić began his career in Croatia with Zadar and Hajduk. In January 2012, he joined Monaco, and went on to make 292 ...

) for their 2010 World Cup qualifiers against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, breaking the record for the youngest Croatian player ever called up for international duty.

Career statistics

Honours

Vitória de Guimarães *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2012–13 Sarajevo *

: 2014–15 *

Bosnian Cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

: 2013–14

References

External links