Mateo Barać (; born 20 July 1994) is a

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 ...

n football defender. He plays for

Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб «Крылья Советов» Самара) is a football club from Russia based in Samara. It returned to the Russian Premier League for the 20 ...

in the Russian Premier League.

Club career

Early career

Born and raised in Sinj, Barać started his youth career at the local Junak Sinj. At the age of 17 he joined the Hajduk Split youth academy, winning the national U-19 championship with the club, but did not receive a professional contract at the end of his academy period, so he returned to third-tier Junak. Following his first senior-level season playing in his hometown, he signed a 3 year contract with the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

second-tier team

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in July 2014, but his contract was rescinded the following month as Barać couldn't get a Swiss work permit. Barać then moved back to

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 ...

, signing with second-tier

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 ...

for the remainder of the season, but missed most of it due to injury.

NK Šibenik

Barać joined second-tier Šibenik in the summer of 2015, which was at the time coached by Mirko Labrović, his fellow native from Sinj, playing regularly and almost qualifying for the first tier.

Osijek

On 1 July 2016, Barać joined

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

for an undisclosed fee. Impressive display in the first half of the Prva Liga earned him a call-up 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 ...

n A team for 2017

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament with four national teams, ...

. On 3 August 2017, Osijek defeated the Dutch giants

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in the third qualifying round of the

2017–18 UEFA Europa League The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2018 UEFA Europ ...

with a 2-0 aggregate win. Many labeled Barać as the key member of the historic victory and Ajax eventually made a 2.5 million euros transfer bid. Osijek and Barać accepted, however the transfer was stopped due to Barać's heart issues revealed on the medical tests.

Rapid Wien

On 12 July 2018, he joined Rapid Wien for a fee of €1,300,000.

Sochi

On 19 June 2021, he moved to Russian club

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

as a free agent.

Krylia Sovetov Samara

On 19 February 2022, he was loaned to

until the end of the season with an option to buy. On 31 May 2022, Barać moved to Krylia Sovetov on a permanent basis and signed a two-year contract.

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barac, Mateo 1994 births People from Sinj Living people Association football central defenders Croatian footballers Croatia international footballers NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players HNK Šibenik players NK Osijek players SK Rapid Wien players PFC Sochi players PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Austrian Football Bundesliga players 2. Liga (Austria) players Russian Premier League players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia