Josip Šimić (born 16 September 1977) is a retired

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 football striker. He is the younger brother of

Dario Šimić Dario Šimić (; born 12 November 1975) is a Croatian former footballer. Šimić was a versatile defender who played as full-back, sweeper or centre back; a physical and hard-tackling defender, he was known in particular for his strength and a ...

Club career

Šimić started his professional career with

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. Dinam ...

in 1993, when the club was known as Croatia Zagreb. He was also part of the first team when they won four consecutive titles in the Croatian league between 1997 and 2000. In the 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 seasons, he also appeared in a total of 10

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 ...

group matches for the club, memorably scoring the winning goal in their 1–0 away win at

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

on 25 November 1998. In 2000, he left his homeland to play in Belgium for

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

before going on to play in the national leagues of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He returned to Croatia in 2006, signing for Varteks as a free agent upon the end of his contract with

FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. History Austria Klagenfurt Austria Klagenfurt played successfully in the '' Kärntner Liga'' and i ...

. After an alleged injury problem and only a few appearances, he left Varteks in the summer of 2007.

International career

Šimić was a Croatian youth international between 1993 and 2000, making over 20 international appearances at under-16 to under-21 levels. He also played for the Croatian national under-21 team at the European Under-21 Championship in 2000. In January 1999, he appeared for Croatia B in a friendly match against France B and made his full 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 13 June 1999 against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

at the

Korea Cup The Korea Cup ( ko, 코리아컵 국제축구대회) was an international football tournament held annually in South Korea from 1971 to 1999. History The Korea Cup was created with the name President's Cup Football Tournament ( ko, 박대� ...

, a friendly international tournament in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. Three days later, he scored his only international goal in a 2–1 win against

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

during the same tournament. Between August and October 1999, he made three appearances as a substitute in Croatia's

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

qualifiers against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. Croatia failed to qualify for the finals after finishing third in their qualifying group. Šimić's final full international appearance came on 26 April 2000 in a friendly match against

. He won a total of 7 full international caps for Croatia.

International goal

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00 Club Brugge *

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 ...

: 2002 Belgian Cup Final, 2001–02 Individual * Korea Cup, Korea Cup Most Valuable Player:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

References

External links

*
Josip Šimić
at the Croatian Football Federation
Josip Šimić profile
at Nogometni Magazin * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simic, Josip 1977 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Association football forwards Croatian footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Club Brugge KV players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Ulsan Hyundai FC players FC Kärnten players NK Varaždin players Croatian Football League players Belgian Pro League players Super League Greece players K League 1 players 2. Liga (Austria) players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in South Korea Croatian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea