Mile Škorić (born 19 June 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

Club career

Škorić started his career playing at youth level for the local club in his village Novi Mikanovci, as a goalkeeper, then moving to NK Mladost Vođinci where he was moved to the centre-back position, before joining the HNK Cibalia Vinkovci academy. At the age of 15 he moved on to

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

with whom he had signed a scholarship contract in February 2010. He made his debut for the first team as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw against

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

on 22 March 2008 in the 25th round of 2007–08 season. He scored his first goal in Prva HNL in a 5–1 away win against

on 23 October 2010. In 2011, he left Osijek and spent half a season with Gorica in

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga (), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second League. The 1. NL is ope ...

, before moving to

HAŠK HAŠK (full name Hrvatski akademski športski klub, ) was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1903. The club was one of the most successful sides in Zagreb and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the period between the two World Wars. The ...

in the same division. Škorić moved back to Osijek prior to the commencement of the 2013–14 season. Škorić played an array of midfield, side-line and offensive positions in top-tier football before settling as a central defender in 2017. His appearance and then oft misunderstood positional and passing creativity earned him the nickname "Zidane iz Novih Mikanovaca" ( Zidane from Novi Mikanovci). In March 2023, after almost ten seasons with Osijek, he signed for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Cangzhou Mighty Lions on a two-year contract with the option for a third. In early October 2023, however, he had his contract with the Chinese club annulled due to unpaid wages and became a free agent. On 30 January 2024, Škorić joined

club Tianjin Jinmen Tiger.

Career statistics

International career

Škorić was first called up by

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 ...

on May 28, 2017 for a friendly match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. His first competitive cap came on June 8, 2019 against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in a Euro 2020 qualifier. He became a cult hero when he drove himself from

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

(6+ hr drive) to guard

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

match against Portugal. Days before the November 17, 2020 match Zlatko Dalic lost all of his central defenders to injuries and COVID. He called up Škorić, who was on the preliminary squad, two days before the match. He earned acclaim for his performance in the match and managed to keep Ronaldo scoreless (Portugal won the game 3-2 with a 90th minute goal). He was a part of the Croatian Euro 2020 squad, but did not make a single appearance during the tournament.

Honours

Rijeka *

Croatian Football League 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 ...

: 2024–25 *

Croatian Football Cup The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoric, Mile 1991 births Living people Footballers from Vinkovci Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players NK Osijek players HNK Gorica players NK HAŠK players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players HNK Rijeka players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Croatian expatriate sportspeople in China 21st-century Croatian sportsmen