Mario Tičinović (born 20 August 1991) 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 a winger for

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

club Zrinjski Mostar. He has amassed a total 44 youth caps for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

under six different age groups.

Club career

Hajduk Split

Tičinović began his playing career at

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 ...

, he didn't graduate from all the youth levels of Hajduk. That decision would later affect his career. His first game for Hajduk was on 3 August 2008 against Varteks, he came on for

Mladen Bartolović Mladen Bartolović (born 10 April 1977) is a Bosnian professional football coach and former player. Club career Born in Zavidovići, Bartolović played basketball until the age of 16. However, as basketball came to a standstill during the Bos ...

which made him at that time the youngest player ever that debuted for Hajduk on senior level with only 16 years of age. The game ended in a one all draw. Tičinović scored his first goal for the team in a 4–0 win over

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

, becoming the youngest Hajduk's scorer in European competitions ever. Tičinović was often hailed by the media as the new Croatian star and was expected to make a significant international career. Despite his talent he did manage to find himself in the starting 11 and was mostly used as a substitute which affected him negatively. In 2008, he suffered an injury which kept him of the field for nearly 1 year. In 2009 under manager Edoardo Reja he was used more often in the first team but after suffering another injury during the winter preparations in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

he paused for 2 months and after Reja left the club Tičinović found himself again on the bench. He won the Croatian Cup in 2010. In the following season he joined

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

on loan but after 6 months he returned to Hajduk again to find himself with minor minutes on the field. In 2011, manager Krasimir Balakov came to Hajduk and started using young Tičinović as a left back. He did not prove himself to the new manager and was used again as a late substitute. In November 2011 Tičinović was kicked from the first team for breaking the door in the club restaurant and for disrespecting manager Balakov. He was given the status as a not needed player and was loaned to F.C. Nordsjælland. Finally he was sold to them at the end of the season.

Nordsjælland

In January 2012, Tičinović was loaned to Danish club Nordsjælland for the rest of the season. He would make 11 appearances and score 1 goal during his loan spell, helping the

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,369 (1 January 2025).

club win their first

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

championship. On 1 June 2012, Nordsjælland confirmed the purchase of Tičinović from Hajduk Split who signed a three-year contract.

Lokeren

On 9 July 2015, it was confirmed that Tičinović had signed a four-year contract with Belgian club

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

. On 31 January 2019, it was announced, that Tičinović,

Julian Michel Julian Michel Bendahbi (born 19 February 1992) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Michel joined Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz in 2013 from Lille OSC, Lille B. In 2014, the club p ...

and Đorđe Jovanović had been promoted to reserve team due to a lack of commitment. The club was in a very bad position, which with 7 matches to go was very close to relegation. On 4 March 2019, Tičinović got his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Zrinjski Mostar

On 5 July 2019, Tičinović signed with

club Zrinjski Mostar on a free transfer. He made his official debut for Zrinjski on 25 July 2019, in a 1–1 away draw against

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

Honours

Hajduk Split * Croatian Cup: 2009–10 Nordsjælland *

: 2011–12 Zrinjski Mostar *

: 2021–22, 2022–23 * Bosnian Cup: 2022–23, 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ticinovic, Mario 1991 births Living people Footballers from Sinj Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers HNK Hajduk Split players NK Karlovac 1919 players FC Nordsjælland players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players HŠK Zrinjski Mostar players Croatian Football League players Danish Superliga players Belgian Pro League players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina