Mate Maleš (; born 11 March 1989) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in Croatian club

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 1 ...

Club career

Maleš started his football career with

HNK Šibenik Hrvatski nogometni klub Šibenik (), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, SuperSport HNL, t ...

, debuting for the first team at the age of 17, on 4 August 2006 against

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 ...

. His teammates in

included

Ante Rukavina Ante Rukavina (born 18 June 1986) is a Croatian retired footballer. He played for HNK Šibenik, Hajduk Split, and Dinamo Zagreb as well as Greek club Panathinaikos. Club career Rukavina started his professional career with his hometown club H ...

and

Gordon Schildenfeld Gordon Schildenfeld (born 18 March 1985) is a Croatian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Schildenfeld is the manager of the HNK Vukovar 1991 in the second tier o ...

. In 2007,

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 ...

acquired Maleš and introduced him to their youth system. He was set to sign his first professional contract in February 2008, after a tournament in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in which he played for the first team. Instead, he opted to sign a five-year deal with

. After only two matches for his new team in the early stages of the 2008–09 season, he was loaned to Lokomotiva. In the summer of 2010, his contract with Dinamo was cancelled and Maleš signed a three-year contract with Lokomotiva. He spent one of these three seasons on loan with

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

Rijeka

In June 2013, Maleš signed a two-year deal with

HNK 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, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. He was a regular starter during his first season with the club. However, following a serious ankle injury, he had to undergo two surgeries, followed by long recovery periods. As a consequence, he did not play a single match from 26 March 2014 until 2 August 2015, in process missing the entire 2014–15 season, with the exception of one Rijeka II appearance in 3. HNL. Nevertheless, in May 2015, Rijeka renewed his contract for two years, tying him to the club until June 2017. Maleš scored his first ever

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 ...

goal in Rijeka's 2–1 away win against Lokomotiva on 17 October 2015. From the start of the 2016–17 season and until his departure in February 2018 Maleš served as the team captain. Maleš was signed by

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

newcomer Dalian Yifang in February 2018. However, after

Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning, and headquartered in Beijing. The conglomerate's core businesses are a priva ...

took charge of the club at the end of February 2018 and bought Nicolás Gaitán and

Yannick Carrasco Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (born 4 September 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab and the Belgium national team. A versatile player, Carrasco can be deployed as a left midfielder, left wing-b ...

from

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, he was excluded from the squad due to the limitation of the numbers of foreign players.

CFR Cluj

On 20 June 2018, Maleš signed a contract with Romanian defending champions

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

Sarpsborg 08

On 30 July 2019, Maleš signed for

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

on a contract until the end of the 2020 season. On 15 August 2019 Maleš' contract was extended until the end of the 2021 season.

Arezzo

On 17 September 2020, he moved to Italian

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

. On 29 January 2021, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

International career

In 2006, Mate Maleš was selected for the national under-21 team, but despite being a regular U19 player, he never got a cap for the U21s. However, he has been called up to the Croatia squad and was in the squad for the 2014 World Cup Qualifying match against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, on 19 November 2013. He made his international debut on 5 March 2014, aged 24, in a friendly away match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he was in the starting line-up and eventually replaced by

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

in 56th minute. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. He missed the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

due to injury.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Rijeka *

Croatian First Football League 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. Establishe ...

: 2016–17 *

Croatian Football Cup The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...

: 2013–14, 2016–17 CFR Cluj *

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

: 2018–19 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Males, Mate 1989 births Living people Footballers from Šibenik Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's international footballers HNK Šibenik players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players NK Zagreb players HNK Rijeka players CFR Cluj players Sarpsborg 08 FF players SS Arezzo players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Liga I players Eliteserien players Serie C players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century Croatian sportsmen