Borna Sosa (; born 21 January 1998) is a Croatian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

left wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, on loan from

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Sosa was born in the Prečko neighbourhood of

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

to Herzegovinian Croat parents from Gradac, near

Posušje Posušje () is a town and municipality in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ( Croatian for drought). Th ...

. He was a youth player for

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. He was given his

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

debut for Dinamo by coach

Zoran Mamić Zoran Mamić (; born 30 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. He is most known for his successful time as a player and later manager of Dinamo Zagreb. Mamić represented the Croatia national team 6 tim ...

on 7 March 2015 in a 2–0 home win over

, starting and playing the full 90 minutes. On 10 May 2016, he played full 90 minutes in the Croatian Cup Final as Dinamo defeated Slaven Belupo 2–1. He made his European debut on 12 July 2016, when coach

Zlatko Kranjčar Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar (; 15 November 1956 – 1 March 2021) was a Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. Kranjčar started his career as a player with GNK Dinam ...

substituted him for

Alexandru Mățel Alexandru Mățel (born 17 October 1989) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back and currently the chief scout of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Club career Early career and Astra He began his caree ...

in the 66th minute of the 2–1 victory over

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

in the Champions League second qualifying round. Over the course of four seasons at Dinamo, Sosa made 41 appearances and six assists for his hometown club.

VfB Stuttgart

On 14 May 2018, Sosa signed a five-year-contract with

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, with effect from 1 July. He made his debut for Stuttgart on 26 August, after being substituted on for

Emiliano Insúa Emiliano Adrián Insúa Zapata (born 7 January 1989) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Insúa is a citizen of the European Union through one of his grandparents, who is Spanish. Career Early career Ins ...

in the 84th minute of the 1–0 loss to

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. However, due to frequent injuries, Sosa's minutes were significantly reduced in his first season with Stuttgart, which saw the club relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. The injuries continued during his second season as well, resulting in Sosa making only 24 appearances for Stuttgart in his first two seasons. On 16 December 2019, he scored his debut goal for Stuttgart in a 1–1 draw with

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. However, the 2020–21 season was Sosa's breakthrough season, as he found form and consistency in

Pellegrino Matarazzo Pellegrino Matarazzo (born November 28, 1977) is an American professional soccer coach and retired player. He was previously a youth coach of 1. FC Nürnberg and 1899 Hoffenheim. In December 2019, Matarazzo was appointed head coach of VfB Stut ...

's 3–4–2–1 formation. His performances in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

earned him praise and comparisons to

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

, whom he named his football role model alongside

David Alaba David Alaba (; born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Austria national team. He was previously primarily a left-back, and was considered one of the best ...

. On 27 November 2020, he extended his contract until 2025. He finished the season with nine assists on his account. At the beginning of the 2021–22 season, on 7 August, Sosa captained Stuttgart for the first time in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

match against Dynamo Berlin, scoring and assisting in the 6–0 victory. Seven days later, on the first matchday of

, Sosa provided

Marc-Oliver Kempf Marc-Oliver Kempf (born 28 January 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Como. Club career Kempf started his career at Eintracht Frankfurt, appearing for both the reserves and the senior team. On 15 July ...

and Hamadi Al Ghaddioui with a hat-trick of assists as Stuttgart defeated Greuther Fürth 5–1.

Ajax

On 1 September 2023, Sosa moved to

club

, signing a contract until 30 June 2028. He featured regularly at left-back during the 2023–24 season, under managers Maurice Steijn and

John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Armenia. Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine ...

, making 25 appearances across the Eredivisie,

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, and

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

Loan to Torino

On 17 August 2024, after just one season in Amsterdam, Sosa moved to Italy, joining

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He quickly established himself as a regular starter for Torino during the 2024–25 season, often playing as a

. Sosa made a total of twenty appearances for Torino. Sosa provided zero assists and did not score any goals. At the end of the season, Torino decided not to exercise the option to buy the on-loan left-back.

International career

Sosa represented

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

at the 2015 UEFA Under-17 Euro and the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

. In May 2018, he was named in

Zlatko Dalić Zlatko Dalić (; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian people, Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player. He has been the manager of the Croatia national football ...

's preliminary 32-man squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

in Russia, but did not make the final 23. He was named in

Nenad Gračan Nenad Gračan (born 23 January 1962) is a Croatian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the coach of the Croatia women's national football team. Club career Born in Rijeka, SFR Yugoslavia, Gračan started playing ...

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019 and

Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the currently head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every posi ...

for the UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021. However, he was ruled out of the latter squad at the last minute due to a knee injury. On 7 May 2021, it was reported by ''

Sportske novosti ''Sportske novosti'' () is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb. The newspaper was established on 9 August 1945 as ''Ilustrirane fiskulturne novine'' weekly newspaper. Several months later, on 10 December 1945, its name was change ...

'' and

Sky Sport Sky Sport or Sky Sports may refer to: *Sky Group **Sky Sports, a group of sports television channels available in the UK and Ireland ** Sky Sport (Germany), a group of sports television channels available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, formerl ...

that Sosa was given

German citizenship German nationality law details the conditions by which an individual is a national of Germany. The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1914. Germany is a member state of the Euro ...

, on

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

coach

Joachim Löw Joachim "Jogi" Löw (; born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup i ...

's initiative, through his mother Vesna who was born and raised in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and was expected to represent Germany at the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. A day later, on 8 May, Sosa himself confirmed the information to ''

24sata ''24 sata'' (meaning "24 hours" in Croatian) is the name of two daily newspapers (both of which spell their names ''24sata''): * ''24sata'' (Croatia), Croatian daily tabloid owned by the Austrian Styria group * ''24 sata'' (Serbia), Serbian f ...

''. However, on 11 May,

Oliver Bierhoff Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968) is a German association football official and former player who played as a striker. He has previously served as the technical director of the Germany national team. A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, Bier ...

, the technical director of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

, announced that Sosa is ineligible to play for Germany according to the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

rules. Two days later, on 13 May, Sosa issued an official apology to the Croatian public, Croatia national team fans and the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation (, HNS) is the national governing body of football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIFA and UEFA, and is responsible f ...

via the Federation's website. Sosa earned his first call-up to the national team on 16 August 2021, ahead of the September World Cup qualifiers against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. He made his debut on 1 September in a goalless draw against Russia, being named in the starting lineup. On 14 November, in the crucial qualifier against the same opponent, Sosa caused

Fyodor Kudryashov Fyodor Vasilievich Kudryashov ( rus, Фёдор Васильевич Кудряшов, p=ˈfʲɵdər vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kʊdrʲɪˈʂof; born 5 April 1987) is a Russian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a D ...

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

, leading to Croatia's 1–0 victory and qualification for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. On 22 September 2022, he scored his debut goal for the national team in a 2–1 Nations League victory over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sosa goal.''

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

: 2015–16, 2017–18 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2015–16, 2017–18 Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sosa, Borna 1998 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Naturalized citizens of Germany German people of Croatian descent German people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen German men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players GNK Dinamo Zagreb II players VfB Stuttgart players AFC Ajax players Torino FC players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century German sportsmen