Nikola Šafarić (born 11 March 1981) is a

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 ...

n footbal manager and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played as

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 ...

. He current works as sporting director and manager of NK Varaždin.

Club career

Early years

In 1998, Šafarić started his football career in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

for Varteks as a young 17-year-old

. He quickly established himself as irreplaceable in the Varteks team. Before his 20th birthday he has already played around 40

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

games for Varteks and scoring several goals in the process.

Best years with Varteks

From the 2002–03 season, Nikola finally stepped up on the big scene. He became a first team regular in Varteks and in the next 5 seasons he scored 32 goals in the domestic league only. His good games as well as passion for football and leadership ability could not go unnoticed so he was appointed as team`s captain. Nikola Šafarić is also a great penalty and free kick taker and although he could play every possible position in the midfield he says he "plays best as a defensive midfielder."

Subsequent teams

In the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Nikola Šafarić was sold to

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 ...

. In Rijeka, Nikola was welcomed by many as a great acquisition. He instantly "grabbed" first team position and was one of the team's best players by scoring two goals and adding three more assists, which helped Rijeka to finish at the fourth place in the

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 ...

. On 31 August 2008, Šafarić signed a 2-year contract with

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 ...

. He returned to the Varteks for the 2010–2011 season. Before the season started, the club lost its main sponsorship, the Varteks clothing factory, and changed its 52-year-old name to NK Varaždin. The club immediately fell into financial difficulties, and would be expelled from the top-level Prava HNL the following season, when it stopped paying its players. Šafarić avoided this, having signed a two-year contract with Kaposvári in 2011, but this will come to play later in Šafarić's career. Šafarić signed a two-year contract with

Zavrč Zavrč (, in older sources ''Zavrče'', ) is a settlement in the Haloze area of Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Zavrč. It lies between the right bank of the Drava River and the border with Croatia. The area traditionally belonge ...

in 2013. In January 2015, he signed for the

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 ...

outfit

NK Inter Zaprešić Nogometni klub Inter Zaprešić was a Croatian professional football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb. The team were nicknamed ''Keramičari'' (The ceramics makers), because they were sponsored by a ceramics fa ...

. Šafarić signed with Međimurje for the 2015–2016 season, then returned to the city of Varaždin for the 2016–17 season. His earlier club, NK Varaždin, had declared bankruptcy and folded in 2015, but Šafarić had signed with a different NK Varaždin, unassociated with the earlier team. This club had formed in 2012, as Varaždin ŠN, than changed to NK Varaždin when the bankrupt team discarded the name.

International career

Nikola Šafarić was a member of every

Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team () represents Croatia in men's international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEF ...

categories (U17, U19, U21, senior team). That's why he was predicted a great international club career. But, unfortunately, up to this date Nikola has made only three appearances for

. His international debut came against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in the 1–0 friendly win at

on 18 August 2004. His second and third international cap came on

2006 Carlsberg Cup The 2006 Carlsberg Cup was a football tournament held in Hong Kong over the first and fourth day of the Chinese New Year holiday (13 February and 16 February 2006). Participating teams * (first appearance) * (third appearance) * (host) * (second ...

in Hong Kong on which

finished third.

References

External links

*
PrvaLiga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safaric, Nikola 1981 births Living people Footballers from Čakovec Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers NK Varaždin (1931–2015) players HNK Rijeka players NK Slaven Belupo players Kaposvári Rákóczi FC players NK Zavrč players NK Inter Zaprešić players NK Međimurje players Croatian Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Slovenian PrvaLiga players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia