Ivan Vujica (; born 20 April 1997) is an Australian 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 ...

. He has represented Croatia at youth level, being capped once for their under-19 side, and has represented Australia at youth level, being capped for their under-23 side.

Club career

Move to Croatia

Vujica departed Australia in 2011 to pursue a football career in Croatia, initially with

NK Sesvete NK Sesvete is a Croatian football club based in the Sesvete district of the city of Zagreb. History Radnik Sesvete Until 8 July 2013 club was known as ''Radnik Sesvete'' when it changed its name to the current one. Since the 2011–12 season th ...

, before moving to

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional association football, football Football team, club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They ...

farm-side

NK Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 19 ...

. In 2013, Vujica moved to Dinamo Zagreb.

Return to Australia

On 4 July 2016, Vujica signed a two-year contract with

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. Vujica made his professional debut in the first round of the

2016–17 A-League The 2016–17 A-League was the 40th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 12th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season began on 7 October 2016. Adelaide United were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champ ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Daniel Mullen Daniel John Mullen (born 26 October 1989) is an Australian soccer player who plays for Campbelltown City. He played as a centre back and a right back. Daniel is the cousin of Matthew Mullen and son of Joe Mullen, a former Socceroo. Club care ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

. He went on to make 10 starts that season but struggled to make the left back spot his own in the starting 11, He finished his first season in professional football with a combined total of 865 minutes.

2017–18

Vujica had a strong pre-season, catching the eye of new coach

Ernie Merrick Ernest Merrick Order of Australia, OAM (born 15 January 1953) is a Scottish-Australian coach, who last managed A-League soccer club Newcastle Jets FC, Newcastle Jets. He was released on 6 January 2020. He was the former head coach of the Hong Ko ...

along the way. In Round 1 of that season against the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

Vujica just edged past seasoned veteran

Jason Hoffman Jason Hoffman (born 28 January 1989) is an Australian association football player who currently plays for Newcastle Olympic FC. He is the most capped player in Newcastle Jets history. Club career Hoffman was developed through NSW Institute o ...

for the starting left back spot. Following strong performances in the first three rounds, he signed a new two-year deal on 29 October 2017. As the season progressed, Vujica emerged as one of Newcastle's biggest talents for the future.

Western United

On 23 June 2019, Vujica signed a two-year deal with new

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regional ci ...

following mutually terminating his contract with

in the search for more game time.

International career

Vujica was called up to the Croatia Under-19 side for a UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifier against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. He participated in a narrow 1–0 victory.

Honours

Macarthur *

Australia Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Fo ...

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vujica, Ivan 1997 births Living people Australian people of Croatian descent Croatian men's footballers Australian men's soccer players Soccer players from Sydney Men's association football fullbacks Australia men's under-23 international soccer players Croatia men's youth international footballers A-League Men players Newcastle Jets FC players Western United FC players Macarthur FC players 21st-century Australian sportsmen