Jurica Vranješ

Jurica Vranješ (pronounced [ˈjuritsa ˈʋraɲɛʃ]; born 31 January 1980) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He was described as versatile midfielder, playing both as a defensive and a central midfielder, noted for his tackling and passing abilities.[3]

Jurica Vranješ

Jurica Vranješ in the match against Bayern Munich
Personal information
Date of birth	31 January 1980
Place of birth	Osijek, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Youth career
0000–1997	NK Osijek
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2000	NK Osijek	54	(10)
2000–2003	Bayer Leverkusen	46	(0)
2003–2005	VfB Stuttgart	39	(0)
2005–2011	Werder Bremen	90	(5)
2009–2010	→ Gençlerbirliği (loan)	13	(0)
2011–2012	Aris FC[2]	2	(0)
2012	HNK Rijeka	6	(0)
Total		250	(15)
National team
1995–1996	Croatia U-18	6	(2)
1997–1999	Croatia U-19	12	(5)
1998–1999	Croatia U-20	2	(0)
1999–2001	Croatia U-21	18	(0)
1999–2007	Croatia	26	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Vranješ was born in Osijek, Croatia. He started playing in NK Osijek where he played between 1997 and 1999. Some websites say Vranješ started his career at FK Vojvodina, but Vranješ himself explained how those websites confused their statistics with another player, Mićo Vranješ, playing back then in Vojvodina.[4]

After playing with Osijek in the Prva HNL, he then moved to Bayer Leverkusen where he played three seasons until moving to VfB Stuttgart[5] in 2003 and finally to Werder Bremen in 2005. In August 2009 Werder Bremen announced that he could leave the club.[6] On 29 January 2010, he left Werder Bremen and was loaned to Gençlerbirliği for the rest of the season.[7]

In September 2011, Vranješ joined Aris Thessaloniki F.C. He made his debut in the yellow jersey against Olympiacos. His contract was terminated on 10 January 2012. In May 2012, he joined HNK Rijeka in Croatia, where he played six games before his contract with the club was terminated in November 2012.[8]

International career

Vranješ was part of the Croatian national team in 2002 FIFA World Cup where he played in two games. He also played in the Croatian team at the 1998 Under-18 European Championship when Croatia won the third place.

Career statistics

Club

Sources:[9][10][11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
NK Osijek	1997–98	Prva HNL	14	1	1	0	–	–	–	–	15	1
	1998–99		25	5	6	0	–	–	2	1	33	6
	1999–00		15	4	1	0	–	–	2	0	18	4
	Total		54	10	8	0	0	0	4	1	66	11
Bayer Leverkusen	1999–00	Bundesliga	2	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	2	0
	2000–01		21	0	4	0	–	–	5	0	30	0
	2001–02		20	0	4	0	–	–	12	0	36	0
	2002–03		4	0	2	0	–	–	2	0	8	0
	Total		47	0	10	0	0	0	19	0	76	0
Bayer Leverkusen II	2002–03	Regionalliga Nord	4	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	0
VfB Stuttgart	2003–04	Bundesliga	22	0	2	0	–	–	4	0	28	0
	2004–05		17	0	4	0	–	–	5	0	26	0
	Total		39	0	6	0	0	0	9	0	54	0
Werder Bremen	2005–06	Bundesliga	29	1	3	0	–	–	4	0	36	1
	2006–07		25	4	1	0	–	–	9	0	38	4
	2007–08		22	0	3	0	–	–	6	0	31	0
	2008–09		14	0	2	1	–	–	2	0	18	1
	2009–10		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		90	5	9	1	1	0	21	0	121	6
Gençlerbirliği	2009–10	Süper Lig	13	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	13	0
Aris FC	2011–12	Super League Greece	2	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	2	0
HNK Rijeka	2012–13	Prva HNL	6	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	6	0
Career total			276	15	31	1	1	0	53	1	361	17

International

Source:[12]

Croatia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	3	0
2000	1	0
2001	3	0
2002	3	0
2003	2	0
2004	5	0
2005	4	0
2006	3	0
2007	2	0
Total	26	0

Honours

Club

Osijek

• Croatian Cup: 1999

Bayer Leverkusen

• Bundesliga runner-up: 1999–00 2001–02
• DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2002
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02

Werder Bremen

• Bundesliga runner-up: 2005–06, 2007–08
• DFB-Pokal: 2009
• DFL-Ligapokal: 2006
• DFL-Supercup: 2009
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 2008–09

Individual

• Croatian Footballer Hope of the Year: 1998

References

1. "Jurica Vranjes". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
2. "Jurica Vranjes" (in German). fussballdaten.de.
3. "Jurica Vranjes". BBC Sport. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
4. Šoškić, V. (12 October 2009). "Igrači iz bivše SFRJ su svuda zaduženi za atmosferu". Danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 10 May 2016.
5. "Vranješ, Jurica". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
6. "Werder will Kader verkleinern". mz-web.de (in German). Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
7. "Genclerbirligi sign Werder Bremen midfielder". Ontheminute.com. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
8. "S Vranješom potpisan sporazumni raskid" (in Croatian). Radio Rijeka. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
9. "Jurica Vranješ » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
10. "Jurica Vranješ statistics". hrnogomet.com. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
11. "HNK Rijeka". nk-rijeka.hr. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
12. Jurica Vranješ national team Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 16 December 2017.

External links

• Jurica Vranješ – FIFA competition record
• Jurica Vranješ at National-Football-Teams.com