Nikola Matas (; born 22 June 1987) 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 ...

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 ...

defender.

Club career

Nikola Matas went up through the ranks of his hometown's

NK Junak Sinj Nogometni Klub Junak Sinj (''Football Club Junak Sinj''), commonly referred to as Junak Sinj or just Junak, is a professional Croatian football club based in the town of Sinj, in the southern Croatian region of Dalmatia. They currently compete ...

academy, spending half a season in

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 ...

, aged 18. He returned, however to Junak for his first senior season. He joined the newly promoted

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga (), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second League. The 1. NL is ope ...

team, featuring in both their seasons at that rank, before returning to his home team, for another season in Croatia's second tier. Leaving the club again in the summer of 2010, he went on to spend 2 seasons in the Treća HNL Jug, playing for nearby

NK Hrvace NK Hrvace is a Croatian football (soccer), football club based in the town of Hrvace. They currently compete in Second Football League (Croatia), Druga NL, Croatia's third level, which league the club won in 2024/25 season and qualified for play ...

and

NK Uskok Nogometni Klub Uskok (English: Football Club Uskok), commonly referred to as "NK Uskok" or "Uskok", is a Croatian professional football club based in Klis Klis is a Croatian village and a municipality located around a mountain fortress bearin ...

. This was followed by yet another return to Junak and the

. Despite the club's relegation at the end of the season, his performances drew interest from

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 ...

sides, and he signed a 4-year contract with

NK Lokomotiva 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 ...

. He started off as the first choice at the right back position there, after the departure of Ivan Boras and the injury of Toni Gorupec. After the first seven rounds, however, he faded from the team and left the club at the winter break.

International career

Matas made his debut for

in a January

2017 China Cup The 2017 Gree China Cup International Football Championship () was the inaugural edition of the China Cup, an international association football, football tournament. It was held from 10 to 15 January 2017 in Nanning, Guangxi, China. The tourname ...

match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was during the same tournament against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matas, Nikola 1987 births Living people Footballers from Sinj Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's international footballers NK Junak Sinj players HNK Trogir players NK Hrvace players NK Uskok players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players NK Osijek players NK Istra 1961 players NK Nafta Lendava players NK Dugopolje players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Slovenian Second League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia