Marijan Buljat (born 12 September 1981) is a

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 ...

n retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who last played as a wingback for Arbanasi Zadar.

Club career

Born in Zadar and a product of the

NK Zadar Nogometni klub Zadar (), commonly referred to as NK Zadar or simply Zadar, was a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast, best known for playing in the top flight of Croatian football for almost twenty years. Histor ...

academy, Buljat moved soon after finishing his youth career to

NK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Supersport HNL, of which they have been members ...

. After a year and a half there he moved in January 2002 to the 2. Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth, signing a 2.5-year contract. After featuring in only a few friendlies for the first side and playing mostly for the Greuther Fürth amateur team in the

Oberliga Bayern The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Obe ...

, he moved in January 2003 back to Croatia, to

NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek (), commonly referred to as NK Osijek (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav First Le ...

. After another one and half there, he was signed, in summer 2004, by

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 ...

. In January 2007 Buljat's left leg was broken by the Croatia national team striker

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...

in training. In a cruel twist of irony Eduardo's own leg was broken by a tackle by

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

's Martin Taylor in 2008. In July 2008 he was reported that he was transferred to biggest Dinamo rival

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract. After securing a first eleven spot in the 2008/2009 season, he was removed from the first team squad in late 2009 for refusing to sign a new contract with a wage cut. A new contract was signed six months later, and was set to feature in the first team again, but broke his right leg in training in July 2010, after featuring only in a single league match. He returned to play in 2011, after a 10-month recovery.

International career

He made his debut for

in a March 2006

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, coming on as a late substitute for

Niko Kranjčar Niko Kranjčar (; born 13 August 1984) is a Croatian former professional Association football, footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder, but could also operate as a Midfielder (association football)#Winger, winger or Forward (a ...

, and earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was a June 2006 friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buljat, Marijan 1981 births Living people Footballers from Zadar Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers NK Mosor players HNK Rijeka players SpVgg Greuther Fürth II players NK Osijek players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players HNK Hajduk Split players NK Primorac 1929 players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Oberliga (football) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany 21st-century Croatian sportsmen