Igor Tudor
Encyclopedia
Igor Tudor is a Croatia
n former football (soccer)
defender
. He was considered one of Croatia's best defenders in the period between the late 1990s and mid-2000s.
Tudor announced his retirement on 22 July 2008, at the mere age of 30, after the problems with his right ankle reappeared. He spent his last season playing for his youth club, Hajduk Split.
in 1998. During his time with Juventus, he won the Croatian Player of the Year award in 2002. During his 8-year spell with the club, Tudor was in excellent form, albeit injuries, and formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Paolo Montero
, Mark Iuliano
, Gianluca Pessotto
, Lilian Thuram
, Alessandro Birindelli
, Nicola Legrottaglie
, Gianluca Zambrotta
, Jonathan Zebina
, Giorgio Chiellini
, and Fabio Cannavaro
. During this period Juventus had one of the strongest teams in the world and Tudor contributed well, with over 150 total appearances for the club, scoring nearly 20 goals, as a center back. However, after a major injury in 2004, Tudor was loaned out to AC Siena in January 2005, after 7 seasons with Juventus. Following Calciopoli and the expiration of his loan contract with Siena, Tudor returned to Juventus, but injuries kept him off the pitch all the season. His contract expired on 30 June 2007.
on 20 October 2007. This was his first official match in over 16 months. However he was unable to reach his previous form and his ankle injury problems continued. On 22 July 2008, he announced his early retirement, due to his recurring ankle injury problems.
between 1997 to 2006. He also won several international caps for the Croatian under-17, under-19 and under-21
national teams between 1993 and 2000.
He made his debut in Croatia's final match of the 1998 World Cup
qualifying, a 1-1 draw at Ukraine
on 15 November 1997, coming on as a substitute for Aljoša Asanović
in the 89th minute. He was subsequently also part of the Croatian squad that won the bronze medal at the 1998 World Cup finals in France. At the tournament, he made three appearances as a substitute in the closing stages of Croatia's games against Japan
, Romania
and the Netherlands
.
After the 1998 World Cup, he made 4 appearances in the Croatian national team's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for Euro 2000, being in the starting line-up on all 4 occasions. He also appeared in 6 matches during Croatia's qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup
, but missed the final tournament in South Korea and Japan due to an injury.
He returned to the national team during the qualifying stages for Euro 2004, appearing in seven qualifying matches. At the finals in Portugal, he appeared in two of Croatia's three group matches. In his first appearance at the tournament, a 2-2 draw against France
, he scored an own goal
to put the French side 1-0 up midway through the first half. His second appearance at the tournament came in Croatia's final group match against England
, where he scored Croatia's second goal to keep their hopes alive after they found themselves 3-1 down in the second half. However, Frank Lampard
soon netted England's 4th goal and Croatia were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.
Tudor was also included in Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup
finals in Germany, having appeared in 8 qualifying matches for the tournament, also scoring two goals. He recorded his first goal of the qualifying when he scored Croatia's final goal in their 3-0 win at home to Malta
on 30 March 2005. His second goal of the competition came in Croatia's 3-1 win at Bulgaria
on 4 June 2005, when he put Croatia 2-0 up just over half an hour from time. At the 2006 World Cup finals, he started all of Croatia's three group matches and played the full 90 minutes in two of them. However, Croatia were eliminated from the tournament after a 2-2 draw against Australia in their final group match, with Tudor receiving his second yellow card of the tournament for complaining about the penalty kick from which Australia scored a 1-1 equaliser. He made no further appearances for the national team following the tournament.
|1995-96
||rowspan="3"|Hajduk Split
||rowspan="3"|Prva HNL||9||0||||||||||||||||
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|1996-97
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|1997-98||26||4||||||||||||||||
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|1998-99
||rowspan="7"|Juventus
||rowspan="7"|Serie A
||23||1||||||||||||||||
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|1999-00
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|2000-01
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|2001-02
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|2002-03
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|2003-04
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|2004-05
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|2004-05
||rowspan="2"|Siena
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
||15||1||||||||||||||||
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|2005-06
||24||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006-07
||Juventus
||Serie B
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|2007-08
||rowspan="2"|Hajduk Split
||rowspan="2"|Prva HNL||||||||||||||||||||
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|2008-09
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Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n former football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
. He was considered one of Croatia's best defenders in the period between the late 1990s and mid-2000s.
Tudor announced his retirement on 22 July 2008, at the mere age of 30, after the problems with his right ankle reappeared. He spent his last season playing for his youth club, Hajduk Split.
Early years
Tudor started his professional career at Hajduk Split in 1995 scoring 5 goals in 58 matches, being considered a revelation for his technique and ball control above the average of a defender.Juventus
After three seasons at Hajduk Split, he was acquired by Italian giants JuventusJuventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
in 1998. During his time with Juventus, he won the Croatian Player of the Year award in 2002. During his 8-year spell with the club, Tudor was in excellent form, albeit injuries, and formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Paolo Montero
Paolo Montero
Paolo Rónald Montero Iglesias is a former Uruguayan footballer who played as a central defender or left back. He has been described as "skillful on the ball and calm under pressure", and a "wonderfully talented and intelligent footballer"...
, Mark Iuliano
Mark Iuliano
Mark Iuliano is a former Italian football defender, who spent the bulk of his career with Italian powerhouse, Juventus FC, in the Italian Serie A.-Salernitana Calcio 1919:...
, Gianluca Pessotto
Gianluca Pessotto
Gianluca Pessotto is a former football player who spent the majority of his career with Juventus F.C., where he currently serves as team manager...
, Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...
, Alessandro Birindelli
Alessandro Birindelli
Alessandro Birindelli is a retired Italian footballer. Equally at ease as right or left defender, he is best known for his 11-year spell with Juventus, winning several accolades and appearing in nearly 300 official games.-Early years:...
, Nicola Legrottaglie
Nicola Legrottaglie
Nicola Legrottaglie is an Italian footballer who plays for Calcio Catania in Serie A, as a central defender.-Early years:...
, Gianluca Zambrotta
Gianluca Zambrotta
Gianluca Zambrotta is a world cup winning Italian footballer who currently plays as a full back for Serie A club Milan.Zambrotta was decorated as Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2000 and he was made an Officer of the same order in 2006.-Como:Zambrotta began his...
, Jonathan Zebina
Jonathan Zebina
Jonathan Zebina is a French footballer playing for Stade Brestois 29. He plays as a right back and occasionally as a centre back, though he started out as a striker....
, Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini is an Italian footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus. He is a centre back, who started his career playing as a left back.-Livorno:...
, and Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...
. During this period Juventus had one of the strongest teams in the world and Tudor contributed well, with over 150 total appearances for the club, scoring nearly 20 goals, as a center back. However, after a major injury in 2004, Tudor was loaned out to AC Siena in January 2005, after 7 seasons with Juventus. Following Calciopoli and the expiration of his loan contract with Siena, Tudor returned to Juventus, but injuries kept him off the pitch all the season. His contract expired on 30 June 2007.
Return to Croatia
Constantly struggling with injuries and mysterious bacterial infection of his ankle, Tudor was almost forced to end his career in 2007, but in June 2007 he decided to join his former club Hajduk Split after not renewing his contract with Juventus. After a highly cautious rehabilitation process his comeback was in the match against NK ZadarNK Zadar
NK Zadar is a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast. The club was founded in 1945.Josip Skoblar, Đovani Roso, Dado Pršo and Luka Modrić, are among their most notable former players....
on 20 October 2007. This was his first official match in over 16 months. However he was unable to reach his previous form and his ankle injury problems continued. On 22 July 2008, he announced his early retirement, due to his recurring ankle injury problems.
International career
Tudor played for the Croatian national football teamCroatia national football team
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...
between 1997 to 2006. He also won several international caps for the Croatian under-17, under-19 and under-21
Croatia national under-21 football team
The Croatia national under-21 football team, also known as Croatia under-21 or Croatia U21 is a youth association football national team which represents Croatia at this age level and is a feeder team for the Croatia national football team....
national teams between 1993 and 2000.
He made his debut in Croatia's final match of the 1998 World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
qualifying, a 1-1 draw at Ukraine
Ukraine national football team
The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After Ukrainian Independence and breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992...
on 15 November 1997, coming on as a substitute for Aljoša Asanović
Aljoša Asanovic
Aljoša Asanović is a retired Croatian soccer player best known from his performances in the mid-to-late 90's when he played for Derby County and for Croatia during Euro 96 and World Cup 98...
in the 89th minute. He was subsequently also part of the Croatian squad that won the bronze medal at the 1998 World Cup finals in France. At the tournament, he made three appearances as a substitute in the closing stages of Croatia's games against Japan
Japan national football team
The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...
, Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
.
After the 1998 World Cup, he made 4 appearances in the Croatian national team's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for Euro 2000, being in the starting line-up on all 4 occasions. He also appeared in 6 matches during Croatia's qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
, but missed the final tournament in South Korea and Japan due to an injury.
He returned to the national team during the qualifying stages for Euro 2004, appearing in seven qualifying matches. At the finals in Portugal, he appeared in two of Croatia's three group matches. In his first appearance at the tournament, a 2-2 draw against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
, he scored an own goal
Own goal
An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents....
to put the French side 1-0 up midway through the first half. His second appearance at the tournament came in Croatia's final group match against England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, where he scored Croatia's second goal to keep their hopes alive after they found themselves 3-1 down in the second half. However, Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...
soon netted England's 4th goal and Croatia were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.
Tudor was also included in Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
finals in Germany, having appeared in 8 qualifying matches for the tournament, also scoring two goals. He recorded his first goal of the qualifying when he scored Croatia's final goal in their 3-0 win at home to Malta
Malta national football team
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta played its first international game in February 1957, and began competing for qualification to major tournaments in 1962. The side's first competitive victory came in...
on 30 March 2005. His second goal of the competition came in Croatia's 3-1 win at Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...
on 4 June 2005, when he put Croatia 2-0 up just over half an hour from time. At the 2006 World Cup finals, he started all of Croatia's three group matches and played the full 90 minutes in two of them. However, Croatia were eliminated from the tournament after a 2-2 draw against Australia in their final group match, with Tudor receiving his second yellow card of the tournament for complaining about the penalty kick from which Australia scored a 1-1 equaliser. He made no further appearances for the national team following the tournament.
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 June 2004 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban... |
Euro 2004 | |||
| 2 | 30 March 2005 | Maksimir, Zagreb Zagreb Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city... |
World Cup 2006 Qualifying 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition... |
|||
| 3 | 4 June 2005 | Vasil Levski Vasil Levski National Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium , named after Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski, is one of Bulgaria's largest sports venues and the country's second largest stadium... , Sofia Sofia Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated... |
World Cup 2006 Qualifying 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition... |
|||
Career statistics
|-|1995-96
Prva HNL 1995-96
This article describes the 1995-96 Prva HNL season, the fifth since its establishment. The season started on 13 August 1995 and concluded on 26 May 1996. This was the first season to feature separate A- and B- leagues, with a complicated two-stage format to the season.After the HNS changed plans...
||rowspan="3"|Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian football club founded in 1911 and based in the city of Split. The club's home ground since 1979 is the 35,000-seater Poljud Stadium and the team's traditional home colours are white shirts with blue shorts and...
||rowspan="3"|Prva HNL||9||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996-97
Prva HNL 1996-97
-Prva A HNL:-Results:...
||23||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997-98||26||4||||||||||||||||
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|1998-99
Serie A 1998-99
AC Milan won their 16th Scudetto, led by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. Lazio finished second, losing the title on the last day. Inter with an often Injured or rested Ronaldo had a disastrous season, finishing in 8th position, whereas Juventus impressive start was cut short by a bad injury to Alessandro...
||rowspan="7"|Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
||rowspan="7"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||23||1||||||||||||||||
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|1999-00
Serie A 1999-00
Lazio won the title on the final day of the season in controversial cirumstances. Juventus, the only other team left in contention on the day lost their match against Perugia in terrible conditions at a rain-sodden Stadio Renato Curi, many considering the pitch unplayable. Pierluigi Collina the...
||17||1||||||||||||||||
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|2000-01
Serie A 2000-01
In the 2000-01 season, Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
||25||6||||||||||||||||
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|2001-02
Serie A 2001-02
In the 2001-02 season, the Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 14th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
||14||4||||||||||||||||
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|2002-03
Serie A 2002-03
In the 2002-03 season, the Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
||14||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003-04
Serie A 2003-04
The 2003-2004 season in Italian Serie A football contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988-89 season. With the bottom three being relegated, the 15th placed side would face the 6th highest team from Serie B, with the winner playing in the Serie A in 2004-2005.As usual, the top two...
||15||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|2004-05
Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....
||3||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2004-05
Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....
||rowspan="2"|Siena
A.C. Siena
Associazione Calcio Siena is an Italian football club based in Siena.The club currently plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B at the end of the 2010-2011 season....
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||15||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005-06
Serie A 2005-06
In the 2005–06 season, Serie A, the major professional football league in Italian, was contested for the second year in a row by 20 teams. The league commenced on August 28, 2005 and finished on May 14, 2006...
||24||1||||||||||||||||
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|2006-07
Serie B 2006-07
The 2006-07 Serie B season started on September 9, 2006 and ended on June 10, 2007. The 22 clubs in Serie B each played 42 matches during the regular season....
||Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
||0||0||||||||||||||||
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|2007-08
Prva HNL 2007-08
The 2007-08 Prva HNL season was the seventeenth since its establishment, and started on 20 July 2007...
||rowspan="2"|Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian football club founded in 1911 and based in the city of Split. The club's home ground since 1979 is the 35,000-seater Poljud Stadium and the team's traditional home colours are white shirts with blue shorts and...
||rowspan="2"|Prva HNL||||||||||||||||||||
|-
|2008-09
Prva HNL 2008-09
The 2008–09 Prva HNL season was the 18th since its establishment. It started on 27 July 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their 10th championship title the previous season.-Promotion and relegation:...
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58||5||||||||||||||||
150||17||||||||||||||||
208||22||||||||||||||||