Damir Vrančić (born 4 October 1985) is a Bosnian 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Vrančić made his professional debut for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

1. FSV Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

in 2006. After his club's relegation to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the season, he regularly played for Mainz at the beginning of the 2007–08 2. Bundesliga season, but started to see less playing time as the season went on. For 2008–2009 Vrančić transferred to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

's reserve squad in the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

. After one season in Dortmund, he joined Eintracht Braunschweig, playing in the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

at the time. During his time in Braunschweig, the team achieved promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2011, and to the Bundesliga in 2013. On the 31st matchday of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Vrančić scored the decisive goal from a free-kick in injury time when Braunschweig secured its return to the Bundesliga after a 28 years absence with a 1–0 away win over

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußballclub Ingolstadt 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolsta ...

. In June 2016, Vrančić joined 3. Liga side

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest l ...

on a free transfer. However, only 13 days later the contract was terminated by mutual consent, citing health reasons. On 12 October 2016, Vrančić joined

Niedersachsenliga The Oberliga Niedersachsen (), sometimes referred to as ''Niedersachsenliga'' (Lower Saxony league), is the fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony (). ...

side

FT Braunschweig Freie Turnerschaft Braunschweig, commonly known as Freie Turner, FT Braunschweig or simply FTB, is a German association football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. History The club was founded as a worker's sports club on 2 ...

as playing assistant manager.

International career

Vrančić was called up to

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in May 2007, but did not play. He finally made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 26 May 2012, in a friendly against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. He earned four caps in total. His final international was a September 2012 World Cup qualification match away against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

Personal life

Vrančić's younger brother

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

is also a professional footballer. He adheres to the Muslim faith.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrancic, Damir 1985 births Living people Footballers from Slavonski Brod Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Germany Men's association football midfielders Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's international footballers 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Borussia Dortmund II players Eintracht Braunschweig players Eintracht Braunschweig II players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Germany