Nikola Žižić (born 23 January 1988) 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 last played as a defender for Greek club AEL.

Career

Physically strong and good at initiating attacks and finishing them, Žižić started his career in second- and third-tier clubs in Croatia and Slovenia –

Solin Solin (Latin and it, Salona; grc, Σαλώνα ) is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro. Solin developed on the location of ancient city of ''Salona'', which was the ca ...

, Konavljanin and

Bela Krajina White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...

before getting his chance to play in

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 ...

for the newly promoted

Lučko Lučko is a settlement in the Novi Zagreb - zapad district of the City of Zagreb, located south of the Sava and southwest of the city center. Lučko is located near the Lučko interchange that connects the A1 motorway, the Zagreb bypass and the ...

, signing a one-year deal. Establishing himself in the first team, he secured a transfer to the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Süper Lig team Antalyaspor, signing a three-year deal with them. After a short period in Turkey and

Fethiyespor Fethiyespor is a Turkish sports club based in Fethiye, Muğla. Fethiyespor were promoted to the Turkish Second Division in the 2005–06 season. In the 2011–12 football season, Fethiyespor reached the end of season promotion play-off games bu ...

he returned to Slovenia and played for

NK Krka Nogometni klub Krka ( en, Krka Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Krka or Krka, is a Slovenian football club based in Novo Mesto that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. The team play its home ...

before signing with Croatian side Istra where he had his most successful seasons with 63 league games. On 7 July 2017, AEL announced the signing of Žižić on a two-year contract. On 20 December 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 away win against Apollon Pontou for the Greek Cup, helping his team secure a spot in the round of 16. On 9 January 2019, he scored with a long free-kick in a 3–2 home win against

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

for the Greek Cup round of 16. Two weeks later, in the rematch, Nikola temporarily equalized the scoreline with another free-kick, before his team collapsed and conceded 2 goals in less than 10 minutes, losing 7–6 on aggregate and being eliminated from the quarter finals. On 14 May 2021 there was an official announcement about the termination of the player's contract by mutual agreement.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* 1988 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football central defenders Croatian men's footballers NK Solin players NK Konavljanin players NK Bela Krajina players NK Lučko players Antalyaspor footballers Fethiyespor footballers NK Krka players NK Istra 1961 players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Croatian Football League players Slovenian Second League players Süper Lig players TFF First League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players First Football League (Croatia) players Super League Greece players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece {{Croatia-footy-defender-stub