Srđan Lakić (born 2 October 1983) is a Croatian former professional
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 ...
who played as a
forward.
Club career
Early career and move to Hertha BSC
Lakić started his professional career with Croatian teams
GOŠK Dubrovnik,
Hrvatski Dragovoljac and
Kamen Ingrad, playing in the
Croatian First League with the latter, before moving to
Hertha BSC
Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...
in the summer of 2006. He signed a contract valid until 2009 and cost Hertha a transfer fee of believed to be €300,000.
He made his Hertha debut on 10 August 2006 in their
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
qualifier against
Georgian side
Ameri Tbilisi and went on to make his
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
debut three days later against
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...
. He scored his first and only goal for Hertha in their 2–2 away draw against Ameri Tbilisi in the second leg of the UEFA Cup second qualifying round. However, he never managed to find his place as a regular for Hertha and finished his first season with the club having made only 11 Bundesliga appearances.
Loan to Heracles Almelo
Although Lakić started the 2007–08 season with Hertha, also appearing in their first Bundesliga match of the season, the club decided to send him out on a season-long loan to Dutch side
Heracles Almelo on 29 August 2007.
He made his
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
debut for the club on 15 September 2007 against
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
and scored his first league goal on 22 January 2008 against
Excelsior Rotterdam. He went on to finish the season with seven goals in 28 Eredivisie appearances and was Heracles' second-best goalscorer.
1. FC Kaiserslautern
After the end of his loan period with Heracles, Lakić returned to Hertha for pre-season training, but went on to sign a three-year contract with
2. Bundesliga side
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...
on 6 August 2008. He was given the shirt number 9 at the club.
He made his Kaiserslautern debut on 9 August 2008, scoring the team's only goal in their 2–1 defeat to
Carl Zeiss Jena in the first round of the
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...
. In his first league match for the club, a 3–3 away draw at
Mainz 05 on 15 August 2008, he was substituted at half-time after the team went 3–0 down in the first half. On 29 August 2008, he scored his first league goal for Kaiserslautern, netting the final goal in their 3–1 away win at
FC Ingolstadt. He scored 12 goals in 25 league appearances in his first season with Kaiserslautern.
In his second season with the club, he scored seven goals in 24 league appearances, helping them to win the league and secure promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2010–11 season.
On 21 August 2010, he scored two goals in Kaiserslautern's first Bundesliga match of the 2010–11 season, a 3–1 win at
1. FC Köln. A week later, he netted the second goal in his team's 2–0 win at home to
Bayern Munich. On 27 November 2010, he scored two goals in a 5–0 win at home to
Schalke 04 and went on to score his third brace of the season in the Bundesliga when he netted both goals in a 2–1 win at
Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...
on 18 December 2010, bringing his tally to 11 goals in the league before the winter break.
He also had a great run in Kaiserslautern's 2010–11 DFB-Pokal campaign, scoring seven goals in four appearances. On 13 August 2010, he scored a last-minute equaliser against
VfL Osnabrück
VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section.
The footba ...
in the first round of the cup competition, and went on to set up two goals for
Erwin Hoffer in the ensuing extra-time period to secure his team a 3–2 win. In the second round, a 3–0 win at home to
Arminia Bielefeld
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...
on 26 October 2010, he scored all three goals. He went on to score another hat-trick in a 4–1 win at
TuS Koblenz on 19 January 2011 in the round of 16, before the club were eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 2–0 defeat at
MSV Duisburg
Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...
a week later.
On 27 January 2011, it was made public that Lakić would move to
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...
on a
Bosman-transfer at the end of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, signing until 2015.
VfL Wolfsburg
Lakić had struggled for first-team football under
Felix Magath, starting in only four
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
games, without finding the net. Solution for Lakić's status was found in loan to
1899 Hoffenheim.
He had a second short spell at Wolfsburg for the first leg of the 2012–13 season after he came back from his loan to Hoffenheim.
Loan to 1899 Hoffenheim
1899 Hoffenheim took Lakić on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season to fill the gap left by
Vedad Ibišević departure for
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...
. Lakić was sparingly used by manager Markus Babbel, and returned to
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...
, without scoring a single goal.
Loan to Eintracht Frankfurt
In January 2013, Lakić was again sent on loan, this time to
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
for the second leg of the
2012–13 season and the following entire
2013–14 campaign. His debut in an away match against
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
went dreamlike. He scored both goals at Frankfurt's 2–0 victory. Subsequently, although, he couldn't keep his form and did not fulfill the expectations. During the first leg of the 2013–14 campaign he even never made it into the first eleven, earning only eight substitutions (never playing more than 30 minutes in a game) and scoring no goal.
Return to 1. FC Kaiserslautern
In January 2014 both his loan contract with Frankfurt and his original contract with Wolfsburg were terminated. Thus he was free to join
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...
for the second time in his career.
SC Paderborn
During the last few days of the open transfer window in January 2015, Lakić left Kaiserslautern to join relegation-threatened Bundesliga side
SC Paderborn. He signed a contract until 2016 with an extension clause for another year and Kaiserslautern received a transfer fee of reportedly €350,000. However at the end of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
Paderborn was relegated, being at the bottom of the table. Lakić appeared in all 17 matches in the second leg of the campaign, starting in ten and scoring two goals. On 13 July 2016, Lakić announced that he will end his professional career.
International career
In 2005, Lakić won three international caps for the
Croatian national under-21 team. On 2 November 2010, he was named to the squad for
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 ...
's
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
qualifier against
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
later that month, but did not feature in the match.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakic, Srdjan
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Dubrovnik
Croatian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Croatian expatriate men's footballers
Croatia men's under-21 international footballers
Croatian Football League players
Bundesliga players
Eredivisie players
2. Bundesliga players
NK GOŠK-Dubrovnik 1919 players
NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players
NK Kamen Ingrad players
Hertha BSC players
Heracles Almelo players
1. FC Kaiserslautern players
VfL Wolfsburg players
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players
Eintracht Frankfurt players
SC Paderborn 07 players
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
21st-century Croatian sportsmen