Zdenko Jurčević (born December 2, 1985) is a former Croatian

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 played 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Jurčević received his football training at the youth level with his local club HNK Tomislav and later with

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 would venture abroad to play professionally career with Habenhauser FV of the

Bremen-Liga The Bremen-Liga, sometimes also referred to as ''Oberliga Bremen'', is a fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the States of Germany, German state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It is one of four ...

in 2007. He played the remainder of the 2007-08 season at the Austrian regional level with 1. Simmeringer SC. After several seasons abroad, he began playing in the Croatian

Treća HNL The Croatian Second Football League (), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL, is the third tier of the Croatian football league system. The league was established in 1991, following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Croatian F ...

with NK Konavljanin in 2010. In 2011, he returned to the Bosnian circuit to sign with

NK Vitez NK Vitez is football club based in Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in Second League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Center. The club's crest has the sword in front of a football ball. It also features the year when ...

. Following his brief stint wit Vitez, he returned to his former club HNK Tomislav but failed to report to training camp. Instead, Jurčević landed a contract with

Čapljina Čapljina ( cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea. The rive ...

during the 2013 winter transfer market. In his debut season with Čapljina, he played in 12 matches and recorded 8 goals. After a season with Čapljina, he signed a contract with Istra 1961 for two years in the

Croatian First 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. Establishe ...

. His time in the Croatian top tier was short-lived as he left the club after a month. After his release from Istra, he returned to Čapljina. Jurčević re-signed with the club for the 2014-15 season. He would finish the campaign, as the league's second-highest goal scorer with 16 goals.

Canada

Jurčević went overseas in 2015 to play in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

with the

Brantford Galaxy Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian Soccer League, a league ...

. He would record his first goal for the club on May 25, 2015, against

Niagara United Niagara United SC is a Canadian soccer team founded in 1973. The club is a former member of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), where it fielded a professional team from 2011-2015, and now operates youth teams in the Niagara Soccer League and Hami ...

. In his debut season in the Canadian circuit, he finished as the club's top goal scorer with 21 goals. The following season he signed with Hamilton City. Jurčević helped Hamilton secure a playoff berth in the league's first division. In the opening round of the postseason, he contributed a goal against

Scarborough SC Scarborough SC is a Canadian soccer team founded in 2014. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League. The team plays home games out of Birchmount Stadium in the district of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The team's colours are ...

which helped the team advance to the next round. Hamilton would reach the championship finals after defeating the

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

in a penalty shootout. Their final opponents were the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

where the Serbs defeated Hamilton for the championship title.

Europe

After the conclusion of the Canadian season, Jurčević returned to the Bosnian second division with NK Metalleghe-BSI during the fall of 2015. In 2017, he returned to the Croatian circuit and played with

NK Neretva Nogometni klub Neretva Metković (), commonly referred to as NK Neretva or simply Neretva, is a Croatian professional football club based in the town of Metković, in the region of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. The club's first name was NK Narona. O ...

. Jurčević played in 8 matches and recorded 3 goals for Neretva. The next season, he signed with league rivals

NK Jadran Luka Ploče Nogometni Klub Jadran Luka Ploče () is a Croatian professional Association football, football club based in town of Ploče currently playing in the Treća HNL, the third division of Croatian football. Jadran Ploče played in the Croatian second ...

. Jurčević tenure with Jadran Luka was short-lived as he left the club in the early winter of 2018. He would finish the remainder of the season with his former club Neretva.

Honors

Hamilton City *

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

runner–up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurčević, Zdenko 1985 births Living people Footballers from Tomislavgrad Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers 1. Simmeringer SC players NK Vitez players HNK Čapljina players NK Istra 1961 players Brantford Galaxy players Hamilton City SC players NK Metalleghe-BSI players NK Neretva players Second Football League (Croatia) players First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada