Nikola Šafarić (born 11 March 1981) 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 former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who played as

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 ...

. He current works as sporting director of NK Varaždin.

Club career

Early years

In 1998, Šafarić started his football career in

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

for Varteks as a young 17-year-old

. He quickly established himself as irreplaceable in the Varteks team. Before his 20th birthday he has already played around 40

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

games for Varteks and scoring several goals in the process.

Best years with Varteks

From the 2002–03 season, Nikola finally stepped up on the big scene. He became a first team regular in Varteks and in the next 5 seasons he scored 32 goals in the domestic league only. His good games as well as passion for football and leadership ability could not go unnoticed so he was appointed as team`s captain. Nikola Šafarić is also a great penalty and free kick taker and although he could play every possible position in the midfield he says he "plays best as a defensive midfielder."

Subsequent teams

In the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Nikola Šafarić was sold to

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. In Rijeka, Nikola was welcomed by many as a great acquisition. He instantly "grabbed" first team position and was one of the team's best players by scoring two goals and adding three more assists, which helped Rijeka to finish at the fourth place in the

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 ...

. On 31 August 2008, Šafarić signed a 2-year contract with

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

. He returned to the Varteks for the 2010–2011 season. Before the season started, the club lost its main sponsorship, the Varteks clothing factory, and changed its 52-year-old name to NK Varaždin. The club immediately fell into financial difficulties, and would be expelled from the top-level Prava HNL the following season, when it stopped paying its players. Šafarić avoided this, having signed a two-year contract with Kaposvári in 2011, but this will come to play later in Šafarić's career. Šafarić signed a two-year contract with

Zavrč Zavrč (, in order sources ''Zavrče'', german: Sauritsch) is a settlement in the Haloze area of Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Zavrč. It lies between the right bank of the Drava River and the border with Croatia. The area trad ...

in 2013. In January 2015, he signed for the

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga ( en, First football league), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second ...

outfit NK Inter Zaprešić. Šafarić signed with Međimurje for the 2015–2016 season, then returned to the city of Varaždin for the 2016–17 season. His earlier club, NK Varaždin, had declared bankruptcy and folded in 2015, but Šafarić had signed with a different NK Varaždin, unassociated with the earlier team. This club had formed in 2012, as Varaždin ŠN, than changed to NK Varaždin when the bankrupt team discarded the name.

International career

Nikola Šafarić was a member of every

Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team ( hr, Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football ...

categories (U17, U19, U21, senior team). That's why he was predicted a great international club career. But, unfortunately, up to this date Nikola has made only three appearances for

. His international debut came against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the 1–0 friendly win at

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

on 18 August 2004. His second and third international cap came on

2006 Carlsberg Cup The 2006 Carlsberg Cup was a football tournament held in Hong Kong over the first and fourth day of the Chinese New Year holiday (29 January and 1 February 2006). Participating teams * (first appearance) * (third appearance) * (host) * (second app ...

in Hong Kong on which

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 third.

References

External links

*
PrvaLiga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safaric, Nikola 1981 births Living people Footballers from Čakovec Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers NK Varaždin (1931–2015) players HNK Rijeka players NK Slaven Belupo players Kaposvári Rákóczi FC players NK Zavrč players NK Inter Zaprešić players NK Međimurje players Croatian Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Slovenian PrvaLiga players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia