Šime Vrsaljko (; born 10 January 1992) is a Croatian former 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 lea ...

who played as a right-back. During his 13-year club career, Vrsaljko also played abroad for football clubs in Italy, Spain and Greece. Vrsaljko made his debut for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in 2011 and went on to represent his country at the

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

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, as well as the

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and

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, reaching the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the latter tournament.

Club career

Early career

Vrsaljko started his senior career at Dinamo Zagreb's feeder team, Lokomotiva, where he spent the 2009–10 season on pene. He debuted for Lokomotiva in the Croatian top level in the match against

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

on 26 July 2009 at the age of 17. Vrsaljko was in the starting lineup in each of the 17 Lokomotiva's league matches in 2009, being substituted only once.

Dinamo Zagreb

He rejoined Dinamo Zagreb's squad on 22 December 2009 before the winter break and appeared in his first match for Dinamo Zagreb on 27 February 2010 against Croatia Sesvete in the Prva HNL. He made nine more appearances by the end of the season for Dinamo, making a total of 27 league appearances throughout the whole season. Vrsaljko also made one appearance in the semi-finals of the 2009–10 Croatian Cup. Vrsaljko missed the opening matches of the 2010–11 season, as he was called up for international duties with the Croatian under-19 team. He made his first appearance of the season on 31 July in a league match against Rijeka which Dinamo Zagreb lost 2–1. Vrsaljko then made his debut in European competitions, featuring in their defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. In August that year he was linked with a transfer to Olympique Marseille for a fee of €4 million, but executive vice-president of the club Zdravko Mamić turned down the French club's offer. On 29 August he scored his first league goal for the club in the match against Cibalia which Dinamo Zagreb won 2–0. Due to his impressive performances for Dinamo under the coach Vahid Halilhodžić, he was named Croatian Football Hope of the Year for 2010. By the end of the season, he won the double with Dinamo. He started the 2011/2012 season by providing an assist for Ivan Krstanović in UEFA Champions League qualifier 3–0 victory against Neftchi Baku in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. In August 2011, he was sent off during the away match of 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

, as Dinamo managed to qualify for their first UEFA Champions League in 12 years. He was banned with 3 matches absence in Champions League. He made his 2011–12 UEFA Champions League debut on Matchday 4 against

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, and made another appearance in the final match against

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

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. In domestic league, he made 22 league appearances and provided 5 assists in process, as Dinamo won another double – Prva HNL and Hrvatski kup titles. After his return from Poland, where he was a part of Croatian team at

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, he helped Dinamo to qualify for another UEFA Champions League. He made 4 appearances as right full-back in 2012–13 UEFA Champions League as Dinamo finished bottom of their group with only one point. He also made 25 league appearances, providing three assists.

Genoa

On 12 July 2013 Vrsaljko joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

for €4.6 million. In his first season in the Italian top flight, Vrsaljko was a frequent member of the starting XI, playing in various roles on the right flank – including right-back and right wing. He made 22 appearances in total, missing rounds 24–33 through injury.

Sassuolo

On 22 July 2014 Vrsaljko signed for

side

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) 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 for being the centre of the Ita ...

for €3.5 million plus bonuses of €2 million. He became a key part of Sassuolo's defence under manager Eusebio Di Francesco, and eventually helped the team to achieving their first ever Europa League qualification after finishing 6th in

courtesy of a

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

win over

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as Milan would have gone to Europe instead if they had won the final.

Atlético Madrid

Vrsaljko signed for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in 2016 on a five-year deal, which was extended for another year on 5 February 2018. On 16 May 2018 Vrsaljko started the Europa League final as Atlético won the title.

Loan to Inter Milan

On 31 July 2018, Vrsaljko joined Italian side

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

on an initial one-year loan with the option to buy. On 27 January 2019 Vrsaljko was ruled out for at least six months, due to left

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

s surgery.

Return from loan

On 26 January 2020, he started his first game after being a year out against Leganés that ended up as a goalless draw. He was subbed off for Ivan Šaponjić in 88th minute. On 18 February, he started the home leg of the Champions League round-of-16 fixture against ruling champions

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that ended up as a 1–0 victory. On 10 August, Atlético announced that Vrsaljko and teammate Ángel Correa were both positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, ruling them out of the team's quarter-final fixture against

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. After undergoing another knee surgery during summer, Vrsaljko finally returned to the pitch on 16 December, when he scored in a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

3–0 victory over Cardassar.

Olympiacos

On 2 July 2022, Vrsaljko moved to

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club Olympiacos on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 20 July in a Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa that ended as a 1–1 draw. However, in November 2022, Vrsaljko's contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

Retirement

On 23 March 2023, Vrsaljko announced his retirement at the age of 31.

International career

He received his first call-up to the

Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team () represents Croatia in men's international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEF ...

on 2 November 2010 for the Euro 2012 qualifier against

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. He made his national team debut on 9 February 2011 in a friendly match versus the

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. He made 3 more appearances before May 2012, when he was named in Croatia 26 players preliminary squad for

. After the friendly match against

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in May 2012, Croatia manager

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

withdrew him from the final list for UEFA Euro 2012. However, just a week after being withdrawn from the final list, he was called up again due to injury of

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

player Ivo Iličević. He was an unused substitute in all three Croatia matches at the tournament. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying phase he made only one appearance, in the match against

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in Zagreb. In May 2014 he was named in Croatia 23-man squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

in Brazil. Due to injuries of in Croatian squad just before the opening match against

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, Vrsaljko filled in at the left-back position instead of injured Danijel Pranjić. He reprised his role as a left back in the decider against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, that ended as a 3–1 defeat and saw Croatia eliminated. On 12 November 2014, at the age of 22, he was the captain of the national team in a 2–1 loss against

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, playing for the entire game. He became one of the youngest captains in the history of the national team, with Darijo Srna being rested for the game against

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. In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's squad for the

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

in Russia. He started in six of the seven matches in the team's runners-up finish. He also took part in three of the four matches in the inaugural edition of the Nations League, missing the home fixture against

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, that ended up as a goalless draw, due to a knee injury. In September 2020, Vrsaljko came back to the national team after almost two years of absence due to knee surgery. He was named in coach Zlatko Dalić's Nations League fixtures against

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and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. However, Vrsaljko did not play a single minute until a 2022 World Cup qualifier against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

on 24 March 2021, which Croatia lost 1–0. The defeat was his first game for the national team in 28 months. However, his underwhelming performances caused Dalić to drop him from the starting XI in favour of Josip Juranović ahead of Croatia's Euro 2020 match against

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, and drop him from the team completely ahead of Croatia's September World Cup qualifiers against

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and Slovenia. He would go on to make one last appearance for the national team on 10 June 2022 in the 1–0 Nations League victory over

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, before permanently retiring from international football on 26 August. He earned a total of 52 caps, scoring no goals.

Personal life

Vrsaljko's great-grandfather was killed by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

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when his paternal grandfather, whom Vrsaljko was named after, was only several months old. When his grandfather died, he was buried with Vrsaljko's Croatia national team jersey. Vrsaljko's father Mladen was also a footballer who played for NK Zadar from 1992 to 1995, and his paternal uncle Svemir is a former deputy mayor of

Benkovac Benkovac () is a town and municipality in the Zadar County, Croatia. Geography Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica, Croatia, Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30&n ...

, who served as a commander of special unit force "Poskoci" ('' Long-Nosed Vipers'') during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. Vrsaljko was born in 1992 in exile in

due to

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

of his hometown of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. His family returned to Zadar and nearby Nadin, where his father hails from, upon the end of the war. His mother Branka () hails from Dračevac Ninski near Poličnik. In June 2017, Vrsaljko married his high school love Matea Kedžo. On 6 June 2018, the young couple got their first child, a son. In mid April 2022, Vrsaljko had his second child, a daughter, from an extramarital affair with Slovenian model Kaja Vidmar. It is believed that he separated from Kedžo in the beginning of that year. In January 2019, a photograph of Vrsaljko lying on a Croatian flag on the field of the

Luzhniki Stadium The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, commonly known as Luzhniki Stadium, is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. Its total seating capacity of 78,011 makes it the List of football stadiums in R ...

after the 2018 World Cup semi-final match against

, taken by Drago Sopta, was chosen as the fourth most beautiful one in the world by AIPS. Croatian media dubbed the photograph as "legendary". When asked about its background, Vrsaljko has said:

I was more like tired and exhausted from everything so I felt like lying down a bit and taking a rest.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb * Prva HNL: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 * Croatian Cup: 2010–11, 2011–12 Atlético Madrid *

: 2020–21 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2017–18 Croatia *

runner-up:

Individual * Croatian Football Hope of the Year: 2010 * Croatian First Football League Team of the Year: 2012–13 * FIFA FIFPro World XI 5th team: 2018 * Honorary citizen of the

Zadar County Zadar County ( ) is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its seat is the city of Zadar. Geography Among the largest towns in the county of Zadar are: Zadar, Benkovac, Bibinje, Biograd, Nin, Croatia, Nin ...

: 2019 * City of Zadar Award: 2018 Orders * Order of Prince Branimir

Order of Duke Branimir: 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrsaljko, Sime 1992 births Living people Footballers from Zadar Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players Genoa CFC players US Sassuolo Calcio players Atlético Madrid footballers Inter Milan players Olympiacos F.C. players Croatian Football League players Serie A players La Liga players Super League Greece players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece UEFA Europa League–winning players