Daniel Majstorović

Daniel Majstorović (born 5 April 1977) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a centre back.

He started his career with IF Brommapojkarna in his native Sweden. After a year with the club, he moved to German side SC Fortuna Köln in 1997, subsequently moving back to Sweden just a year later when he signed for Västerås SK. His form then earned him a move to Malmö FF, where he won his first trophy, the 2004 Allsvenskan, and his first international call-up for the Sweden national team in 2003.

In 2004, he moved to Dutch Eredivisie club FC Twente for a fee of €800,000, and after one season he signed for Swiss Super League side FC Basel for €1.3 million. He won the double of league and cup in the 2007–08 season. He scored 11 goals in the double-winning season, and finished as the club's second top goalscorer. In 2008, then he moved to Greek Superleague side AEK Athens on a free transfer. He was released in 2010 due to financial problems at the club and was then signed by Scottish Premier League team Celtic. In Scotland, he won the 2010–11 Scottish Cup and 2011–12 Scottish Premier League.

Club career

Early career

Before starting his football career, Majstorović played at the youth level at Övergrans IF and Håbo FF. He began his professional career with IF Brommapojkarna in 1995, playing 20 games in his debut season. The next year, he only played 14 games and scored once but was still spotted German side Fortuna Köln, who secured his signature in 1997. On 15 February 1998, Majstorović made his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw against KFC Uerdingen 05. Since making his debut, Majstorović was a first-team regular, scoring his first goal for the club on 14 March 1998 in a 1–1 draw against FC St. Pauli, his only goal in German professional football.

Västerås SK

Majstorović did not play many more games in Germany, where in his second year he made just seven, scoring one goal. He then returned to Sweden the following year, signing with Västerås SK. The club was in the pre-season from the Allsvenskan gone and missed with a third party as a table Majstorović just the direct re-emergence. The following year was only a midfield place after all of the qualifications for the new single-track second division meant. He became a fans' favourite at Västerås and was watched by scouts from the Sweden national team and Malmö FF.

Malmö FF

Majstorović's good performances for Västerås earned him a move to Swedish club Malmö FF—just promoted to Allsvenskan—where he rose to become a cult hero. There were also economic reasons behind Majstorović's transfer to the club—Västerås were in deep economic trouble and in risk of relegation. Malmö FF would lose six points in the league if this happened and thus made a bid to save the club and purchase a quality player simultaneously. At the club, the emergence of young talent Zlatan Ibrahimović led to the return to Allsvenskan in 2001.

With the club, Majstorović could lay down in front of the table with 18 games of the season and he carried in his 2004 season with the championship title for the first time in 15 years. That same year he was elected by the opponents in the league at the worst possible opponent. Majstorović spent four years at Malmö, playing 86 games and scoring nine goals. He then sought a bigger challenge and a better league to play in so he could earn more international caps.

Twente

Majstorović moved to Dutch club FC Twente in 2004 for €800,000, with whom he played 50 games, accompanied by four goals. His most notable moment with the club was when they won the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006. Although he played well at Twente, his time there was shrouded in controversy — in March 2005, he was cleared of a seven-game Eredivisie ban for allegedly elbowing FC Groningen forward Martin Drent and in December of the same year he was involved in a training ground confrontation with team-mate Blaise Nkufo. A week later, Majstorović later came too late for training and he was released because of this lack of discipline by the club.

Basel

In January 2006, Majstorović signed for reigning Swiss champions FC Basel for a reported €3.3 million, despite interest from Ajax, PSV, and Newcastle United. He joined Basel's first team during their 2005–06 season under head coach Christian Gross. After playing in two test games Majstorović played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the Hardturm on 12 February 2006 as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Zürich. He scored his first league goal for his new team one week later on 19 February in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel drew 1–1 with Schaffhausen.

During the autumn, Basel had qualified themselves for the knock-out stage of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. In the round of 32 Basel were drawn against Monaco, Basel won the first leg 1-0 and in the second leg Majstorović scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw. In the round of 16 Basel advanced to the quarter-finals beating Strasbourgh 4–2 on aggregate. In the quarter-final Basel won the first leg 2–0 against Middlesbrough. Majstorović was sent off during the second leg at the Riverside Stadium while Basel were leading still leading on the away goals rule. Middlesbrough went on to win the match 4–1 with a last minute goal, therefore the tie 4–3 on aggregate, and many of the Basel supporters held Majstorović partly responsible.

Basel had started well into the 2005–06 Super League season and led the championship right until the last day of the league campaign. On the closing day of the league season, Basel played a finalissima at home against Zürich. Mladen Petrić had scored the equaliser for FCB after FCZ had taken an early lead. But then a 93rd-minute goal from Zürich's Iulian Filipescu meant the final score was 1–2 in favour of the away team and it gave FCZ their first national championship since 1980–81. The title for Basel was lost on goal difference. Majstorović had played in all 18 league games since he joined the club, scoring five league goals. The last-minute loss of the Championship and the subsequent riots, the so-called Basel Hooligan Incident, meant that the club would suffer consequences.

FC Basel's European campaign started in the first qualifying stage of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, here they beat Kazakhi side FC Tobol 3–1 on aggregate. In the second qualifying round they were drawn against FC Vaduz from Liechtenstein, narrowly progressing on the away goals rule after a 2–2 aggregate draw. In the first round Basel won 7–2 on aggregate against FK Rabotnički to qualified for the group stage. Here Basel played their first match at home against Feyenoord, this ended in a 1–1 draw. Their second was away and FCB lost 3–0 against Blackburn Rovers. At home against AS Nancy the match was drawn 2–2 and the final game ended with a 3–1 defeat against Wisła Kraków. Basel ended the group stage in last position in the table and were eliminated. Majstorović played in nine of these ten matches, scoring twice. At the end of the 2006–07 Super League season Basel were runners-up, one point behind championship winners Zürich. Majstorović played in 35 of these 36 matches, scoring eight times. In the 2006–07 Swiss Cup Basel advanced to the final, beating FC Liestal in the first round, Lugano, FC Baulmes, Aarau and Wil in the semi-final. In the final they played Luzern and won this 1–0 thanks to a penalty goal, scored by Majstorović, in the third minute of added time. Majstorović had played in all six of these games.

Basel played in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. Winning both matches in the qualification round and both matches in the play-off round, they team advanced to the group stage, which they ended undefeated in second position, after playing 1–0 at home against Stade Rennes, 0–0 away against Dinamo Zagreb, 1–0 at home against Brann and 1–1 away against Hamburger SV, to continue the knockout stage. But then they were eliminated here by Sporting CP. Majstorović played in all ten of these games. At the end of their 2007–08 season he won the Double with the club. They won the League Championship title with four points advantage over second placed Young Boys. In the Swiss Cup via FC Léchelles, SC Binningen, Grasshopper Club, Stade Nyonnais and in the semi-final Thun, Basel advanced to the final this season as well, and winning this 4–1 against AC Bellinzona they won the competition.

Majstorović was also vice-captain and led the team out whenever Ivan Ergić was not playing. Majstorović had an excellent scoring record at Basel. He regularly lingered in the opposition's penalty area when attacking corners and due to his great heading ability, he often converted high balls into the back of the net. He was also a spot-kick specialist. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he was Basel's second top goal-scorer with 10 goals, behind 12-goal Marco Streller. The explanation for his many goals is because during his time with Basel, Majstorović was the club's first choice penalty taker. On 19 May 2008 the UEFA announced that AEK Athens had signed the Swedish international Majstorović from FC Basel 1893 and that the central defender had signed on a three-year contract.

During his time with the club, Majstorović had played a total of 142 games for Basel scoring a total of 32 goals. 85 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 10 in the Swiss Cup, 25 in the UEFA Cup and 22 were friendly games. He scored 23 goals in the domestic league, four in the cup, three in the European games and the other two were scored during the test games.

AEK Athens

On 19 May 2008, Majstorović signed a three-year contract with Greek club AEK Athens, having turned down an offer from Lazio. He played his first competitive match for AEK on 14 August 2008, in a 1–0 defeat to Cypriot side AC Omonia at the Olympic Stadium in a UEFA Cup qualifying match. Majstorović's first goal for AEK was against Asteras Tripolis. He scored again against Asteras Tripolis giving the win to his team on 22 February 2009. He co-operated in the defence with the Greek international defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos, and Geraldo Alves. Majstorović scored his third goal for AEK in the Greek Cup semi-finals against Panserraikos on 18 March 2009. Majstorović scored the winning goal against Benfica in the Europa League on 1 October 2009.

Celtic

On 16 August 2010, Majstorović signed a two-year deal with Scottish Premier League club Celtic on a free transfer. Majstorović made his Celtic debut in the Europa League match against Dutch side FC Utrecht on 19 August 2010 in a 2–0 victory and his SPL debut three days later in a 4–0 win at home against St Mirren. Majstorović captained the side to a 2–1 victory over Kilmarnock when captain Scott Brown went off injured, captained the side again three days later against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a League Cup tie which ended in a 6–0 win for Celtic. Majstorović scored his first goal for Celtic on 9 January 2011 in a 2–0 Scottish Cup

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