Duje Čop (born 1 February 1990) 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 forward for

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, on loan from

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 ...

. Čop made over 140 appearances and scored over 60 goals in the Croatian First Football League, for Hajduk Split,

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split, commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was founded on 16 April 1912 as Anarch, but has had se ...

, Dinamo Zagreb and Šibenik, finishing as top scorer as Dinamo won the league in 2013–14. He also played in the top leagues of Portugal, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Slovenia, totalling 80 games and 16 goals in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

for Málaga,

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and

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

. Čop earned 14

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and scored two international goals for

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 ...

between 2014 and 2018. He was part of their squad at

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 ...

Club career

Hajduk Split / Nacional

Čop turned professional in 2007–08 at only age 17, helping local Hajduk Split finish fifth in the top division. In his first professional season with Hajduk, he made 15 appearances and scored 2 goals. In July 2008, at the end of the season, he joined

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

in Portugal. Scarcely used during his only season in Madeira (174 minutes in official games), Čop made his Primeira Liga debut on 24 January 2009 in a 1–1 home draw against Sporting Clube de Portugal. On 6 April, he scored his only goal in Portuguese football, replacing Mateus in added time away to

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

and concluding a 3–0 win. He subsequently returned to Hajduk, being sparingly used over the course of two campaigns.

RNK Split

In July 2011, Čop terminated his contract with Hajduk and signed a four-year deal with neighbouring

. He made his debut for the team in a

UEFA 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. ...

qualifying match against Slovenian side

Domžale Domžale (; german: Domschale)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of Municipality of Domžale. The town lies ...

, scoring a goal in the away win. It was Split's first ever goal in European competitions. He also netted another goal against the same side in the second leg.

Dinamo Zagreb

In June 2012, he moved to defending champions GNK Dinamo Zagreb. He started the season with a goal against

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnis ...

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 ...

qualifying match at the

Maksimir Stadium Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 league ...

. He scored another important goal on

road to

2012–13 Champions League 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 ...

, in the play-off match against Maribor. He made six appearances in the competition's group stage. On 18 February 2013, he scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for Dinamo Zagreb in a derby match against Rijeka. He finished as the 2013–14 Prva HNL top goalscorer with 22 goals.

Cagliari

On 11 January 2015, Čop transferred to Italian club Cagliari. Three days later, he made his debut for them, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 loss away to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

in the round of 16 of the 2014–15

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. On 24 January, he scored his first goal in

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 ...

, the winner in a 2–1 home triumph over

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

, as a substitute for

Samuele Longo Samuele Longo (born 12 January 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Dutch club Dordrecht. Club career Early career Born in Valdobbiadene, Province of Treviso, Veneto, Longo started his career at Treviso FBC 19 ...

. On 26 April, he scored twice as the relegation-threatened

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

ns won 3–1 at

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

; he totalled four goals from 16 appearances as the season ended with descent. Duje_Cop

On 16 July 2015, Čop moved to Málaga on a

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 ...

-long loan deal. He made his

debut on 21 August, starting as the campaign began with a goalless home draw against fellow

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. On 13 December, Čop scored his first goal for the ''Boquerones'', an 87th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory at

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

. On the same day, he threatened to leave if his playing time would not increase. In July 2016, Čop was loaned to

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

. On 26 November, he missed a late penalty in a 2–1 away loss against Real Madrid. He totalled nine goals for the

Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who wer ...

, who were relegated at the end of the season.

Standard Liege

On 30 August 2017, Čop completed a €3 million move to

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

in the Belgian First Division A. He scored his first goal on 20 September to conclude a 4–0 home win over Heist in the

sixth round Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor si ...

of the

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

, followed four days later with a first league goal to equalise in a 2–1 win over Lokeren also at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne. Čop played mostly as a substitute for Standard. On 17 March, he came on in the 97th minute for

Edmilson Junior Edmilson Junior Paulo da Silva (born 19 August 1994), commonly known as Edmilson, is a Belgian footballer who plays as a winger for Qatari club Al-Duhail. Career On 22 August 2012, Edmilson made his debut for Sint-Truiden in the Belgian Seco ...

as they beat

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

1-0 in extra time to win the 2018 Belgian Cup Final and qualify for the

. On 19 August 2018 Čop agreed to a one-year loan deal with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

. He did not score in 21 games for the club. In

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, Čop played only 424 minutes of league football for Standard, being out of the plans of managers

Philippe Montanier Philippe Jacques William Montanier (born 15 November 1964) is French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Toulouse. As a player, he was as a goalkeeper. Early life Philippe Jacques William Montanier was b ...

and Mbaye Leye. He scored once that season, in a 3–2 Europa League group loss at Rangers on 3 December.

Return to Dinamo

In June 2021, Čop returned to Dinamo Zagreb after six years away. Having barely played, he was loaned to Celje of the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...

at the start of February. Again, he played mainly from the bench, including when he scored his only goal for the club from the penalty spot in a 4–2 win at Olimpija Ljubljana.

International career

Čop made his senior international debut for

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 ...

on 4 September 2014, replacing

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...

for the final 30 minutes of a 3–0 friendly win over

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 ...

in Pula. He made one appearance in Croatia's successful qualification campaign for

; against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

on 10 October 2015, he came on for

Marko Pjaca Marko Pjaca (; born 6 May 1995) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Empoli, on loan from Juventus. Pjaca began his professional club career in Croatia with Lokomotiva in 2012, before moving to Dinamo Zagreb in ...

at the same mark and was sent off at the end of a 3–0 win for a foul on

Strahil Popov Strahil Popov ( bg, Страхил Попов; born 31 August 1990) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays for Turkish club Ümraniyespor. He mainly plays as a right back. Popov began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2008. Af ...

. Čop was part of Croatia's Euro 2016 squad and made his

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

debut in 2–1 group stage win against defending champions

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 ...

. He scored his first international goal in a 3–0 friendly win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 15 November 2016. In May 2018 Čop was named in Croatia’s preliminary 32-man squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia, but did not make the final 23.

International goals

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

Personal life

Čop's father Davor was also a footballer and a forward. He played for six seasons with Hajduk Split in the 1970s and 1980s.

Honours

Club

Hajduk Split * Croatian Football Cup: 2009–10 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 ...

, 2013–14 *

Croatian Super Cup 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 t ...

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 ...

Standard Liège *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2017–18 Belgian Cup, 2017–18

Individual

*Prva HNL Top goalscorer: 2013–14 * Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award, SN Yellow Shirt Award: 2013–14

References

External links

* * *
Duje Čop
at BDFutbol {{DEFAULTSORT:Cop, Duje 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Vinkovci Croatian footballers Association football forwards Croatian Football League players Primeira Liga players Serie A players La Liga players Belgian Pro League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players HNK Hajduk Split players C.D. Nacional players RNK Split players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Cagliari Calcio players Málaga CF players Sporting de Gijón players Standard Liège players Real Valladolid players NK Celje players HNK Šibenik players Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers Croatian expatriate footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Slovenia UEFA Euro 2016 players