Zvonimir Kožulj (; born 15 November 1993) is a Bosnian 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 as a

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 ...

for

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club Universitatea Craiova. Kožulj started his professional career at

Široki Brijeg , , nickname = , motto = , image_map = BiH municipality location Široki Brijeg.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location o ...

, who loaned him to

Vitez Vitez ( sr-cyrl, Витез) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 6,329 inhabitant ...

in 2013 and to Branitelj in 2014. In 2016, he joined

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

. Two years later, he was transferred to

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

. After unsuccessful stints with Turkish sides

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

and

Eyüpspor Eyüpspor is a Turkish professional football club that is located in the Eyüp district of Istanbul. The team colours are lavender and yellow. Their home ground is Eyüp Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,500. History Eyüpspor played in the Ista ...

, Kožulj signed with Bruk-Bet Termalica in 2022 but never made an appearance due to an injury picked up shortly after joining. A former youth international for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kožulj made his senior international debut in 2016.

Club career

Early career

Kožulj came through

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) **ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *Han ...

's youth academy, which he left in 2011 to join

Široki Brijeg , , nickname = , motto = , image_map = BiH municipality location Široki Brijeg.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location o ...

. He made his professional debut against Čelik Zenica on 30 March 2013 at the age of 19. In the summer of 2013, he was sent on a six-month loan to

. On 24 August 2013, he scored his first professional goal. In January 2014, he was loaned to Branitelj until the end of season.

Hajduk Split

On 14 June 2016, Kožulj was transferred to Croatian side

for an undisclosed fee. He made his competitive debut for the club in UEFA Europa League qualifier against Politehnica Iași on 14 July. Three days later, on his league debut, he scored a goal in an away win over

Cibalia Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia, commonly known as Cibalia Vinkovci or simply Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva NL, Croatia's second tier league. Their stadium ...

Pogoń Szczecin

In June 2018, Kožulj signed a three-year contract with Polish team

. He made his official debut for the club on 20 July against

Miedź Legnica Miedź Legnica is a Polish professional football club, based in Legnica, Poland, that competes in the Polish Ekstraklasa. Miedź was founded in 1971. The club's manager is Wojciech Łobodziński. In 2018, Miedź Legnica achieved promotion to t ...

. On 19 October, Kožulj scored his first goal for Pogoń Szczecin in an away defeat to Jagiellonia. He was released from his contract in April 2020.

International career

Having been eligible to represent both

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

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 ...

, Kožulj opted for the former, representing it on various youth levels. In May 2016, he received his first senior call-up, for friendly game 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 ...

and 2016 Kirin Cup. Kožulj debuted against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 7 June.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Široki Brijeg *

Bosnian Cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

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 ...

Hajduk Split *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

runner-up: 2017–18

References

External links