Milan Badelj

Milan Badelj (Croatian pronunciation: [mǐlan bǎdeʎ];[3][4] born 25 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fiorentina, on loan from Lazio and the Croatia national team. He is a member of the Croatian squad which finished as runners-up to France in 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Milan Badelj
Badelj representing Croatia in 2015
Personal information
Full name Milan Badelj[1]
Date of birth (1989-02-25) 25 February 1989
Place of birth Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Fiorentina (on loan from Lazio)
Number 5
Youth career
1995–2002 Ponikve
2002–2005 NK Zagreb
2005–2007 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Dinamo Zagreb 113 (25)
2007–2008 → Lokomotiva (loan) 28 (7)
2012–2014 Hamburger SV 62 (2)
2014–2018 Fiorentina 108 (6)
2018– Lazio 23 (1)
2019– → Fiorentina (loan) 19 (1)
National team‡
2004 Croatia U16 1 (0)
2004–2005 Croatia U17 28 (2)
2005–2006 Croatia U18 5 (0)
2006–2008 Croatia U19 13 (0)
2009 Croatia U20 2 (0)
2008–2010 Croatia U21 14 (0)
2010– Croatia 50 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:02, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

Club career

Early career

Milan Badelj signed for Dinamo Zagreb as a 17-year-old in 2007, just after he was snapped up from the youth system of Dinamo Zagreb's city rival, NK Zagreb. For the 2007–08 season, he was sent on loan to Dinamo Zagreb's affiliate Lokomotiva to gain first–team experience at the senior level. He played in 28 matches and scored seven goals for Lokomotiva in the Croatian Third League.

Dinamo Zagreb
Badelj playing for Dinamo Zagreb in April 2009.

At an early age, Badelj was already spotted as a possible replacement for Luka Modrić, a key figure in the Dinamo Zagreb first-team squad that joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.[5]

In 2008, Badelj joined the first team and immediately established himself as an important player. He made his senior debut for Dinamo in Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Linfield. He then made his domestic debut in the opening match of the 2008–09 season against Rijeka, scoring the first goal in 2–0 victory.[6] He finished his first season with Dinamo with 31 domestic appearances and 12 UEFA Cup appearances.

Badelj continued to impress at his young age, establishing himself as a first–team regular for the 2009–10 season. In March 2011, he scored a goal in a 2–0 victory in the derby match against great rivals Hajduk Split.[7] Badelj continued with impressive performances in the 2010–11 season as well, even wearing the captain's armband in some matches.[8][9]

In the 2011–12 season, Badelj was one of the key players in the Dinamo squad that reached the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in 12 years. He appeared in all six of Dinamo's group stage games against Real Madrid, Lyon and Ajax.[10]

In what would be his final game at the Stadion Maksimir for Dinamo, in a Champions League playoff match against Slovenian side Maribor, Badelj scored an own goal that gave the opposition an equaliser in the first leg match. However, Badelj later scored the winning goal at the other end in the second half.[11]

Hamburger SV
Badelj with HSV.

Badelj joined Hamburger SV of the Bundesliga in August 2012 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of €4.5 million, according to the Croatian media.[12] He made his domestic debut soon after joining the club in a match against Werder Bremen. He soon established himself as a first-team regular, typically operating as a deep-lying playmaker.[13] Badelj scored his first Bundesliga goal against Schalke 04, in a 3–1 win, on 27 November 2012.[14]

Fiorentina

On 31 August 2014, it was announced Badelj had signed for Serie A side Fiorentina for a fee believed to be in the region of €5 million.[15] After the death of Davide Astori, he was appointed as team captain.

Lazio

Badelj joined Lazio on 1 August 2018, on a free transfer.[16] On 17 February 2019 he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to Genoa

Loan to Fiorentina

On 5 August 2019, Badelj joined Fiorentina on loan until 30 June 2020 with an obligation to buy.[17] On 3 September 2019 he wore captain armband in 1–1 draw against Parma, despite being a loaned player, due to absence of regular captain Germán Pezzella. It was the first time for Badelj to being captain since his comeback.

International career

During his youth career for the national team, Badelj earned a total of 63 caps, for all youth teams from U16 to U21.

In 2010, Badelj was selected for the Croatia national team squad for the first time, but was mostly on the bench. His competitive debut came during a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Malta; a match Croatia won 3–1, on 2 September 2011, in which Badelj scored the second goal.[18] He was selected for the UEFA Euro 2012 squad;[19] and in May 2014, was selected for the final squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil following an injury to Ivan Močinić.[20] However, he was an unused substitute for most of the tournament, as Croatia were knocked out in the group stage. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016.[21]

In May 2018, Badelj was selected for the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[22] He scored his first goal of the tournament in a 2–1 win over Iceland; helping Croatia en route to topping the group on maximum points.[23][24] On 1 July, in Croatia's round of sixteen tie with Denmark, the game was drawn 1–1 and was decided through a penalty shootout in which Badelj missed Croatia's first penalty, though they would scored three while their opponents only scored two.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 March 2020[26]
Club performance League Cup Other Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Croatia League Croatian Cup Other Europe Total
2007–08Lokomotiva (loan)Treća HNL287———287
2008–09Dinamo ZagrebPrva HNL31471—121506
2009–10271121—1124014
2010–11296831[lower-alpha 1]0110499
2011–1224362—121426
2012–1321——6182
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
2012–13Hamburger SVBundesliga311———311
2013–14291402[lower-alpha 2]0—351
2014–152010——30
Italy League Coppa Italia Other Europe Total
2014–15FiorentinaSerie A21130—130371
2015–1627110—70351
2016–1733220—60412
2017–1827200——272
2018–19Lazio23110—20261
2019–20Fiorentina (loan)19120——211
Total Lokomotiva 287000000287
Dinamo 113252371052518937
HSV 6225020—692
Fiorentina 127780—2601617
Career total 349423674080546854
  1. Appearance in Croatian Super Cup
  2. Appearances in Bundesliga Promotion/Relegation play-offs

International
As of 13 October 2019[27]
Croatia
YearAppsGoals
201020
201111
201240
201320
201420
201560
2016120
201760
201891
201960
Total502

International goals
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 September 2011Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard, Malta Malta
2–0
3–1
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
226 June 2018Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don, Russia Iceland
1–0
2–1
2018 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Club

Dinamo Zagreb[26]

  • Croatian First League: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • Croatian Cup: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • Croatian Super Cup: 2010

Lazio[26]

International

Croatia

Individual

Orders

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 12. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. "Mìlan". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  4. "bàdelj". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  5. "Milan Badelj – Modrićev nasljednik" (in Croatian). nogometni-magazin.com. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  6. "Badelj novi junak Maksimira" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  7. "Golovi i igra vrijedni naslova prvaka" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  8. "Milan Badelj ima sve da postane kapetan plavih" (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  9. "Kapetan Dinama poslao poruku BBB-ima!". Net.hr (in Croatian). 10 November 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  10. UEFA.com. "UCL - Matches". UEFA. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  11. "Badelj na oproštaju s Maksimirom pogodio za pobjedu Dinama" (in Croatian). HRSport. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  12. "Badelj predstavljen u HSV-u, debitira već u subotu: "Bit će to derbi kao Dinamo-Hajduk"" (in Croatian). Index.hr. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  13. "Croatia - M. Badelj - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  14. "Hamburger SV 3–1 FC Schalke 04". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  15. "Fiorentina to sign Milan Badelj from Hamburg". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  16. "Official: Lazio complete double signing". Football Italia. 1 August 2018.
  17. "UFFICIALE: Fiorentina, torna Badelj. L'annuncio di Pradè in conferenza". Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  18. "Malta - Hrvatska 1:3 (1:2)". hrnogomet.com. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  19. uefa.com (29 May 2012). "UEFA EURO 2016 - News – UEFA". UEFA. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  20. "Močinić se vraća kući, Badelj dolazi, Pranjić otpao za Brazil - Komentari | 24sata". www.24sata.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  21. "Croatia preliminary squad for EURO 2016 - Croatian Football Federation". hns-cff.hr. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  22. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists | Goal.com". Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  23. Burnton, Simon (26 June 2018). "Iceland 1-2 Croatia: World Cup 2018 – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  24. "World Cup 2018: Iceland out after defeat by group winners Croatia". BBC Sport. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  25. Bakowski, Gregg (1 July 2018). "World Cup 2018: Croatia beat Denmark on penalties – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  26. "M. Badelj". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  27. Milan Badelj at National-Football-Teams.com
  28. McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  29. "News: President Decorates Croatian National Football Team Players and Coaching Staff". Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia. 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019. the Order of Prince Branimir with Ribbon was awarded to Mr. Milan Badelj...
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