Veldin Karic
Encyclopedia
Veldin Karić is a former Croatia
n footballer and the current manager
of Drava Kuršanec. He played for a number of Croatian sides during his career but is mainly remembered for his time at Varteks (1997–2004) and a short spell with local powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb (2004–2005). During his career he also had stints with Torino
in Italy and Lugano in Switzerland.
in present-day Croatia, Karić started playing football at nearby Bosanski Brod
, a town across the river Sava in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a youngster he was picked up by the Sarajevo
-based Yugoslav First League
club FK Željezničar, where he played at youth levels for two years before having his professional debut at 17 years of age, in the squad which featured the Croatian international Mario Stanić
. He then signed a four-year contract with the club, but his career took an unpredictable turn due to the outbreak of the Bosnian War
. According to Karić, he had been arrested by the JNA
in 1992 and was taken to Pale, the Serbian stronghold during the Siege of Sarajevo
, where he was delivered as a prisoner to Serbian paramilitary forces. Karić claims that his coach at Željezničar Nenad Starovlah
had personally intervened to save Karić from execution, but on the condition that he signed a two-year contract with Serbia
n club FK Vojvodina
based in Novi Sad
.
Karić then spent the following six months playing at Vojvodina. He was seen as a talented young forward and there was some interest from Serbian powerhouse FK Partizan
to sign him, but the deal never materialised as Vojvodina turned down the offer. Karić later claimed that he tried to leave Serbia on a number of occasions, but that he finally succeeded in doing so only when he met a friend who was a police officer who agreed to help him cross the border to Croatia. Upon his return to Croatia, Karić started playing for his hometown club NK Marsonia
, which was at the time playing in the Croatian Second Division, and soon established himself as one of Marsonia's key players, along with Edin Mujčin
. The team managed to put on a string of good performances in the following years which saw them win promotion to Croatian First Division in the 1993–94 season, and then going on to finish 5th in their top flight debut in the 1994–95 season.
His good games at Marsonia attracted attention from clubs abroad and Karić then joined Serie A
side Torino
in the winter break of the 1995–96 season. However, his time at Torino was less successful as he failed to make an impact in his six months with the club, which was relegated from top flight at the end of the season. Following relegation, Karić was loaned out to FC Lugano in Switzerland.
In 1997 Karić returned to Croatia and was signed by Prva HNL club Varteks. During his time at Varteks he established himself as one of the club's key players and appeared in 134 league matches, scoring 53 league goals, in the period in which Varteks reached three Croatian Cup
finals (1998, 2002 and 2004) and achieved their best-ever league result, finishing third in the 2002–03 Prva HNL season. However, the highlight of his seven-year spell at Varteks came in September 2001 when they surprisingly knocked out England's Aston Villa
in the first round first leg of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, with Saša Bjelanović
scoring two goals and Karić adding a third in their 3–2 win at Villa Park
. In the return leg in Varaždin
Aston Villa won 1–0 but Varteks progressed to second round on away goals rule
, where they were knocked out by Brøndby
6–3 on aggregate.
In the summer of 2004 Karić signed for Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb. Although he was initially given some playing time and he even scored a goal against Elfsborg
in the first round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, he failed to make an impact at the club and finished the season with just 4 goals scored in 12 league appearances for the Blues. It proved to be their worst ever Prva HNL season as they finished 6th and failed to qualify for European competitions.
In July 2005 he was released by Dinamo and he signed for minnows Inter Zaprešić
. This proved to be his last season of top level football as the club finished bottom in the 2005–06 Prva HNL and was relegated. He stayed with the club for the following season as they successfully won the 2006–07 Druga HNL
title which would see them back in top flight, but was released by Inter in July 2007 before the following season kicked off. He then spent the next two years playing for several small clubs in Croatian lower levels before being released from third level side NK Samobor
in May 2009, after which he retired from active football.
Karić was also capped for Croatia U21
in 1994–95 and later appeared in three full international matches for Croatia
between 2001 and 2003, without scoring any goals. He was first called up by Otto Barić
and played in two friendly games against South Korea in November 2001. In the first match played on 10 November in Seoul he came on as a substitute for Miljenko Mumlek
, and in the second match played three days later in Gwangju
he was named in the starting lineup but was substituted by Mladen Petrić
.
His third and final appearance came in February 2003 when he was called up by Mirko Jozić
for a friendly against Macedonia played in Šibenik
. Karić was named in the starting eleven but was substituted by Boško Balaban
at half-time.
As of May 2011 and the conclusion of the 2010–11 Prva HNL
season, Karić is ranked as the 10th all-time top scorer in Prva HNL with 75 goals scored in Croatia's top level. In September 2011, Karić started his managerial career at the Croatian sixth tier side Drava Kuršanec.
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 and the current manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
of Drava Kuršanec. He played for a number of Croatian sides during his career but is mainly remembered for his time at Varteks (1997–2004) and a short spell with local powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb (2004–2005). During his career he also had stints with Torino
Torino F.C.
Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906. The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football....
in Italy and Lugano in Switzerland.
Career
Born in Slavonski BrodSlavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod is a city in Croatia, with a population of 59,507 in 2011. The city was known as Marsonia in the Roman Empire, and as Brod na Savi 1244–1934. It is the sixth largest city in Croatia, after Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar. Located in the region of Slavonia, it is the...
in present-day Croatia, Karić started playing football at nearby Bosanski Brod
Bosanski Brod
Brod also known as Bosanski Brod is a town and municipality located on the south bank of the river Sava in the northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the north-western part of the Republika Srpska and the western part of the Posavina region.-Name:Prior to the Bosnian War it...
, a town across the river Sava in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a youngster he was picked up by the Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
-based Yugoslav First League
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...
club FK Željezničar, where he played at youth levels for two years before having his professional debut at 17 years of age, in the squad which featured the Croatian international Mario Stanić
Mario Stanic
Mario Stanić is a former Croatian football midfielder.-Career:He started his career with Željezničar Sarajevo. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war began and he went to Croatia, where he played for Dinamo Zagreb...
. He then signed a four-year contract with the club, but his career took an unpredictable turn due to the outbreak of the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. According to Karić, he had been arrested by the JNA
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
in 1992 and was taken to Pale, the Serbian stronghold during the Siege of Sarajevo
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
, where he was delivered as a prisoner to Serbian paramilitary forces. Karić claims that his coach at Željezničar Nenad Starovlah
Nenad Starovlah
Nenad Starovlah is a Bosnian Serb football manager and former player.As player, he played with FK Željezničar and Yugoslav national team.-External sources:* at Serbian Federation site....
had personally intervened to save Karić from execution, but on the condition that he signed a two-year contract with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n club FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina is a football club from Novi Sad, Serbia. The club currently competes in the Serbian SuperLiga. FK Vojvodina is the third oldest football club in Serbia's SuperLiga, after OFK Beograd which was founded in 1911 and FK Javor which was founded in 1912.-History:FK Vojvodina was founded...
based in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
.
Karić then spent the following six months playing at Vojvodina. He was seen as a talented young forward and there was some interest from Serbian powerhouse FK Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
to sign him, but the deal never materialised as Vojvodina turned down the offer. Karić later claimed that he tried to leave Serbia on a number of occasions, but that he finally succeeded in doing so only when he met a friend who was a police officer who agreed to help him cross the border to Croatia. Upon his return to Croatia, Karić started playing for his hometown club NK Marsonia
NK Marsonia
NK Marsonia is a Croatian football club based in the town of Slavonski Brod which currently plays in Treća HNL, Croatia's third level league.NK Marsonia was founded in 1909...
, which was at the time playing in the Croatian Second Division, and soon established himself as one of Marsonia's key players, along with Edin Mujčin
Edin Mujcin
Edin Mujčin is a Bosnian football player.Mujčin moved to Croatia during the Bosnian war.Mujčin spent most of his career with Croatian top team Dinamo Zagreb, winning several national titles and appearing in both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup...
. The team managed to put on a string of good performances in the following years which saw them win promotion to Croatian First Division in the 1993–94 season, and then going on to finish 5th in their top flight debut in the 1994–95 season.
His good games at Marsonia attracted attention from clubs abroad and Karić then joined 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...
side Torino
Torino F.C.
Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906. The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football....
in the winter break of the 1995–96 season. However, his time at Torino was less successful as he failed to make an impact in his six months with the club, which was relegated from top flight at the end of the season. Following relegation, Karić was loaned out to FC Lugano in Switzerland.
In 1997 Karić returned to Croatia and was signed by Prva HNL club Varteks. During his time at Varteks he established himself as one of the club's key players and appeared in 134 league matches, scoring 53 league goals, in the period in which Varteks reached three Croatian Cup
Croatian Cup
The Croatian Cup is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the Prva HNL league championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation and usually runs from late August to May...
finals (1998, 2002 and 2004) and achieved their best-ever league result, finishing third in the 2002–03 Prva HNL season. However, the highlight of his seven-year spell at Varteks came in September 2001 when they surprisingly knocked out England's Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in the first round first leg of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, with Saša Bjelanović
Saša Bjelanovic
Saša Bjelanović is a Croatian footballer striker who is currently playing for Verona in Serie B.He also holds Italian passport since 2007, as his grandmother was from Trieste, Venezia Giulia, made him eligible to acquire Italian nationality at birth.-Club career:Saša Bjelanović started his career...
scoring two goals and Karić adding a third in their 3–2 win at Villa Park
Villa Park
Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...
. In the return leg in Varaždin
Varaždin
Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...
Aston Villa won 1–0 but Varteks progressed to second round on away goals rule
Away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...
, where they were knocked out by Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
6–3 on aggregate.
In the summer of 2004 Karić signed for Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb. Although he was initially given some playing time and he even scored a goal against Elfsborg
IF Elfsborg
IF Elfsborg is a Swedish football club located in Borås. The club has won five national championship titles, the latest in 2006, and two national cup titles. Currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. Elfsborg is based at Borås Arena...
in the first round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, he failed to make an impact at the club and finished the season with just 4 goals scored in 12 league appearances for the Blues. It proved to be their worst ever Prva HNL season as they finished 6th and failed to qualify for European competitions.
In July 2005 he was released by Dinamo and he signed for minnows Inter Zaprešić
NK Inter Zaprešic
NK Inter Zaprešić is a Croatian football club based in Zaprešić, a town northwest of the capital Zagreb originally founded in 1929. They play in the Prva HNL after they were promoted from Druga HNL at the end of the 2006–07 season...
. This proved to be his last season of top level football as the club finished bottom in the 2005–06 Prva HNL and was relegated. He stayed with the club for the following season as they successfully won the 2006–07 Druga HNL
2006–07 Druga HNL
The 2006-07 Druga HNL season was the 16th since its establishment. The first placed team were Inter Zaprešić and the last three clubs were relegated to Treća HNL.-Teams competing in 2006-07:*Belišće*Bjelovar*Croatia Sesvete*Čakovec*Hrvatski Dragovoljac...
title which would see them back in top flight, but was released by Inter in July 2007 before the following season kicked off. He then spent the next two years playing for several small clubs in Croatian lower levels before being released from third level side NK Samobor
NK Samobor
NK Samobor is a Croatian football club based in the town of Samobor in Zagreb County.Former Liverpool defender Igor Biscan played for the club on loan early on in his career....
in May 2009, after which he retired from active football.
Karić was also capped for Croatia U21
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....
in 1994–95 and later appeared in three full international matches for Croatia
Croatia 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 2001 and 2003, without scoring any goals. He was first called up by Otto Barić
Otto Baric
Otto Barić is a Croatian-Austrian football manager.-1970s to 1980s:Barić started his coaching career in 1969 at West German club Germania Wiesbaden and moved after one season to Austrian club Wacker Innsbruck, where he spent next two seasons and won two consecutive league champions titles before...
and played in two friendly games against South Korea in November 2001. In the first match played on 10 November in Seoul he came on as a substitute for Miljenko Mumlek
Miljenko Mumlek
Miljenko Mumlek is a Croatian football midfielder.-Club career:Born in Varaždin, Mumlek started his professional career in his hometown with Varteks Varaždin in early 1992 and went on to establish himself as one of the club's key players during the 1990s...
, and in the second match played three days later in Gwangju
Gwangju
Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...
he was named in the starting lineup but was substituted by Mladen Petrić
Mladen Petric
Mladen Petrić is a Croatian international footballer who plays for Hamburger SV in the Fußball-Bundesliga Bundesliga. He also holds the Swiss citizenship.-Early life:...
.
His third and final appearance came in February 2003 when he was called up by Mirko Jozić
Mirko Jozic
Mirko Jozić is a retired Croatian football player and currently an active football manager.As a coach, he won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile, with the Yugoslavia U-20 national team composed of names such as Robert Prosinečki, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Šuker.He coached Chilean club...
for a friendly against Macedonia played in Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
. Karić was named in the starting eleven but was substituted by Boško Balaban
Boško Balaban
Boško Balaban is a Croatian footballer who currently plays for Panionios in the Super League Greece as a striker. He is a former member of the Croatia national team.-Early career:...
at half-time.
As of May 2011 and the conclusion of the 2010–11 Prva HNL
2010–11 Prva HNL
The 2010–11 Prva HNL season was the twentieth season of the Prva HNL since its establishment in 1992. It began on 23 July 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011...
season, Karić is ranked as the 10th all-time top scorer in Prva HNL with 75 goals scored in Croatia's top level. In September 2011, Karić started his managerial career at the Croatian sixth tier side Drava Kuršanec.
External links
- Veldin Karić at Transfermarkt.de