Zdravko Šimić (born 8 September 1977) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

for

Sengkang Punggol Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its na ...

of the Singapore S-League. He can play in both the defensive and offensive midfielder positions, and is the captain of his current club.

Club career

Šimić started his senior footballing career in his native Croatia, playing for his local club

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 then moved to

NK Pomorac NK Pomorac 1921 is a Croatian football club based in Kostrena, a suburb of Rijeka which currently plays in Croatian third tier 3. HNL West. Kostrena is known for its maritime tradition, which is reflected in the club's name, as the word " pomo ...

where he became a more regular feature in the team's setup, helping them to win promotion to the

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 ...

(Croatian First Football League) in 2002. In 2005, he was sold to then-

Malaysian Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known ...

club

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club owned by the Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The club represents the state of Sabah in Borneo, and competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Thei ...

, where he could not help his club to avoid relegation, and in 2006, he returned home to Croatia to play for

NK Draga NK Draga is a Croatian football club from Mošćenička Draga on the Croatian coast. The team won the Treća HNL West Division in 2003–04. Honours Treća HNL The Croatian Second Football League (), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL, is the th ...

. Within two years, Šimić was on his way back to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, this time to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

where he is currently playing for

as a midfielder and its captain. On 21 May 2008, Šimić scored his first goal for Sengkang against the Young Lions in dramatic fashion. He stepped up to take a penalty kick, subsequently blasting his effort over the bar, but the referee,

Sukhbir Singh Sukhbir Singh Badal (born 9 July 1962) is an Indian politician and businessman who served twice as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and is currently the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and was a member of Parliament from the Firozpur Lok ...

, ruled that the Cubs' defenders had stepped into the box before the kick was taken, and called for a retake. Šimić then scored from the spot on his second try. It was his first goal in the S.League, as well as Sengkang's first win in the season since it began.

International career

Šimić had a short stint playing for the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 teams of the Croatia national team. There, he played alongside current Croatia national team stars

Igor Tudor Igor Tudor (born 16 April 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Serie A club Juventus. Capable of playing either as a defender or defensive midfielder, Tudor spent most of his playing career a ...

(

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 ...

) and

Dario Šimić Dario Šimić (; born 12 November 1975) is a Croatian former footballer. Šimić was a versatile defender who played as full-back, sweeper or centre back; a physical and hard-tackling defender, he was known in particular for his strength and ...

(

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simic, Zdravko 1977 births Living people Footballers from Rijeka Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers HNK Rijeka players NK Pomorac 1921 players Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Hougang United FC players NK Opatija players Croatian Football League players Singapore Premier League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia HNK Rijeka non-playing staff