Milan Badelj (; born 25 February 1989) 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 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 club

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. He was a member of the Croatian squad that finished runners-up in the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as part of the country's squad at its 2014 edition and the UEFA Euro's editions in

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and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Club career

Early career

Milan Badelj signed for

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 ...

as a 17-year-old in 2007, just after he was snapped up from the youth system of Dinamo Zagreb's city rival, NK Zagreb. For the 2007–08 season, he was sent on loan to Dinamo Zagreb's affiliate Lokomotiva to gain first–team experience at the senior level. He played in 28 matches and scored seven goals for Lokomotiva in the Croatian Third League.

Dinamo Zagreb

At an early age, Badelj was already spotted as a possible replacement for

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...

, a key figure in the Dinamo Zagreb first-team squad that joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in 2008. In 2008, Badelj joined the first team and immediately established himself as an important player. He made his senior debut for Dinamo in Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Linfield. He then made his domestic debut in the opening match of the 2008–09 season against Rijeka, scoring the first goal in 2–0 victory. He finished his first season with Dinamo with 31 domestic appearances and 12

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appearances. Badelj continued to impress at his young age, establishing himself as a first–team regular for the 2009–10 season. In March 2011, he scored a goal in a 2–0 victory in the derby match against great rivals Hajduk Split. Badelj continued with impressive performances in the 2010–11 season as well, even wearing the captain's armband in some matches. In the 2011–12 season, Badelj was one of the key players in the Dinamo squad that reached the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stage The group stage featured 32 teams: the 22 automatic qualifiers and the 10 winners of the play-off round (five through the Champions Route, five through the League Route). The teams were drawn into eight groups of four, and played each other home- ...

for the first time in 12 years. He appeared in all six of Dinamo's group stage games against Real Madrid,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. In what would be his final game at the

Stadion Maksimir Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 le ...

for Dinamo, in a Champions League playoff match against Slovenian side Maribor, Badelj scored an own goal that gave the opposition an equaliser in the first leg match. However, Badelj later scored the winning goal at the other end in the second half.

Hamburger SV

Badelj joined

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 ...

of the

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in August 2012 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of €4.5 million, according to the Croatian media. He made his domestic debut soon after joining the club in a match against

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 ...

. He soon established himself as a first-team regular, typically operating as a deep-lying playmaker. Badelj scored his first Bundesliga goal against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, in a 3–1 win, on 27 November 2012.

Fiorentina

On 31 August 2014, it was announced Badelj had signed for

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 ...

side

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 fol ...

for a fee believed to be in the region of €5 million. In 2018, after the tragic death of Davide Astori (who had unexpectedly died in the night between March 3 and March 4 due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

), he was appointed as team captain.

Lazio

Badelj joined Lazio on 1 August 2018, on a free transfer. On 17 February 2019, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to Genoa.

Loan to Fiorentina

On 5 August 2019, Badelj joined

on loan until 30 June 2020 with an option to buy. On 3 September 2019 he wore captain armband in 1–1 draw against

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, despite being a loaned player, due to absence of regular captain

Germán Pezzella Germán Alejo Pezzella (; born 27 June 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Betis and the Argentina national team, with whom he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Club career Early career Pe ...

. It was the first time for Badelj to being captain since his comeback. Fiorentina chose not to activate the obligation and Badelj returned to Lazio at the end of the spell.

Genoa

On 16 September 2020, Badelj signed a three-year contract with

. On February 20, 2021, he scored his first goal for the club, as he equalized at the last minute of a match against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

: in that occasion, he celebrated by recreating the number 13 with his fingers pointed to the sky, as a way to pay tribute to his late friend and former team-mate Davide Astori (in fact, the Italian defender had used to wear the number 13 shirt until his tragic death).

International career

During his youth career for the national team, Badelj earned a total of 63

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

, for all youth teams from U16 to U21. In 2010, Badelj was selected for the Croatia national team squad for the first time, but was mostly on the bench. His competitive debut came during a

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...

match against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

; a match Croatia won 3–1, on 2 September 2011, in which Badelj scored the second goal. He was selected for the UEFA Euro 2012 squad; and in May 2014, was selected for the final squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil following an injury to Ivan Močinić. However, he was an unused substitute for most of the tournament, as Croatia were knocked out in the group stage. He was selected for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. In May 2018, Badelj was selected for the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He scored his first goal of the tournament in a 2–1 win over

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

; helping Croatia en route to topping the group on maximum points. On 1 July, in Croatia's round of sixteen tie with

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, the game was drawn 1–1 and was decided through a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in which Badelj missed Croatia's first penalty, though they would scored three while their opponents only scored two.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first''

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb * Prva HNL: 2008–09, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 * Croatian Cup: 2008–09,

, 2011–12 *

Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the t ...

: 2010 Lazio *

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 ...

: 2018–19 Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Individual * Croatian Football Hope of the Year: 2009 Orders *

Order of Duke Branimir The Order of Duke Branimir ( hr, Red kneza Branimira) is the 7th most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on April 1, 1995. The medal is awarded for excellence in promoting Croatia in international relations ...

: 2018

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Badelj, Milan 1989 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Croatian footballers Association football midfielders NK Zagreb players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players Hamburger SV players ACF Fiorentina players S.S. Lazio players Genoa C.F.C. players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players Serie A players Serie B players Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy