Marko Zorić

Marko Zorić
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-07-10) July 10, 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Zrenjanin, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Proleter Zrenjanin 36 (2)
2000–2001 Partizan Belgrade 3 (1)
2001–2004 Teleoptik 81 (7)
2004–2005 Proleter Zrenjanin 27 (6)
2005–2006 Tianjin Teda 50 (6)
2006–2007 Banat Zrenjanin 8 (1)
2007–2008 Gençlerbirliği 5 (0)
2008–2009 Banat Zrenjanin 36 (3)
2009 Shenzhen Asia Travel 14 (1)
2010–2011 Tianjin Teda 54 (6)
2012 Banat Zrenjanin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 November 2011

Marko Zorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Зopић, pronounced [mâːrko zǒːritɕ];[1][2] born July 10, 1980, in Zrenjanin) is a retired Serbian footballer who last played for FK Banat Zrenjanin.

Club career

Marko Zorić began his professional football career with top tier side Proleter Zrenjanin where he would gradually start to establish himself within the team and attract the interests of Serbian heavyweights Partizan Belgrade who he would join in the 2000-01 league season.[3] His time at Partizan Belgrade was however very disappointing and he saw very little playing time, which saw a move to second tier club FK Teleoptik go through. With FK Teleoptik he'll see them relegated to the third tier, however during this period he would go on to establish himself as an integral member of the team and a return to Proleter Zrenjanin in the 2004-05 league season, who were now in the second tier.[4]

After a season with Proleter Zrenjanin Marko Zorić would move abroad to China and join top tier side Tianjin Teda in the 2005 Chinese Super League where he immediately established himself as an integral member of the team and helped guide Tianjin to fourth within the league, which was the best placed finish for the team since the league became fully professional.[5] Two seasons later Marko Zorić would have a chance to return to Serbia and he'll join top tier side Banat Zrenjanin in the 2006–07 Serbian SuperLiga, however he couldn't establish himself as a first choice player and left after a season to join top tier Turkish side Gençlerbirliği in the 2007–08 Süper Lig but once again this was short lived and he returned to Banat Zrenjanin where this time he was able to gain significantly more playing time but also saw the club relegated at the end of the 2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga.[6]

On July 15, 2009, Marko Zorić was looking for a move back to the Chinese Super League and recently promoted side Jiangsu Sainty were interested in his services until he sustained an injury during training, however fellow Super League side Shenzhen Asia Travel were willing to take a chance and signed him in their fight against relegation in the 2009 Chinese Super League season. The following season Zorić would return to Tianjin Teda and once again became an integral member of the team's defence and go on to win 2011 Chinese FA Cup with them.

Honours

Tianjin Teda

References

  1. ^ "Mȃrko". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2018-03-17. Mȃrko
  2. ^ "zòra". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2018-03-17. Zórić
  3. ^ "Partizan: Serbia: Team profile". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Yugoslavia 2001/02".
  5. ^ "China 2005". Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  6. ^ "Serbia 2008/09".
  7. ^ "Shandong Taishan vs. Tianjin Tigers - 19 November 2011 - Soccerway".