Toni Datković (; born 6 November 1993) 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 plays either 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 s ...

or left-back for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors.

Club career

Youth

Coming from the island of Pag, Datković went through the ranks of

Novalja Novalja () is a town in the north of the island of Pag in the Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. In recent times, Novalja has become famous because of the Zrće Beach. History The earliest settlers on the island were an Illyrian tribe that came to ...

, before moving 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 ...

, where, after six months at the lower-tier side Lokomotiva, he joined the

academy. Raising through the ranks, he became the U19 team's captain.

HNK Rijeka

Datković never made his

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 ...

debut for HNK Rijeka, however, as he was sent on a loan to 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 ...

side

NK Pomorac Kostrena NK Pomorac 1921 is a Croatian football club based in Kostrena, a suburb of Rijeka which currently plays in Croatian third tier 3. HNL West. Kostrena is known for its maritime tradition, which is reflected in the club's name, as the word " pomora ...

, where he remained for 2 years, until his contract expired.

NK Zavrč

In the summer of 2014, Datković joined the Slovenian PrvaLiga side

NK Zavrč Nogometni klub Zavrč or simply NK Zavrč was a Slovenian football club from Zavrč. The club was founded in 1969, but ceased operations in 2016 due to financial difficulties. The same year, the club was refounded as DNŠ Zavrč and started at ...

, where he played 52 league games and scored three goals.

FC Koper

On 20 January 2016, Datković joined another Slovenian club,

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

NK Lokomotiva Zagreb

On 11 July 2017, Datković returned home to joined

Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the c ...

Loan to SD Huesca

Datković moved abroad on 2 September 2019, joining

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side, SD Huesca on a one-year loan deal. He helped the club to win the

2019–20 Segunda División The 2019–20 Segunda División season, also known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, was the 89th since its establishment. On 12 March 2020 after most of teams had played 31 games, the league was suspended for at least two weeks due t ...

title thus winning promotion to top flight of Spanish football, La Liga.

Aris Thessaloniki

On 18 August 2020, Datković signed a three-year contract with Aris Thessaloniki.

Loan to Cartagena

After featuring rarely, Datković returned to Spain and its second division on 10 January 2021, after agreeing to a loan deal with Cartagena until the end of the season.

Real Salt Lake

On 2 June 2021, Datković signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Real Salt Lake on a two-year deal. He make his full match debut on 8 August in a 3–2 loss against

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

Return to Cartagena

On 18 January 2022, Datković returned to Cartagena after agreeing to a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Albacete

Datković terminated his contract with the Cartagena on 1 September 2023, and joined fellow second division side Albacete Balompié just hours later. On 29 January 2024, however, he also departed the latter club.

Lion City Sailors

On 21 February 2024, Datković moved to Southeast Asia to join Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors. On his official debut for the club on 4 May 2024, he helped his club to win the 2024 Singapore Community Shield in a 2–0 win against Albirex Niigata (S).

International career

Datković made his debut for Croatia during the

2017 China Cup The 2017 Gree China Cup International Football Championship () was the inaugural edition of the China Cup, an international football tournament. It was held from 10 to 15 January 2017 in Nanning, Guangxi, China. The tournament was hosted by t ...

match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

which is his sole international appearance to date.

Personal life

Datković is the son of the football coach Ivica Datković, his brother

Marin Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

is also a professional football player.Ivica Datković nije sjedio na klupi Novalje zbog svadbe standardnog prvotimca Marina Datkovića
at sportcom.hr

Career statistics

International caps

U20 International caps

U19 International caps

Honours

SD Huesca *

: 2019–20 Lion City Sailors * Singapore Community Shield: 2024

References

External links

*
PrvaLiga profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Datkovic, Toni 1993 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's international footballers HNK Rijeka players NK Pomorac 1921 players NK Zavrč players FC Koper players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players SD Huesca footballers Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players FC Cartagena footballers Real Salt Lake players Albacete Balompié players First Football League (Croatia) players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Croatian Football League players Segunda División players Super League Greece players Major League Soccer players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United States