Dino Drpić

Dino Drpić
Drpić playing for Dinamo Zagreb in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-05-26) 26 May 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia[1]
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Chromos Zagreb
1997–2000 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2009 Dinamo Zagreb 185 (11)
2009 → Karlsruher SC (loan) 16 (0)
2009–2010 Karlsruher SC 17 (0)
2011 AEK Athens 2 (0)
2011 Volyn Lutsk 3 (0)
2012 Rijeka 7 (0)
2013 DPMM 3 (0)
2017 Kustošija
2018–2020 Savski Marof
Total 233 (11)
International career
1999–2000 Croatia U18 19 (1)
2001 Croatia U20 1 (0)
2002–2004 Croatia U21 8 (1)
2007 Croatia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dino Drpić (born 26 May 1981) is a Croatian professional footballer who last played for Savski Marof. A product of Dinamo Zagreb Academy, Drpić turned professional in 2000 and went on to spend nine years with the club.

Club career

Drpić rose through the youth ranks of Dinamo and became a consistent performer in the first squad. He debuted for the first team in a UEFA Champions League qualifiers return match at A.C. Milan on 9 August 2000,[2] and was one of the key figures in Dinamo's squad in the upcoming seasons. Dinamo loaned Dino to Karlsruher SC in 2008–09 winter transfer window following a scandal in which it was revealed that he and his Playboy model wife Nives Celzijus had sex on the grass at Dinamo's ground.[3] He was signed permanently during the season and was released on 22 April 2010.[4] After Karlsruhe, Drpić had brief spells with AEK Athens in Greece and Volyn Lutsk in Ukraine before returning to Croatia in March 2012, signing for HNK Rijeka.[5]

In January 2013, he signed with Brunei DPMM FC[6] as one of their foreign players for the 2013 S.League season.[7]

In April 2013, DPMM FC terminated Drpić's contract. He went back to Croatia in search of new club.

International career

After winning almost 30 caps as a Croatian youth international and having participated in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Drpić received his first call-up to represent the country as a full international in 2007. He made his debut for Croatia on 16 October 2007 in a friendly match against Slovakia, but did not feature in any of the team's qualifying matches for the UEFA Euro 2008. In the end, it remains his only full international appearance.[8]

Personal life

Drpić was married to Playboy model and singer Nives Celzijus, with whom he has children Taiša and Leone. They divorced in 2014.[9]

While on holiday in Krk in the summer of 2008, a British couple tried to kidnap their son Leone after mistaking him for Madeleine McCann.[10]

Career statistics

Season Club League Games Goal(s)
2000–01 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 16 0
2001–02 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 21 0
2002–03 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 14 1
2003–04 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 32 3
2004–05 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 9 0
2005–06 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 31 1
2006–07 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 27 5
2007–08 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 22 1
2008–09 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 13 0
2008–09 Karlsruher SC Bundesliga 16 0
2009–10 Karlsruher SC 2. Bundesliga 17 0
2010–11 AEK Athens Greek Super League 2 0
2011–12 Volyn Lutsk Ukraine Premier League 3 0
2011–12 HNK Rijeka Prva HNL 7 0
2013 DPMM FC S.League 11 0

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Dino Drpić". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  2. ^ "AC Milan - Dinamo Zagreb 3:1 (Champions League Qual. 2000/2001, 3. Runde)" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Dino Drpic, despedido por el amor de Nives" [Dino Drpic, thrown out because of his love for Nives] (in Spanish). Diario As. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  4. ^ "KSC beendet Kapitel Drpic" (in German). kicker.de. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Dino Drpić potpisao za Rijeku" (in Croatian). novilist.hr. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Dino to power DPMM FC". bt.com.bn. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Warmest Greeting from DPMM FC!!!". eteamz.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Nakon devet godina braka razvode se Nives Celzijus i Dino Drpić".
  10. ^ "Croatian footballer who had sex on pitch with glamour model wife transfer listed". The Daily Telegraph. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2011.