Tin Jedvaj (; born 28 November 1995) 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 defender for Emirati club Al Ain on loan from

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

. He was a part of the Croatia national team's squad which ended

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 2018 FIFA World Cup. He is mostly deployed as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

and occasionally as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Jedvaj started his professional career in 2013 with

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 ...

, coming through Dinamo's youth academy. He made his debut in a match against Osijek, playing in central defence alongside

Josip Šimunić Josip "Joe" Šimunić (; born 18 February 1978) is a Croatian retired footballer and current manager of the Croatia national under-19 team. Born in Australia to Bosnian Croat parents, Šimunić started his career at Melbourne Knights then mov ...

. He scored his debut goal against Cibalia. During his first professional season with the club, he won the Croatian Prva HNL trophy. At the beginning of the new

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, he won another trophy with the club when Dinamo defeated Hajduk Split in the

Croatian Supercup 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 tw ...

. During his time with Dinamo, Jedvaj made total of 14 official appearances for the club.

Roma

At the end of his first professional

, Jedvaj was targeted and approached by Italian club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, although the initial offer was rejected by the Dinamo board. On 10 July 2013, however, it was confirmed that Jedvaj had signed a contract with the Roman club. Jedvaj made his Roma debut on 1 December 2013, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 4–0

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 ...

victory over

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 made his starting debut for the club against the same opposition in the last round of the Serie A season, with Genoa winning the clash 1–0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Those were Jedvaj's only two appearances for the season, appearing on the bench 33 times for Roma in the 2013–14 season.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 11 June 2014,

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

announced that they had reached an agreement with all parties for a loan agreement with Roma and Jedvaj, allowing Jedvaj to join Bayer on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. Jedvaj's debut with the Germans – where he contributed significantly while playing all 90 minutes in the first official match of the season – helped the team to a 6–0 victory against Alemannia Waldalgesheim in the first round of the

2014–15 DFB-Pokal The 2014–15 DFB-Pokal was the 72nd season of the annual German football cup competition. It began on 15 August 2014 with the first of six rounds and ended on 30 May 2015 with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Bayern Munich were the tw ...

. Just a few days later, on 19 August, Jedvaj made his debut with the Germans in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, replacing teammate

Giulio Donati Giulio Donati (born 5 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Monza. Club career Inter Milan Primavera and first team Born in Pietrasanta, the Province of Lucca, Donati started his career at hom ...

in the 46th minute in Bayer's 3–2 away victory in Denmark over

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League play-off round. Jedvaj played the second half well, helping his team to secure an eventual victory. He did, however, receive a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

in the 51st minute of the match. Jedvaj also played in the return match against Copenhagen in the Germans' 4–0 victory, allowing Bayer qualification to the Champions League group stage. Jedvaj played all 90 minutes of the match, even earning a penalty on the half-hour mark of which striker Stefan Kießling converted in an eventual 3–0 victory. Jedvaj subsequently made his debut in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

on 23 August, a 2–0 victory over

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

in the first match of the campaign. He scored his first goal with Bayer early on in the second game of the season, a 4–2 home win against Hertha BSC. Jedvaj scored in the 50th minute, tying the game 1–1 before Bayer eventually went on to win. Jedvaj continued his fine form at Leverkusen by scoring a powerful curving goal 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 ...

to give his side a 1–0 lead. He later assisted

Son Heung-min Son Heung-min ( ko, 손흥민; ; born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the South Korea national team. Considered one of the best forwards i ...

for the goal that would tie the game for a final result of 3–3. On 20 January 2015, Bayer Leverkusen confirmed that they had signed Jedvaj from Roma on a permanent deal and signed a contract with the Croatian defender until 2020. However, Jedvaj was only able to make one appearance in the first half of the 2015–16 season. This was due to a thigh injury that recurred three times. His only appearance came against

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 ...

in October, where he came on as a substitute. On 29 October 2016, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. On 20 August 2019, Jedvaj was loaned out to

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

until the end of 2019–20 season. On 17 December, he scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory over

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. On 16 May 2020, he scored the only goal in a 2–1 defeat to VfL Wolfsburg. Upon return to Leverkusen in summer 2020, Jedvaj was completely sidelined by coach

Peter Bosz Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Playing career Club A midfielder, Bosz started his professional career played with Vitesse in 1981; after a loan season with then amat ...

, playing only in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 24 July 2021, Jedvaj signed a four-year-long deal with

club

. He was brought in to replace his compatriot

Vedran Ćorluka Vedran Ćorluka (; born 5 February 1986) is a Croatian football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is an assistant to Zlatko Dalić in the Croatia national team. Ćorluka graduated from the Dinamo Zagreb Youth Academ ...

, who retired from football two months earlier. He made his debut on 6 August as a 46th-minute substitute in the 1–1

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 ...

draw with

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

. He scored his first goal for Lokomotiv on 25 October in a 2–1 victory over Sochi.

Loan to Al Ain

On 20 December 2022, Jedvaj moved on loan to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates until 30 June 2023, with an option to buy.

International career

Jedvaj has represented Croatia at various youth levels. He made his senior debut at age 18, playing the final 13 minutes in a friendly match against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

on 4 September 2014 at Stadion Aldo Drosina in Pula. On 31 May 2016, he was confirmed to be a part of the Croatia squad 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 ...

. He was selected to start a match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, which Croatia won 2–1. In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He featured once during the tournament, playing the whole ninety minutes of a 2–1 victory 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 ...

. Croatia finished the tournament as

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

. On 16 November 2018, he scored two goals in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

group match against Spain, including the winner in a 3–2 victory. During Euro 2020 qualifying, Jedvaj played regularly, replacing injured right back

Šime Vrsaljko Šime Vrsaljko (; born 10 January 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Croatian national team. Vrsaljko made his debut for Croatia in 2011 and went on to represent his ...

and appearing in five out of eight games. However, ahead of Nations League matches against Sweden and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, Jedvaj was dropped from the national team.

Personal life

Jedvaj's father

Zdenko Zdenko is a male given name of Slovak, Slovene or Croatian origin. It is the Slavic version of the name Sidonius (meaning ''of Sidon''). Other explanation are given as coming from the slavic term '' zidati'', meaning to build or to create or '' ...

is a former footballer. During the Bosnian War, his family left

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and moved to the Croatian capital of

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. In June 2022, Jedvaj married his long-time girlfriend Dina Dragija in

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

. In May 2020, Jedvaj appeared in the music video for the song "Poziv" (''Call'') by Serbian rapper Cvija.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jedvaj goal''

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb * Prva HNL:

2012–13 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. I ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

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: 2014 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:Jedvaj, Tin 1995 births Footballers from Zagreb Living people Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers Association football defenders GNK Dinamo Zagreb players A.S. Roma players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Augsburg players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Al Ain FC players Croatian Football League players Serie A players Bundesliga players Russian Premier League players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates