Tomislav Maric
Encyclopedia
Tomislav Marić is a former German
-born Croatia
n former football
striker
.
, Baden-Württemberg
and started his first-team career in 1992 at amateur side SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg from the nearby Ludwigsburg
in then third-division Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. He spent two seasons with the third-division side, making 59 league appearances in which he scored 14 goals. In July 1994, he signed his first professional contract with then Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC
, but never managed to become a regular at the club, making only four Bundesliga appearances as a second-half substitute throughout the 1994-95 season of the league. He made his Bundesliga debut on 7 October 1994 in KSC's 1-0 defeat away against Eintracht Frankfurt
, playing as a substitute in the last five minutes of the match. After this unsuccessful season with KSC, he went on to move to then Second Bundesliga side SG Wattenscheid 09
for the 1995-96 season. He made 31 appearances and scored seven goals for the club in the Second Bundesliga during the season after which he went on to move to another Second Bundesliga side at the time, Stuttgarter Kickers
.
He subsequently spent four seasons with the Kickers team and was a regular from the beginning. In his final season with the club, in 1999-2000, he became the top goalscorer of the Second Bundesliga with 21 goals scored in 33 matches and practically saved the club from being relegated to the third division as his 21 goals were almost a half of all goals scored by the team in the Second Bundesliga that season in which they narrowly avoided relegation with a 15th-place finish. In the same season, he also helped the club to surprisingly reach the semifinals of the German Cup, where they lost 2-1 to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in extra time. In four seasons with Stuttgarter Kickers, Marić made 112 Second Bundesliga appearances and scored 42 goals for the club in the league, a half of which was in his final season with the club.
Marić went on to leave Stuttgarter Kickers for Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg
in the summer of 2000 and became a regular in the team during his first season with the club, making 30 Bundesliga appearances in which he managed to score six goals. He scored his first Bundesliga goal when he netted the fifth goal in VfL Wolfsburg's 6-0 victory over 1. FC Köln
on 21 October 2000. In the 2001-02 season, he managed to score 12 goals in only 17 Bundesliga appearances and was VfL Wolfsburg's most successful goalscorer that season as well as in the following 2002-03 season, when he once again scored 12 goals, but also played ten matches more than in the preceding season. However, he lost his place in the team for the 2003-04 season and did not make any Bundesliga appearances before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach
in January 2004. He spent only six months with the Gladbach team and managed to score only one goal in seven Bundesliga appearances for the club.
He returned to VfL Wolfsburg in the summer of 2004, but spent the first part of the 2004-05 season with the club's reserve squad in the third-division Regionalliga Nord
, where he scored two goals in seven appearances. He returned to the first team in January 2005 and went on to make 11 Bundesliga appearances until the end of the season, scoring once as he netted the final goal in the club's 4-0 home victory over FC Hansa Rostock
only a few seconds after entering the match as a substitute. In three and half seasons with VfL Wolfsburg's first team, he made 85 Bundesliga appearances and scored 31 goals for the club in the league. In July 2005, he transferred to Japan
ese club Urawa Red Diamonds
, but spent only six months with the club and scored eight goals in 13 J. League Division 1 appearances for the team. He returned to Germany with the beginning of the year 2006 and signed a three-and-half-year contract with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, a third-division Regionalliga Süd side with strong ambitions of being promoted to the Second Bundesliga. In his first six months with the club, he scored nine goals in 15 Regionalliga Süd matches, but the team only finished fourth at the end of the 2005-06 season, two places below the promotion ranks.
in 2002 and 2003. He made his international debut in Croatia's friendly match against Hungary
on 8 May 2002 and scored his first international goal in Croatia's 1-0 away victory over Romania
in a friendly match played on 20 November 2002. In the 2002-03 season, he also made five appearances for Croatia in the Euro 2004 qualifying and scored once as he netted the third goal in their 4-0 home victory over Belgium on 29 March 2003. His last international match was Croatia's Euro 2004 qualifier against Estonia
on 11 June 2003. In all, he won nine international caps and scored two goals for Croatia.
|1992/93||rowspan="2"|Ludwigsburg||||26||4||||||||||||||26||4
|-
|1993/94||||33||10||||||||||||||33||10
|-
|1994/95||Karlsruhe
||Bundesliga||4||0||||||||||||||4||0
|-
|1995/96||Wattenscheid
||2. Bundesliga
||31||7||||||||||||||31||7
|-
|1996/97||rowspan="4"|Stuttgarter Kickers||rowspan="4"|2. Bundesliga
||20||6||||||||||||||20||6
|-
|1997/98||33||7||||||||||||||33||7
|-
|1998/99||26||8||||||||||||||26||8
|-
|1999/00||33||21||||||||||||||33||21
|-
|2000/01||rowspan="3"|Wolfsburg
||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||30||6||||||||||||||30||6
|-
|2001/02||17||12||||||||||||||17||12
|-
|2002/03||27||12||||||||||||||27||12
|-
|2003/04||Borussia Mönchengladbach
||Bundesliga||7||1||||||||||||||7||1
|-
|2004/05||Wolfsburg
||Bundesliga||11||1||||||||||||||11||1
|-
|2005||Urawa Red Diamonds
||J. League 1||13||8||5||6||3||0||colspan="2"|-||21||14
|-
|2005/06||rowspan="2"|Hoffenheim||rowspan="2"|Regionalliga
||15||9||||||||||||||15||9
|-
|2006/07||32||8||||||||||||||32||8
345||112||||||||||||||345||112
13||8||5||6||3||0||colspan="2"|-||21||14
358||120||5||6||3||0||0||0||366||126
|}
|-
|2002||5||1
|-
|2003||6||1
|-
!Total||11||2
|}
is also a professional footballer who formerly played in the Bundesliga, most notably for VfL Bochum
, but also made a successful career with FC Kärnten
in the Austrian Bundesliga
and was an occasional member of the Croatian national team between 2002 and 2004 as well.
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...
-born 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 former football
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...
striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
.
Trivia
He was born to Bosnian Croat parents in HeilbronnHeilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
and started his first-team career in 1992 at amateur side SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg from the nearby Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
in then third-division Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. He spent two seasons with the third-division side, making 59 league appearances in which he scored 14 goals. In July 1994, he signed his first professional contract with then Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. KSC rose out of the consolidation of a number of predecessor clubs. They currently play in the 2...
, but never managed to become a regular at the club, making only four Bundesliga appearances as a second-half substitute throughout the 1994-95 season of the league. He made his Bundesliga debut on 7 October 1994 in KSC's 1-0 defeat away against Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...
, playing as a substitute in the last five minutes of the match. After this unsuccessful season with KSC, he went on to move to then Second Bundesliga side SG Wattenscheid 09
SG Wattenscheid 09
SG Wattenscheid 09 is a German association football club, located in Wattenscheid which is part of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claims an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the merger of two earlier sides known as BV Sodalität der...
for the 1995-96 season. He made 31 appearances and scored seven goals for the club in the Second Bundesliga during the season after which he went on to move to another Second Bundesliga side at the time, Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers...
.
He subsequently spent four seasons with the Kickers team and was a regular from the beginning. In his final season with the club, in 1999-2000, he became the top goalscorer of the Second Bundesliga with 21 goals scored in 33 matches and practically saved the club from being relegated to the third division as his 21 goals were almost a half of all goals scored by the team in the Second Bundesliga that season in which they narrowly avoided relegation with a 15th-place finish. In the same season, he also helped the club to surprisingly reach the semifinals of the German Cup, where they lost 2-1 to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in extra time. In four seasons with Stuttgarter Kickers, Marić made 112 Second Bundesliga appearances and scored 42 goals for the club in the league, a half of which was in his final season with the club.
Marić went on to leave Stuttgarter Kickers for Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
in the summer of 2000 and became a regular in the team during his first season with the club, making 30 Bundesliga appearances in which he managed to score six goals. He scored his first Bundesliga goal when he netted the fifth goal in VfL Wolfsburg's 6-0 victory over 1. FC Köln
1. FC Köln
1. FC Köln is a German association football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07....
on 21 October 2000. In the 2001-02 season, he managed to score 12 goals in only 17 Bundesliga appearances and was VfL Wolfsburg's most successful goalscorer that season as well as in the following 2002-03 season, when he once again scored 12 goals, but also played ten matches more than in the preceding season. However, he lost his place in the team for the 2003-04 season and did not make any Bundesliga appearances before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
in January 2004. He spent only six months with the Gladbach team and managed to score only one goal in seven Bundesliga appearances for the club.
He returned to VfL Wolfsburg in the summer of 2004, but spent the first part of the 2004-05 season with the club's reserve squad in the third-division Regionalliga Nord
Regionalliga (football)
The Fußball-Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the league system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the third tier of the system in 1994...
, where he scored two goals in seven appearances. He returned to the first team in January 2005 and went on to make 11 Bundesliga appearances until the end of the season, scoring once as he netted the final goal in the club's 4-0 home victory over FC Hansa Rostock
FC Hansa Rostock
F.C. Hansa Rostock is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the former East Germany and have made several appearances in the 1. Bundesliga. Rostock currently compete in the 2. Bundesliga...
only a few seconds after entering the match as a substitute. In three and half seasons with VfL Wolfsburg's first team, he made 85 Bundesliga appearances and scored 31 goals for the club in the league. In July 2005, he transferred to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese club Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...
, but spent only six months with the club and scored eight goals in 13 J. League Division 1 appearances for the team. He returned to Germany with the beginning of the year 2006 and signed a three-and-half-year contract with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, a third-division Regionalliga Süd side with strong ambitions of being promoted to the Second Bundesliga. In his first six months with the club, he scored nine goals in 15 Regionalliga Süd matches, but the team only finished fourth at the end of the 2005-06 season, two places below the promotion ranks.
International
Marić also had a short international career with the Croatian national 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...
in 2002 and 2003. He made his international debut in Croatia's friendly match against Hungary
Hungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
on 8 May 2002 and scored his first international goal in Croatia's 1-0 away victory over 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...
in a friendly match played on 20 November 2002. In the 2002-03 season, he also made five appearances for Croatia in the Euro 2004 qualifying and scored once as he netted the third goal in their 4-0 home victory over Belgium on 29 March 2003. His last international match was Croatia's Euro 2004 qualifier against Estonia
Estonia national football team
The Estonia national football team represents Estonia in international association football. Team members are selected by the head coach of Estonian Football Association . Estonia play their home matches at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia....
on 11 June 2003. In all, he won nine international caps and scored two goals for Croatia.
Statistics
|-|1992/93||rowspan="2"|Ludwigsburg||||26||4||||||||||||||26||4
|-
|1993/94||||33||10||||||||||||||33||10
|-
|1994/95||Karlsruhe
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. KSC rose out of the consolidation of a number of predecessor clubs. They currently play in the 2...
||Bundesliga||4||0||||||||||||||4||0
|-
|1995/96||Wattenscheid
SG Wattenscheid 09
SG Wattenscheid 09 is a German association football club, located in Wattenscheid which is part of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claims an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the merger of two earlier sides known as BV Sodalität der...
||2. Bundesliga
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
||31||7||||||||||||||31||7
|-
|1996/97||rowspan="4"|Stuttgarter Kickers||rowspan="4"|2. Bundesliga
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
||20||6||||||||||||||20||6
|-
|1997/98||33||7||||||||||||||33||7
|-
|1998/99||26||8||||||||||||||26||8
|-
|1999/00||33||21||||||||||||||33||21
|-
|2000/01||rowspan="3"|Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||30||6||||||||||||||30||6
|-
|2001/02||17||12||||||||||||||17||12
|-
|2002/03||27||12||||||||||||||27||12
|-
|2003/04||Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
||Bundesliga||7||1||||||||||||||7||1
|-
|2004/05||Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
||Bundesliga||11||1||||||||||||||11||1
|-
|2005||Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...
||J. League 1||13||8||5||6||3||0||colspan="2"|-||21||14
|-
|2005/06||rowspan="2"|Hoffenheim||rowspan="2"|Regionalliga
Regionalliga
Regionalliga is a designation in Germany for sports leagues, which are led by one or more regional federations. Regionalligen often fall below the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga of a given sport...
||15||9||||||||||||||15||9
|-
|2006/07||32||8||||||||||||||32||8
345||112||||||||||||||345||112
13||8||5||6||3||0||colspan="2"|-||21||14
358||120||5||6||3||0||0||0||366||126
|}
|-
|2002||5||1
|-
|2003||6||1
|-
!Total||11||2
|}
Privates
Tomislav Marić's younger brother MarijoMarijo Maric
Marijo Marić is a Croatian football player who played for TSV Wallendorf in the German Bezirksliga Baden-Württemberg.He is the brother of Tomislav Marić.-Football career:...
is also a professional footballer who formerly played in the Bundesliga, most notably for VfL Bochum
VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum, is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding to World War II:...
, but also made a successful career with FC Kärnten
FC Kärnten
FC Kärnten was an Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. They last played home games at the Sportzentrum Fischl.- History :...
in the Austrian Bundesliga
Austrian Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA.The Austrian Bundesliga, which began...
and was an occasional member of the Croatian national team between 2002 and 2004 as well.