Mario Maloča

Mario Maloča
Maloča playing for Hajduk Split in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-05-04) 4 May 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Gorica
Number 22
Youth career
1998–2004 Dinamo Zagreb
2004–2005 NK Zagreb
2006 Inter Zaprešić
2006 Kamen Ingrad
2007–2008 Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2015 Hajduk Split 170 (4)
2015–2018 Lechia Gdańsk 60 (4)
2017–2018 → Greuther Fürth (loan) 31 (2)
2018–2019 Greuther Fürth 24 (0)
2019–2023 Lechia Gdańsk 100 (2)
2023– Gorica 35 (0)
International career
2008 Croatia U19 3 (1)
2008–2009 Croatia U20 6 (0)
2008–2010 Croatia U21 13 (0)
2012 Croatia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 August 2024

Mario Maloča (born 4 May 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Gorica.[1]

Club career

Maloča spent most of his youth career at Dinamo Zagreb and had spells with youth teams at NK Zagreb, Inter Zaprešić and Kamen Ingrad.[2] In 2007, Maloča signed for Hajduk Split.

He made his Prva HNL debut with Hajduk at the age of 18 against Šibenik in the 2007–08 season and soon became a first team regular, playing alongside renowned defenders such as Igor Tudor, Goran Sablić and Boris Živković. After the season ended he signed a five-year contract with Hajduk, binding him to Poljud until 2013. In April 2015, he was dropped to B team for a short time, and in July 2015 he left Hajduk.

In July 2017, Maloča joined 2. Bundesliga side SpVgg Greuther Fürth on loan for the 2017–18 season.[3]

In May 2019 it was confirmed, that he had joined Lechia Gdańsk on a 3-year contract.[4]

International career

Maloča also earned 13 caps for Croatia's U-19 and U-21 teams and took part in Croatia's 2008 Under-19 European Championship campaign where he scored a goal against Albania. In August 2012, he was called to the Croatia national football team by Croatian manager Igor Štimac.[2] He debuted in a friendly match against Switzerland, where he started and was substituted by Ante Vukušić at the start of the second half.[5]

Career statistics

As of match played 28 April 2024 [6][7]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hajduk Split 2007–08 Prva HNL 12 0 4 1 — — 16 1
2008–09 Prva HNL 16 0 5 1 3[a] 0 — 24 1
2009–10 Prva HNL 20 0 6 0 2[a] 0 — 28 0
2010–11 Prva HNL 27 0 1 0 9[a] 0 1[b] 0 38 0
2011–12 Prva HNL 14 1 3 0 2[a] 0 — 19 1
2012–13 Prva HNL 23 1 6 0 4[a] 0 — 33 1
2013–14 Prva HNL 30 1 2 0 4[a] 1 — 36 2
2014–15 Prva HNL 28 1 5 1 6[a] 0 — 39 2
Total 170 4 32 3 30 1 1 0 233 8
Lechia Gdańsk 2015–16 Ekstraklasa 28 2 0 0 — — 28 2
2016–17 Ekstraklasa 31 2 1 0 — — 32 2
2017–18 Ekstraklasa 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Total 60 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 61 4
Greuther Fürth 2017–18 2. Bundesliga 31 2 1 0 — — 32 2
2018–19 2. Bundesliga 24 0 1 0 — — 25 0
Total 55 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 57 2
Lechia Gdańsk 2019–20 Ekstraklasa 27 0 4 0 0 0 1[c] 0 32 0
2020–21 Ekstraklasa 15 1 0 0 — — 15 1
2021–22 Ekstraklasa 31 0 2 0 — — 33 0
2022–23 Ekstraklasa 27 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 37 1
Total 100 2 8 0 4 0 1 0 117 2
Gorica 2023–24 Prva HNL 30 0 2 0 — — 32 0
Total 30 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 32 0
Career total 415 12 45 3 34 1 2 0 496 16
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearance in Croatian Football Super Cup
  3. ^ Appearance in Polish Super Cup

Personal life

Despite being born in Zagreb and part of Dinamo Zagreb youth team in his early years, Maloča opted to play for Hajduk Split. Maloča married his childhood sweetheart Ivana in June 2012. The couple had their first child, Tea, on 21 March 2013.[8]

Honours

Hajduk Split

Lechia Gdańsk

References

  1. ^ Mario Maloča at Soccerway
  2. ^ a b "Vatreni.info - Mario Maloča Biography" (in Croatian). vatreni.info. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  3. ^ "SpVgg Greuther Fürth leiht Innenverteidiger Mario Maloca von Lechia Gdansk aus". kicker Online (in German). 25 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. ^ Oficjalnie: Mario Maloca wraca do Lechii Gdańsk! "Zdecydowaliśmy z moją rodziną, że to najlepsze rozwiązanie", dziennikbaltycki.pl, 22 May 2019
  5. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Mario Maloca > Club Matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  7. ^ "M. Maloča". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Mario Maloča postao ponosni otac male Tee - Večernji.hr" (in Croatian). vecernji.hr. Retrieved 2 December 2014.