Jozo Šimunović
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jozo Šiško Šimunović | ||
| Date of birth | 4 August 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Croatia | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Celtic | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | |||
| 2006–2013 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2015 | Dinamo Zagreb | 52 | (3) |
| 2015– | Celtic | 15 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008 | Croatia U14 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Croatia U15 | 2 | (1) |
| 2010 | Croatia U16 | 3 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Croatia U17 | 20 | (1) |
| 2012 | Croatia U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Croatia U19 | 10 | (0) |
| 2013 | Croatia U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2013– | Croatia U21 | 9 | (1) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 January 2016. | |||
Jozo Šimunović (born 4 August 1994) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a centre back for Scottish club Celtic. He began his career with Dinamo Zagreb before joining Celtic in 2015. He has represented Croatia at all youth international levels up to under-21.
Early life
He started playing football at age of 7 in his village, Gornja Lomnica. At the age of 12 he joined Dinamo Zagreb from Hrvatski Dragovoljac.
Club career
Dinamo Zagreb
He made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb on 16 March 2013 against Istra 1961, coming as a 90th-minute substitute.[1] On 30 March 2013, he scored his first goal for Dinamo Zagreb against Zadar in the 34th minute.[2]
In the 2013–14 season he helped Dinamo to their ninth League title in a row, making 32 appearances in all competitions, and made it 10-in-a-row in 2015, where he made 30 appearances in all competitions.[3]
Celtic
On 1 September 2015, Šimunović joined Scottish Premiership side Celtic for an undisclosed fee.[4] He made his debut on 17 September, playing in Celtic's 2–2 draw away against Ajax in the Europa League.[5][6] On 15 January 2016, Šimunović scored his first goal for Celtic in a 4-1 victory over Dundee United,[7] but suffered knee ligament damage just a week later and was ruled out for six weeks;[8] however, it was announced on 26 March that, following a knee operation, he would in fact be out for the rest of the season.[9] The player also revealed that, prior to the operation, he had been playing with a fractured right knee for six weeks: "I know it seems weird that I could play with this injury. But everything was down to psychology - and the atmosphere on the pitch was phenomenal. When you play for a great club like Celtic you can play even with a fractured bone."[9]
On 13 and 14 July, Šimunović posted images and a short video on his Twitter account and stated that he had spent the last nine weeks in Belgrade recovering from his injury, and would be returning to Glasgow later that week. Despite rumours that he would be leaving Celtic to join Torino, he insisted that was not going anywhere, stating, "Italian reports are nonsense. I have absolutely no indication about a potential departure for Torino. In fact, I think only about Celtic. Next week I finally join the team, and after a long injury return to normal training."[10] On 30 August 2016, contrary to his prior announcement, Šimunović travelled to Turin to have a medical with Torino.[11] Despite passing his medical, it was announced the following day that the move was off as the two clubs could not agree a fee.[12] Šimunović stated afterwards on Twitter that his transfer broke down because Torino wanted to change their initial agreement; he also insisted that, despite previous rumours of a failed medical, he was "completely healthy and fit" and was entirely focused on the challenge ahead with Celtic.[13] On 18 September, he made his long-awaited return to action as a substitute in Celtic's 2-2 draw with Inverness CT.[14]
International career
He has been capped at under-14, under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level for Croatia[15] scoring three goals, against Germany for the under-15's, Austria for the under-17's and Norway for the under-21's. He was captain of the Croatia under-17 and the Croatia under-19 teams and is current captain of the Croatia under-21 team. In September 2015, he received a first call-up for the senior national team, for the last Euro 2016 qualifying matches, against Bulgaria and Malta, as a reserve player for already injured Dejan Lovren, but suffered a small injury days after the call-up, removing him for the games against Bulgaria and Malta.[16]
Club statistics
- As of 5 November 2016
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2012–13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2013–14 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | |
| 2014–15 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 3 | |
| Celtic | 2015–16 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 2016–17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| Career total | 70 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 103 | 4 | |
Honours
Club
Dinamo Zagreb[5]
- Croatian First League: (3) 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
- Croatian Cup: (1) 2015
- Croatian Super Cup: (1) 2013
- Croatian U19 League: (1) 2010–11
- Croatian U17 League: (2) 2008–09, 2009–10
Celtic[5]
References
- ↑ "Istra 1961 vs. Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 0". Soccerway.com. Global Sports Media. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ↑ "Dinamo Zagreb vs. Zadar 5 - 0". Soccerway.com. Global Sports Media. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ↑ "Jozo Simunovic: I can be a winner at Celtic". Celtic FC. celticfc.net. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ↑ "Jozo Simunovic: Celtic sign Dinamo Zagreb defender". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Jozo Šimunović Trophies". Soccerway.
- ↑ Cuddihy, Paul. "Simunovic pleased with his Celtic debut". Celtic FC (18 September 2015). Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ↑ "Dundee United 1 - 4 Celtic - Match Report & Highlights". Sky Sports. 16 January 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ↑ "Jozo Simunovic: Celtic defender out for up to six weeks". BBC Sport. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- 1 2 "Jozo Simunovic out for season after Celtic ace has knee surgery". The Scottish Sun. News UK. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ↑ Armstrong, Gary (11 August 2016). "Celtic star Jozo Šimunović rubbishes reports linking him with Torino switch as NONSENSE". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ↑ "Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic in Italy to complete move to Torino". STV. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- ↑ Sutherland, Jonathan (31 August 2016). "Celtic: Jozo Simunovic and Efe Ambrose deals fall through". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ↑ Mackenzie, Alasdair (1 September 2016). "Jozo Simunovic: I didn't fail Torino medical and I'm 100 per cent focused on Celtic". The Herald. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ↑ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-2 Celtic". 18 September 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "Jozo Šimunović". hnf-cff.hr.
- ↑ "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.
External links
- Jozo Šimunović at the Croatian Football Federation website (Croatian)
- Jozo Šimunović career statistics at Soccerbase
