Mario Bilen (born 23 January 1985 in

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surround ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

) is a

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

professional footballer who currently plays for

NRFL Division 2 The Northern Regional Football League Division 2, currently known as Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a New Zealand amateur football league. The league is run by the Auckland Football Federation and includes foot ...

club

Ngaruawahia United Ngaruawahia United AFC is an association football club based in Ngāruawāhia, New Zealand. They compete in the NRFL Division 2, following promotion from the WaiBOP Premiership in 2021. Ngaruawahia United AFC play their home matches at Centennia ...

Club career

A stalwart in Croatia's top-flight, the

1.HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva ...

. and youth national teams, where he befriended

Luka Modric Luka may refer to: People * Luka (given name), a South Slavic masculine given name cognate of Luke, and a Japanese given name * Luka (singer), stage name of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Karina Santos de Lima (born 1979) * Luka Keʻeli ...

, Bilen immigrated to New Zealand in 2013 to sign for 9x OFC Oceania Champions League winners,

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League. Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in bo ...

. After leading the defensive line for the club in over 100 top-flight matches in New Zealand, Bilen departed the club in December 2022, aged 36. He is widely regarded as a club legend at City and played an instrumental role in the club's third-place finish at the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

in 2014 as the starting centre-back. Following his departure from Auckland City, he joined

on the eve of their promotion playoff into

against

Papakura City Papakura City was a city near Auckland, New Zealand. It existed from 1975 to 1989. History Papakura City was constituted as a city on 1 January 1975. It existed until the 1989 local government reforms, when "Papakura City" was subsumed by "Papa ...

. He made his debut for Ngaruawahia in the first game of the NRFL Division 2 season in a 2-0 away win over West Auckland.

References

External links

* * * * 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Vinkovci Association football midfielders Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers HNK Cibalia players NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players HNK Orašje players NK Slaven Belupo players Flamurtari Vlorë players HNK Vukovar '91 players NK Zadar players Auckland City FC players Croatian Football League players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players New Zealand Football Championship players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate footballers in Albania Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Croatian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand {{Croatia-footy-midfielder-stub