Tin Jedvaj (; born 28 November 1995) 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 ...

who plays as a defender for Emirati club Al Ain on loan from

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

club

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three o ...

. He was a part of the Croatia national team's squad which ended

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. He is mostly deployed as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and occasionally as a right back.

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Jedvaj started his professional career in 2013 with

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinam ...

, coming through Dinamo's youth academy. He made his debut in a match against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, playing in central defence alongside

Josip Šimunić Josip "Joe" Šimunić (; born 18 February 1978) is a Croatian retired footballer and current manager of the Croatia national under-19 team. Born in Australia to Bosnian Croat parents, Šimunić started his career at Melbourne Knights then mov ...

. He scored his debut goal against Cibalia. During his first professional season with the club, he won the Croatian

Prva 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 H ...

trophy. At the beginning of the new

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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, he won another trophy with the club when Dinamo defeated

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979 ...

in the Croatian Supercup. During his time with Dinamo, Jedvaj made total of 14 official appearances for the club.

Roma

At the end of his first professional

, Jedvaj was targeted and approached by Italian club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, although the initial offer was rejected by the Dinamo board. On 10 July 2013, however, it was confirmed that Jedvaj had signed a contract with the Roman club. Jedvaj made his Roma debut on 1 December 2013, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 4–0

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

victory over

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

. He made his starting debut for the club against the same opposition in the last round of the Serie A season, with Genoa winning the clash 1–0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Those were Jedvaj's only two appearances for the season, appearing on the bench 33 times for Roma in the 2013–14 season.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 11 June 2014,

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

announced that they had reached an agreement with all parties for a loan agreement with Roma and Jedvaj, allowing Jedvaj to join Bayer on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. Jedvaj's debut with the Germans – where he contributed significantly while playing all 90 minutes in the first official match of the season – helped the team to a 6–0 victory against Alemannia Waldalgesheim in the first round of the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal. Just a few days later, on 19 August, Jedvaj made his debut with the Germans in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, replacing teammate

Giulio Donati Giulio Donati (born 5 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Monza. Club career Inter Milan Primavera and first team Born in Pietrasanta, the Province of Lucca, Donati started his career at hom ...

in the 46th minute in Bayer's 3–2 away victory in Denmark over

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League play-off round. Jedvaj played the second half well, helping his team to secure an eventual victory. He did, however, receive a yellow card in the 51st minute of the match. Jedvaj also played in the return match against Copenhagen in the Germans' 4–0 victory, allowing Bayer qualification to the Champions League group stage. Jedvaj played all 90 minutes of the match, even earning a penalty on the half-hour mark of which striker Stefan Kießling converted in an eventual 3–0 victory. Jedvaj subsequently made his debut in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

on 23 August, a 2–0 victory over

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional foot ...

in the first match of the campaign. He scored his first goal with Bayer early on in the second game of the season, a 4–2 home win against

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. Jedvaj scored in the 50th minute, tying the game 1–1 before Bayer eventually went on to win. Jedvaj continued his fine form at Leverkusen by scoring a powerful curving goal against

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, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

to give his side a 1–0 lead. He later assisted Son Heung-min for the goal that would tie the game for a final result of 3–3. On 20 January 2015, Bayer Leverkusen confirmed that they had signed Jedvaj from Roma on a permanent deal and signed a contract with the Croatian defender until 2020. However, Jedvaj was only able to make one appearance in the first half of the 2015–16 season. This was due to a thigh injury that recurred three times. His only appearance came against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of thr ...

in October, where he came on as a substitute. On 29 October 2016, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or 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 W ...

. On 20 August 2019, Jedvaj was loaned out to

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded ...

until the end of 2019–20 season. On 17 December, he scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory over

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. On 16 May 2020, he scored the only goal in a 2–1 defeat to VfL Wolfsburg. Upon return to Leverkusen in summer 2020, Jedvaj was completely sidelined by coach Peter Bosz, playing only in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 24 July 2021, Jedvaj signed a four-year-long deal with

club

. He was brought in to replace his compatriot Vedran Ćorluka, who retired from football two months earlier. He made his debut on 6 August as a 46th-minute substitute in the 1–1 league draw with

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

. He scored his first goal for Lokomotiv on 25 October in a 2–1 victory over Sochi.

Loan to Al Ain

On 20 December 2022, Jedvaj moved on loan to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates until 30 June 2023, with an option to buy.

International career

Jedvaj has represented Croatia at various youth levels. He made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut at age 18, playing the final 13 minutes in a friendly match against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

on 4 September 2014 at

Stadion Aldo Drosina Stadion Aldo Drosina ( it, Stadio Aldo Drosina) is a multi-use stadium in Pula, Croatia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of NK Istra 1961 and formerly NK Istra. The stadium has a capacity of 9,800.http ...

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the ...

. On 31 May 2016, he was confirmed to be a part of the Croatia squad for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. He was selected to start a match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, which Croatia won 2–1. In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the

in Russia. He featured once during the tournament, playing the whole ninety minutes of a 2–1 victory over

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. Croatia finished the tournament as

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

. On 16 November 2018, he scored two goals in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

group match against Spain, including the winner in a 3–2 victory. During

Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...

, Jedvaj played regularly, replacing injured right back Šime Vrsaljko and appearing in five out of eight games. However, ahead of Nations League matches against Sweden and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, Jedvaj was dropped from the national team.

Personal life

Jedvaj's father Zdenko is a former footballer. During the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

, his family left

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and moved to the Croatian capital of

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

. In June 2022, Jedvaj married his long-time girlfriend Dina Dragija in

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

. In May 2020, Jedvaj appeared in the music video for the song "Poziv" (''Call'') by Serbian rapper Cvija.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jedvaj goal''

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

* Croatian Supercup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * Croatian Football Hope of the Year: 2014 Orders * Order of Duke Branimir: 2018

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jedvaj, Tin 1995 births Footballers from Zagreb Living people Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers Association football defenders GNK Dinamo Zagreb players A.S. Roma players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Augsburg players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Al Ain FC players Croatian Football League players Serie A players Bundesliga players Russian Premier League players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates