Lukas Kačavenda (born 2 March 2003) is a Croatian 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 plays as an

attacking 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. ...

or winger for

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

side

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

Club career

Kačavenda was born 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 ...

, where his father hails from, while his mother hails from

Sisak Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...

. He started playing football by joining the local club

Kustošija Kustošija is a neighborhood of a city district Črnomerec in Zagreb, Croatia. It has a brook named Kustošak running through it, and also a park-forest Grmoščica, and a border of the nature park Medvednica runs along the northern inhabited par ...

. In 2015, he moved to the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

of the Croatian giants

which he left two years later, unsatisfied with his playing time. He then joined Lokomotiva. During the March international break in 2021, Lokomotiva played a friendly game with Orijent 1919 and the coach

Samir Toplak Samir Toplak (born 23 April 1970) is a Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who is the current manager of Croatian First Football League club NK Kustošij ...

called up several youth players to join the senior team. Toplak was impressed by Kačavenda and

Luka Stojković Luka Stojković (born 28 October 2003) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a attacking midfielder or winger for Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian profes ...

and left them in the senior team permanently. Kačavenda made his debut on 3 April in a 2–0 defeat to

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, coming on for Kim Jeong Hyun in the 65th minute. On 7 May, he provided

Roko Šimić Roko Šimić (born 10 September 2003) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Cardiff City. Career Lokomotiva Zagreb Šimić made his senior debut for Lokomotiva Zagreb on 16 August 2020 in a 6–0 league de ...

with an assist for the first goal and scored the second himself, as Lokomotiva defeated

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

3–1. He was credited as one of the key players who helped Lokomotiva preserve their first league status.

International career

Kačavenda was not part of Croatia's youth teams until autumn 2021, when he was called up to Croatia under-21 national team by their coach

Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the currently head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every posi ...

for the upcoming UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023 qualifying, quickly establishing himself as a key player as Croatia finished the year with six victories out of six.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kacavenda, Lukas 2003 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Croatian Football League players 21st-century Croatian sportsmen