Andrija Balić (; born 11 August 1997) is a Croatian
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
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 the Slovak side
MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica in the
Fortuna Liga
The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, h ...
, on loan from
FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertain ...
but living in nearby
Dugopolje
Dugopolje is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County.
The name ''Dugopolje'' literally translates as 'long field'. The town has a population of over 3469, 99.5% which are Croats. Noted in Dugopolje is Vranjača cave. Dugopolje ...
, Balić started to train football at the local
NK Dugopolje
NK Dugopolje is a professional Croatian football club based in the town of Dugopolje on the outskirts of Split, a city on the Adriatic coast. They were founded in 1952, and they currently play in the Prva nogometna liga (English: First football ...
, before moving to the
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 ...
academy in 2007.
Passing through the ranks, he became a youth international, playing for all
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 ...
n selections between U14 and U19.
In the 2013–14 season he formed a potent midfield partnership for the Hajduk U17 team with
Nikola Vlašić, which resulted in the team finishing the first half of the season in first place, without a single loss. The two then received and signed professional contracts, until 2017 and were moved to the U19 team. Balić made his first team debut in the 1–0 home win against
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 s ...
, coming in the 76th minute of the match for
Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov.
Hajduk Split
He had to wait until December to make his first appearance of the 2014–15 season, but then became a much more prevalent member of the first team. He got his first start for Hajduk on 18 February 2015, in a 3–0 away loss 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 Prim ...
. He scored his first goal for Hajduk on 1 March 2015 in a 2–2 draw against
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...
, helping his side claw a point after being 2–0 down. His bigger impact on the first team led Balić to be rewarded with a new contract ending in mid-2018.
Udinese
On 1 February 2016, he signed for
Udinese in a €4 million deal. In his first half-season with Udinese, Balić made the bench on 15 occasions, but failed to make a first team appearance. The next season was much the same for Balić, sitting on the bench 28 times without making an appearance before making his senior team debut on 7 May 2017 in a 1–1 draw with
Atalanta Bergamo at the
Stadio Friuli
The Stadio Friuli (known for sponsorship reasons as Dacia Arena) is an all-seater football stadium in Udine, Italy, and the home of Serie A club Udinese. The stadium was built in 1976 and has a capacity of 25,144. It is sponsored by Romanian c ...
, playing the first 60 minutes before being replaced by
Sven Kums. He would go on to appear in the three following matches and score his first goal for Udinese in a 5–2 loss to
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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...
at the
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums ...
. Balić made just one appearance in the first 11 rounds of the
2017–18 Serie A
The 2017–18 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of top-tier Italian football, the 86th in a round-robin tournament and the 8th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...
season, but following the appointment of
Massimo Oddo, he became more prevalent in the first eleven once more.
Fortuna Sittard (loan)
On 24 January 2019, Balić joined to Dutch club
Fortuna Sittard
Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...
on loan until 30 June 2019.
Perugia (loan)
On 30 August 2019, he joined
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
club
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and par ...
on a season-long loan.
DAC Dunajská Streda
Balić continued to be loaned out of Udinese, as his next half-season loan was announced on 14 February 2020, when he was loaned out to
DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda, playing in the
Slovak Fortuna Liga
The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, h ...
.
Balić made his
Fortuna Liga
The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, h ...
debut in an
away fixture against
Ružomberok
Ružomberok (; german: Rosenberg; hu, Rózsahegy; pl, Rużomberk) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 27,000 inhabitants (45,000 with nearby villages).
Etymology
The name of the initia ...
on 22 February 2020. Balić was fielded in the starting line-up but was replaced before the second half by
Eric Ramírez. The match concluded in a goal-less tie.
Balić scored his first and only league goal for
DAC in his first game after the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. On 21 June 2020, DAC defeated
Spartak Trnava
FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, an ...
(2:0) at
Štadión Antona Malatinského. Balić completed the entire match scored the second goal of the match, following a pass from
Marko Divković. Earlier on, on 4 March, Balić scored in a 2:0 win over
Poprad
Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the te ...
in the quarterfinals of the
Slovnaft Cup, scoring the second goal of the match. He also appeared in a crucial 0:3 defeat against
Ružomberok
Ružomberok (; german: Rosenberg; hu, Rózsahegy; pl, Rużomberk) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 27,000 inhabitants (45,000 with nearby villages).
Etymology
The name of the initia ...
in the away tie of the semifinals, ending DAC's campaign in the Cup.
Of 12 eligible games in the 2019/20 season, he participated in nine matches, scoring two goals. After the conclusion of the season, he moved to
DAC on a permanent transfer, signing a three-season deal.
Career statistics
References
External links
*
Andrija Balićat hajduk.hr
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balic, Andrija
1997 births
Living people
Footballers from Split, Croatia
Association football midfielders
Croatian footballers
Croatia youth international footballers
Croatia under-21 international footballers
HNK Hajduk Split players
Udinese Calcio players
Fortuna Sittard players
A.C. Perugia Calcio players
FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players
MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica players
Croatian Football League players
Serie A players
Eredivisie players
Slovak Super Liga players
Croatian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in Slovakia
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia