Matija Špoljarić (, born 2 April 1997) is a Cypriot 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Digenis Ypsonas and the Cyprus national team.

Club career

Špoljarić started his career from the Academies of Apollon Limassol and Atletico Madrid, in Spain, where he played for various teams. Then he came again to Apollon and in the summer of 2019, he switched to AEK Larnaca where he played for two years. Matija joined the newly promoted Cypriot First Division club Aris Limassol in the summer of 2021 and has significantly helped Aris finish 4th in the league (tied for their highest ever placement in the league), scoring 8 goals in total, and qualify for UEFA Europa Conference League for the first time in the club's history.

International career

Špoljarić made his debut for Cyprus national team on 21 March 2019, in a Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino, as a 54th-minute substitute for Fotios Papoulis.

Personal life

Matija Špoljarić is the son of former

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

international midfielder Milenko Špoljarić and he has two brothers

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * 1997 births Living people Footballers from Limassol Cypriot people of Serbian descent Cypriot people of Croatian descent Men's association football midfielders Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Cypriot men's footballers Cyprus men's under-21 international footballers Cyprus men's international footballers Apollon Limassol FC players Alki Oroklini players AEK Larnaca FC players Aris Limassol FC players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Tercera División players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot expatriate men's footballers Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century Cypriot sportsmen {{cyprus-footy-bio-stub