Ilija Aračić is a retired Croatia

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 footballer.

Coming from a sporting family, Aračić started his footballing career as a 9-year-old at Croatian team NK Ukrina Novo Selo, before moving aged 14 to the team his father Anto played for professionally at the time, NK Polet Bosanksi Brod. He later played for his local team where he was spotted by scouts of Prva HNL side NK Rijeka

NK Rijeka

HNK Rijeka is a Croatian football club, from Rijeka on the Croatian coast.-History:The club was founded as NK Kvarner in 1946, after Rijeka passed from Italy to Yugoslavia following the end of World War II. During its early period in Yugoslavia, the club had moderate success in various Yugoslav...

. Aračić, a drafter by trade, left Croatia as a result of the War of Independence

Croatian War of Independence

The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...

, signed for Chemnitzer FC

Chemnitzer FC

Chemnitzer FC is a German association football club based in Chemnitz, Saxony.The roots of the club go back to its establishment as Chemnitzer BC 1933 in 1933 after the collapse of former Chemnitzer BC 1899....

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 before transferring to Tennis Borussia Berlin

Tennis Borussia Berlin

Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in Berlin-Westend.- History :The team was founded in 1902 and takes its name from its origins as a tennis and ping-pong club. "Borussia" is a Latinised version of Prussia. In 1903 the club took up football and quickly developed a rivalry with...

 in the summer of 1998. During the 1998–99 season, after impressing Hertha BSC with his two goals against them in the DFB-Pokal

DFB-Pokal

The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...

, quickly signed for TeBe's fellow West Berlin rivals where he played for a year before moving to Arminia Bielefeld

Arminia Bielefeld

DSC Arminia Bielefeld is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of football, field hockey, figure skating and cue sports. The club has 11,394 members and the club colours are black, white and blue...

 and seeing out the twilight of his playing career.

Since 2004, Aračić has been the coach of FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969....

's youth team where he holds a contract until 2012.

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