Andrija Balić

Andrija Balić (Croatian pronunciation: [ǎndrija bǎːlitɕ, - bǎ-];[1][2][3] born 11 August 1997) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a midfielder in Slovakia for FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda on loan from Udinese.

Andrija Balić
Personal information
Full name Andrija Balić
Date of birth (1997-08-11) 11 August 1997
Place of birth Split, Croatia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Dunajská Streda
(on loan from Udinese)
Number 6
Youth career
2004–2007 Dugopolje
2007–2014 Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Hajduk Split 32 (6)
2016– Udinese 29 (1)
2019 → Fortuna Sittard (loan) 13 (1)
2019 → Perugia (loan) 10 (0)
2020– → Dunajská Streda (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2011 Croatia U14 2 (0)
2012 Croatia U15 2 (0)
2012–2013 Croatia U16 4 (0)
2013 Croatia U17 5 (0)
2014 Croatia U18 3 (0)
2014–2016 Croatia U19 12 (0)
2015– Croatia U21 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 August 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2019

Club career

Early Career

Born in Split but living in nearby Dugopolje,[4] Balić started to train football at the local NK Dugopolje, before moving to the Hajduk Split academy in 2007.

Passing through the ranks, he became a youth international, playing for all Croatian selections between U14 and U19.[5]

In the 2013–14 season he formed a potent midfield partnership for the Hajduk U17 team with Nikola Vlašić, which resulted in the team finishing the first half of the season in first place, without a single loss. The two then received and signed professional contracts,[6] until 2017 and were moved to the U19 team. Balić made his first team debut in the 1–0 home win against RNK Split, coming in the 76th minute of the match for Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov.[7]

Hajduk Split

He had to wait until December to make his first appearance of the 2014–15 season, but then became a much more prevalent member of the first team. He got his first start for Hajduk on 18 February 2015, in a 3–0 away loss to Rijeka. He scored his first goal for Hajduk on 1 March 2015 in a 2–2 draw against Zadar, helping his side claw a point after being 2–0 down.[8] His bigger impact on the first team led Balić to be rewarded with a new contract ending in mid-2018.[9]

Udinese

On 1 February 2016, he signed for Udinese in a €4 million deal.[10][11] In his first half-season with Udinese, Balić made the bench on 15 occasions, but failed to make a first team appearance. The next season was much the same for Balić, sitting on the bench 28 times without making an appearance before making his senior team debut on 7 May 2017 in a 1–1 draw with Atalanta Bergamo at the Stadio Friuli, playing the first 60 minutes before being replaced by Sven Kums. He would go on to appear in the three following matches and score his first goal for Udinese in a 5–2 loss to Inter Milan at the San Siro. Balić made just one appearance in the first 11 rounds of the 2017–18 Serie A season, but following the appointment of Massimo Oddo, he became more prevalent in the first eleven once more.

Fortuna Sittard (loan)

On 24 January 2019, Balić joined to Dutch club Fortuna Sittard on loan until 30 June 2019.[12]

Perugia (loan)

On 30 August 2019, he joined Serie B club Perugia on a season-long loan.[13]

DAC Dunajská Streda (loan)

Balić continued to be loaned out of Udinese, as his next half-season loan was announced on 14 February 2020, when he was loaned out to DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda, playing in the Slovak Fortuna Liga.[14]

Career statistics
As of match played 15 March 2019[15]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hajduk Split 2013–14 Croatian First Football League 20––20
2014–15 14432–176
2015–16 1622082264
Total32652824510
Udinese 2016–17 Serie A 41––41
2017–18 21030–240
2018–19 4010–50
Total2914000331
Fortuna Sittard (loan) 2018–19 Eredivisie 60––60
Career total67792828411

References
  1. "Àndrija". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Àndrija
  2. "bàlija". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Bálić
  3. "Bȁltazār". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Bàlić
  4. "Hajduk predstavio trio svojih bisera: Upoznajte ih!" (in Croatian). Gol.hr. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  5. "Statistics - Caps: Andrija Balić". Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  6. "Potpisali Vlašić, Hairlahović i Balić: Očekujemo puno od njih" (in Croatian). 24sata. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  7. "Pašalić donio pobjedu Hajduku u gradskom derbiju" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  8. "Neriješeno na Poljudu, "bijeli" nadoknadili dva gola zaostatka" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  9. "Andrija Balić dogovorio ostanak u Hajduku do ljeta 2018. godine" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  10. "Official: Udinese sign Balic". Football Italia. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  11. "Balic è bianconero" (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  12. "UFFICIALE: Udinese, Balic prestato al Fortuna Sittard" (in Italian). Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  13. "BENVENUTO AD ANDRIJA BALIC" (Press release) (in Italian). Perugia. 30 August 2019.
  14. Nagy, Krisztián. "Z Udinese prichádza Andrija Balić". FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  15. "Andrija Balic > Club Matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
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