Mato Neretljak

Mato Neretljak

Neretljak playing for Suwon Bluewings
Personal information
Date of birth3 June 1979
Place of birthOrašje, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionDefender
Youth career
Orašje
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1999–2000Orašje23(2)
2000–2002Osijek47(3)
2002–2005Hajduk Split77(4)
2005–2008Suwon Bluewings110(17)
2009–2010Omiya Ardija59(11)
2011Suwon Bluewings23(7)
2012Hajduk Split12(1)
2012–2014Rijeka25(1)
2013–2014→ NK Zadar (loan)24(0)
Total400(46)
National team‡
2000–2001Croatia U218(0)
2001–2006Croatia10(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 May 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 February 2006

Mato Neretljak (born 3 June 1979 in Orašje) is a retired Croatian football player.

Career

He started his professional career in 2000 at NK Osijek for which he played until 2002. Then he transferred to HNK Hajduk Split and spent three seasons with the club before leaving it for South Korean club Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 2005. In 2009, he moved to Japanese club Omiya Ardija. 23.05.2012. he signed for HNK Rijeka on a two-year-long contract deal. In 2014 he announced his retirement.

International career

Neretljak won 8 international caps for the Croatian national under-21 football team in 2000 and 2001. While still playing for the under-21 national team, he also made his full international debut for Croatia in a friendly match against Greece on 25 April 2001 in Varaždin, where he came on as a substitute for Boris Živković in the 88th minute.

His competitive international debut for Croatia came on 15 November 2003 in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying play-offs against Slovenia, where he played the entire 90 minutes in the first leg in Zagreb, which ended in a 1-1 draw. On 18 February 2004, he scored his only international goal for Croatia in their 2-1 defeat against Germany in Split. He was also part of the Croatian squad at the UEFA Euro 2004 finals in Portugal, but did not appear in any of the team's three group matches before they were knocked out of the tournament.

After the UEFA Euro 2004 finals, he only appeared in 4 international friendlies for Croatia, including both of their matches at the 2006 Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong. He won a total of 10 international caps for the national team, 9 of which were in friendly matches.

Honours

Individual

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

International goals

Results list Croatia's goal tally first.
Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
February 18, 2004 Croatia Split  Germany 1 goal 1-2 Friendly match

External links