Mateo Bajamich (, ; born 3 August 1999) is an Argentine 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 winger for Primera División side

Atlético Tucumán Club Atlético Tucumán (mostly known as Atlético Tucumán) is an Argentine football club based in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán of Tucumán Province. Although several sports are practised at the club, Atlético is mostly known for its footba ...

. He can also play as a striker.

Career

Instituto

Bajamich's career started with

Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba (commonly referred to as Instituto) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba, whose professional football team currently plays in the Primera División, the first division of the Argentine footba ...

, joining in 2016 from his local club Unión de Morrison. Ahead of the 2018–19

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

season, Bajamich was promoted to the Instituto first team. He made his Instituto debut on 23 February 2019, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat to Nueva Chicago. Bajamich was a late addition to the match day squad after

Facundo Affranchino Facundo Andrés Affranchino (born 9 February 1990) is an Argentine footballer currently playing for Atlético Rafaela. Career Affranchino made his debut as a 16-year-old on November 10, 2007, in a River Plate's 2–1 away loss to Huracán wher ...

was injured in the pre-match warm up. He had previously been an unused substitute in 2018 for matches with

Villa Dálmine Club Villa Dálmine is an Argentine football club from Campana, Buenos Aires Province. The team currently plays in Primera B, the third level of the Argentine football league system. Due to a financial crisis, the club was named "Club Atlético ...

and

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

. Bajamich made his first start in senior football in a 1–0 loss against

Guillermo Brown William Brown (also known in Spanish as Guillermo Brown or ''Almirante'' Brown) (22 June 1777 – 3 March 1857) was an Irish sailor, merchant, and naval commander who served in the Argentine Navy during the wars of the early 19th century. Brown ...

on 3 March 2019. On 21 April, he scored his first professional goal in the final match of the season in a 1–1 draw against Gimnasia y Esgrima (M). Bajamich and Instituto finished the 2018–19 season 22nd in the league table. After the season, he signed a contract with Instituto lasting until 2022. Bajamich netted four goals in his first five games to start the 2019–20 season, including a brace in a 3–0 win at

Brown de Adrogué Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

on 14 September 2019. He scored twice again on 9 November in a 2–0 win against

Santamarina Santamarina is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ángel Santamarina, Argentine fencer *Eduardo Santamarina (born 1968), Mexican actor * Enrique Santamarina (1870–1937), Argentine politician * José Santamarina (born 1963), Arg ...

. On 15 March Bajamich scored once to help ''La Gloria'' defeat Tigre 3–0. That would end up being the final game of the season for Instituto as the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Bajamich ended the season with 9 goals and 3 assists from 21 games, helping Instituto finish 9th in group B.

Houston Dynamo

On 5 October 2020, Bajamich joined the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. The transfer fee is reportedly $1,200,000, with Instituto receiving 20% of his next sale. The contract with Houston lasts until 2022, with the Dynamo having team options until 2025.

Instituto loan

On 9 November 2020, Bajamich was loaned back to Instituto until 21 January 2021, prior to the start of Houston's pre-season. He scored on his first appearance back, netting the opener in a 2–1 victory over

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine association football, football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Gre ...

on 28 November. He scored again on 27 December in a 1–1 draw against Gimnasia y Esgrima (J). Bajamich made a total of eight appearances on loan, scoring twice, as Instituto lost in the first round of the promotion play-offs to

Defensores de Belgrano Club Atlético Defensores de Belgrano (usually known as Defensores de Belgrano) is an Argentina, Argentine sports club from Nuñez, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in Primer ...

Return to Houston

Bajamich made his Dynamo debut on 15 May 2021, coming off the bench in a 3–1 loss to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. He recorded his first assist for the Dynamo on 29 May in a 3–2 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. Bajamich ended the season with 1 assist in 9 appearances, as Houston finished last in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs.

Loan to Huracán

On 28 January 2022, Bajamich was again loaned out by Houston. He returned to Argentina, joining

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

on loan for the season with Huracán holding a purchase option. Bajamich made his debut for Huracán on 15 February, coming off the bench in a 3–2 loss to

Estudiantes de la Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

in a

Copa de la Liga Profesional The Copa de la Liga Profesional (English: ''Professional League Cup''; officially named "Copa Diego Armando Maradona" in its first edition) was an official Argentine football cup competition. The cup was planned and organised by the "Liga Profes ...

match. Bajamich made 9 appearances while with Huracán, all in the Copa de La Liga Profesional. On 7 November 2022, Houston declined Bajamich's contract option for 2023, making him a free agent.

Estudiantes de Río Cuarto

On 16 January 2023, Bajamich signed with

Estudiantes de Río Cuarto Asociación Atlética Estudiantes (usually known as Estudiantes de Río Cuarto) is an Argentinian sports club located in the city of Río Cuarto, Córdoba Province. Although many sports are practised at the club, it is mostly known for its footb ...

Primera Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 teams ...

. He made his debut for Estudiantes (RC) on 11 February, coming off the bench in a 2–0 loss to CA Temperley. On 17 February, Bajamich scored his first goal for ''el Celeste'' in a 2–2 draw with

San Telmo San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. A well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis, it hosts some of its oldest buildings. One of the birthplace ...

. He ended the season with 8 goals in 38 appearances to help Estudiantes finish 4th in the league, plus 3 more appearances in the Copa Argentina where they reached the round of 16.

Atlético Tucumán

On 11 January 2024, Bajamich signed with

to return to the Primera División. He made his debut for ''El Decano'' on 25 January as a sub during a 1–1 draw with

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

in the

. His first goal for the club came on 31 March during a 1–1 draw against Independiente in the Copa de la Liga. He scored his first 2 career Primera División goals on 22 September in a 2–4 loss to

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

. Bajamich ended the season with 7 goals in 41 games across all competitions.

Personal life

Born in Argentina, Bajamich is of Croatian descent. In 1921, his great-grandfather Mariano Bajamich () left Trnbusi, Croatia (then part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) and moved to Argentina where he married a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

named Carmen. Bajamich expressed his desire to play for the Croatia national team. In 2020, he received the

Croatian citizenship The Croatian nationality law dates back from June 26, 1991, with amendments on May 8, 1992, October 28, 2011, and January 1, 2020, and an interpretation of the Constitutional Court in 1993. It is based upon the Constitution of Croatia (Chapter I ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bajamich, Mateo 1999 births Footballers from Córdoba Province, Argentina Living people Men's association football forwards Argentine men's footballers Argentine people of Croatian descent Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba footballers Houston Dynamo FC players Club Atlético Huracán footballers Estudiantes de Río Cuarto footballers Atlético Tucumán footballers Primera Nacional players Major League Soccer players Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century Argentine sportsmen