Duje Ćaleta-Car

Duje Ćaleta-Car (Croatian pronunciation: [dǔːje tɕâleta tsâr];[2][3] born 17 September 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for French club Marseille and the Croatia national football team.[4] He is a member of the Croatian squad which ended as runners-up to France in 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Duje Ćaleta-Car
Ćaleta-Car warming up for Red Bull Salzburg in 2017
Personal information
Full name Duje Ćaleta-Car
Date of birth (1996-09-17) 17 September 1996
Place of birth Šibenik, Croatia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Marseille
Number 15
Youth career
2005–2012 HNK Šibenik
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 HNK Šibenik 17 (0)
2013–2014 Pasching 15 (3)
2014–2018 Red Bull Salzburg 84 (4)
2014–2015 → Liefering (loan) 20 (0)
2018– Marseille 43 (1)
National team‡
2012–2013 Croatia U17 12 (1)
2013–2014 Croatia U18 4 (0)
2014–2015 Croatia U19 10 (2)
2014–2019 Croatia U21 15 (3)
2018– Croatia 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:27, 28 February 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

Club career

Ćaleta-Car joined FC Liefering in 2014 from FC Pasching. He made his Austrian Football First League debut with FC Liefering on 25 July 2014 against FAC Team für Wien.[5]

Red Bull Salzburg

During the 2017-18 season Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of their Europa League group, for a record fourth time, before beating Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund thus making their first ever appearance in the UEFA Europa League semi-final.[6] On 3 May 2018, he played in the Europa League semi-finals as Olympique de Marseille played out a 1–2 away loss but a 3–2 aggregate win to secure a place in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final.[7]

Olympique de Marseille

On 20 July 2018, Ćaleta-Car joined French club Marseille on a five-year deal for a transfer fee of €19 million. Upon his arrival, Ćaleta-Car was given the squad shirt number 15.[8]

International career

In October 2015, Ćaleta-Car received a first call-up for the senior national team for the Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Bulgaria and Malta, as a replacement for injured Jozo Šimunović.[9] He was in the first 27 players team called for the Euro 2016 but was dropped along with midfielder Alen Halilović and goalkeeper Dominik Livaković.

In May 2018, he was named in Croatia’s preliminary 32 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[10] On 3 June, he made his international debut in a friendly match against Brazil, coming on as a substitute for Vedran Ćorluka in the 52nd minute.[11]

In June 2019, he refused to be part of Croatia squad for 2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro, citing exhaustion and the club's demand to take a rest for the upcoming season as reasons. Soon it was discovered that the real reason was a vacation in the Maldives with his club teammate Nemanja Radonjić.[12] As a disciplinary action, he was the only outfield player who wasn't given even a minute of playing time in senior Croatia squad's June fixtures against Wales and Tunisia and was completely dropped ahead of September fixtures against Slovakia and Azerbaijan.[13] In an interview with Sportske novosti, he denied going on a vacation to the Maldives and said that the sole reason of not participating in the tournament was suggestion of his club coaches Andoni Zubizarreta and Andre Villas-Boas to take a rest instead since his previous season wasn't on the level it was expected to be, partially due to his participation in the World Cup the summer before, and that it wasn't his personal wish. He also claimed that the Croatia U21 manager Nenad Gračan "had lied and had disappointed him", that "it had hurted him to read the lies of the media" about the vacation, and that he accepted the senior Croatia squad manager Zlatko Dalić's decision to drop him from the team.[14]

He was called up again ahead of Croatia's November fixtures against Slovakia and Georgia following suspensions of the standard starting defenders Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida.[15] He was a starter in the decisive match against the former opponent, that ended up as a 3–1 win and saw Croatia qualifying for Euro 2020.[16]

Playing style

Ćaleta-Car is a strong and composed, natural center-back. His composure and comfort on the ball open him up as a safe back-pass option during midfield play. He also has vision and an eye for moving the ball forward with pace or precise long ball. His performance at the 2018 Europa League and 2018 World Cup impressed many, and caught the eye of several large clubs including Ligue 1's Olympique de Marseille and La Liga's Sevilla FC.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 28 February 2020[4]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Šibenik 2012–13 Croatian Second Football League 17000——170
Pasching 2013–14 Austrian Regionalliga 15300——153
Liefering 2014–15 Austrian Football First League 19000——190
2015–16 1000——10
Total 20000——200
Red Bull Salzburg 2014–15 Austrian Football Bundesliga 7010—1090
2015–16 31240—20372
2016–17 18050—80310
2017–18 28260—190532
Total 844160—3001304
Marseille 2018–19 Ligue 1 200100050260
2019–20 2312010—261
Total 431301050521
Career total 1798190103502348

International
As of 19 November 2019[17]
Croatia
YearAppsGoals
201820
201930
Total50

Honours

Croatia

Orders

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Dẉjam". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020. Dúje
  3. "cȁr". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020. Cȁr
  4. "Croatia - D. Caleta-Car - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  5. "FC Liefering vs. FAC Team für Win - 25 July 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  6. UEFA.com. "Salzburg v Marseille background". UEFA.com.
  7. "FC Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 Marseille". BBC Sport. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  8. "Duje Caleta-Car joins Les Olympiens!". Olympique de Marseille. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  9. "Celtic defender Jozo Šimunović will miss Croatia's qualifiers against Bulgaria and Malta due to injury, with Duje Ćaleta-Car called up as his replacement". hns-cff.hr. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  10. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced? - Goal.com".
  11. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2018/06/03/world/friendlies/brazil/croatia/2759797/?ICID=HP_MS_01_05
  12. "Otkrivamo zašto je Ćaleta-Car otkazao reprezentaciju! Ima nevjerojatan razlog". Večernji list. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  13. "IZBORNIK DALIĆ PROTIV JEDNOG POTEZA NIJE MOGAO PRIJEĆI I KAZNIO VATRENOG KOJEG JE VODIO U RUSIJU Morao je znati da mu takva odluka neće dobro proći..." Sportske novosti. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  14. "ODBAČENI VATRENI SVE OTKRIO: 'POSTAO SAM GLAVNI NEGATIVAC U HRVATSKOJ, A OVO JE ISTINA' 'Gračan je lagao i razočarao me! A Dalićevu kaznu prihvaćam'". Sportske novosti. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. "IZBORNIK DALIĆ OBJAVIO SLUŽBENI POPIS I POTVRDIO NAGAĐANJA Vraća u reprezentaciju 'nestašnog' braniča: Duje Ćaleta-Car pozvan za Slovačku". Sportske novosti. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  16. "NAPOKON JE GOTOVO, HRVATSKA RIJETKO VIĐENIM PREOKRETOM IZBORILA EURO! Slovaci su zabili, a onda je Zlatko Dalić povukao potez kvalifikacija". Sportske novosti. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  17. "Duje Ćaleta-Car". Croatian Football Federation.
  18. McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  19. "News: President Decorates Croatian National Football Team Players and Coaching Staff". Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019. the Order of Prince Branimir with Ribbon was awarded to Mr. Duje Ćaleta-Car...
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