Steven Lustica ( hr, Luštica; born 12 April 1991) is an Australian soccer player who plays for

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...

. He is of

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

heritage, his relative

Slavko Luštica Slavko Luštica (11 January 1923 – 14 July 1992) was a footballer who represented Yugoslavia at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He played club football in Yugoslavia with NK Osvit and Hajduk Split. Playing career Club Born in a small fishing commu ...

was a footballer at Hajduk Split.

Club career

Gold Coast

On 24 April 2009, it was confirmed that Lustica had been signed by

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

, after impressing United's assistant coach,

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player. He has Belgian citizenship. He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Ba ...

, during his tenure as under-18s coach at the Australian Olympic Youth Festival. On 19 September 2009, he made his senior debut for Gold Coast, coming off the bench in the 88th minute against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

Hajduk Split

On 8 June 2011, it was announced that Lustica signed a four-year contract with Croatian giant Hajduk Split. He made his debut against

F.C. Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded i ...

on 23 July 2011. He made his Prva HNL debut on 13 August 2011 against

NK Istra Nogometni Klub Istra ( en, Istra Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra or simply Istra, is a Croatian football club, from the city of Pula. The club currently plays in the fifth level of the Croatian league system but Istra has also pl ...

in a 3–0 away win with Lustica getting an assist. On 5 June 2011, Lustica scored his first goal for HNK Hajduk Split in a man of the match performance against NK Varazdin also getting an assist in the game.

Dugopolje (loan)

On 25 January 2012 it was announced that Lustica would join Croatian 2. HNL side

NK Dugopolje NK Dugopolje is a professional Croatian football club based in the town of Dugopolje on the outskirts of Split, a city on the Adriatic coast. They were founded in 1952, and they currently play in the Prva nogometna liga (English: First football ...

for the second half of the 2011–12 season. Lustica made 10 appearances for Dugopolje, scoring one goal and assisting the club in achieving promotion to Prva HNL as they beat NK Pomorac Kostrena to the 2. HNL Championship by one point. Lustica returned to Hajduk Split at the conclusion of Dugopolje's season.

Brisbane Roar (loan)

On 26 January 2013,

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

in the Australian A-League signed Lustica on a loan deal which would see him stay at the club until the end of the

2012–13 A-League The 2012–13 A-League was the 36th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the eighth season of the Australian A-League since its establishment in 2004. The 2012–13 season saw the introduction of a new Western Sydney-based team, the r ...

season. Prior to his signing, Brisbane were having a disappointing season, losing 10 of their opening 17 games of the season and picking up just 17 points. Reunited with former coach Mike Mulvey, Lustica would help turn around Brisbane's season. The club lost only two league games in the remaining 10 games of the regular season, qualifying for the post-season

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, a feat which looked unlikely after the first two-thirds of the season. Despite the Roar being interested in retaining Lustica, Hajduk Split refused to release him and he returned to Hajduk in June 2013. Luštica scored two goals in his 12 appearances on loan with Brisbane.

Adelaide United

In September 2013, Hajduk Split changed their mind about releasing him and Lustica was granted a release from his contract which allowed him to return to the A-League with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

where he agreed a one-year contract for the 2013–14 season. Lustica impressed in his appearances for United, earning himself a place in the Team of the Week in Round 13.

Departure from Adelaide United

Lustica's time at Adelaide was to be short-lived however, when on 29 January 2014 he requested an early termination to his contract in order to make himself available to former club Brisbane Roar. As Lustica entered the final six months of his contract, he was in negotiations with Adelaide over a one-year extension. According to Adelaide, an agreement was reached in principal but not formalised. Around the same time, Brisbane approached him and an enquiry was made as to whether Adelaide would consider releasing him to join the club immediately, which Adelaide refused. Following this, Adelaide head coach Josep Gombau reported that Lustica had failed to attend training and declared that Lustica was no longer welcome at the club. Lustica was subsequently released from contract with Adelaide United on 2 February 2014.

Return to Brisbane Roar

On 4 February 2014, it was announced that Lustica had re-signed with former club,

until the end of the 2015–16 season. Lustica scored his first return goal for Brisbane Roar against the Newcastle Jets in a Round 6 clash which ended in a 4–0 victory for Roar, courtesy of an Henrique hattrick. He scored another goal in the 5–4 battering of Roar against Sydney FC. He rounded off his fairly prolific goalscoring season with a hattrick in a 6–1 win against the Central Coast Mariners at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, also providing an assist for Brandon Borrello. The first season of his second spell at the club, Lustica made 25 appearances, scoring five goals and notching two assists. Lustica opened his goal tally for the 2015–16 season netting a composed finish against the

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

, a 2–1 win to the Roar, as they braved hot conditions in Cairns. Brisbane Roar tabled Lustica a new contract offer in December 2015.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 23 May 2016, Lustica signed with the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

on a 2-year contract. The versatile midfielder will forever be etched in Wanderers history for his goal against

English 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 ...

giants Arsenal in July 2017. On 30 June 2018, after making 35 appearances in all competitions, Lustica departed from Western Sydney Wanderers to pursue offers in Europe.

Inter Zaprešić

In July 2018, shortly after leaving

, Lustica joined Croatian club Inter Zaprešić. Romanian top-tier team F.C Botosani offered Lustica a contract that he declined.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Sydney FC Youth * National Youth League Championship: 2008–09 * National Youth League Premiership: 2008–09 Gold Coast Youth * National Youth League Championship: 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. ...

* National Youth League Premiership:

Dugopolje *

Croatian Second Football League The Druga nogometna liga ( eng, Second football league), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL) is the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Cro ...

: 2011–12 Brisbane Roar * A-League Championship: 2013–14 * A-League Premiership: 2013–14 Western United *

A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

Championship: 2021–22

International

Australia U-19 *

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The AFF U-19 Youth Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations from the rest of Asia. The tournament was pre ...

: 2010

Individual

* National Youth League Player of the Season:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lustica, Steven 1991 births Living people Australian soccer players Australian people of Croatian descent Gold Coast United FC players HNK Hajduk Split players NK Dugopolje players NK Inter Zaprešić players A-League Men players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Uzbekistan Super League players Brisbane Roar FC players Adelaide United FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players FC Qizilqum Zarafshon players Western United FC players Association football midfielders Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Uzbekistan Sportspeople from Canberra Soccer players from the Australian Capital Territory Australia under-20 international soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Uzbekistan