Marcelo Brozović

Marcelo Brozović

Brozović in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Marcelo Brozović[1]
Date of birth	16 November 1992
Place of birth	Zagreb, Croatia
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Internazionale (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
Number	77
Youth career
2002–2010	Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2010–2011	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	22	(1)
2011–2012	Lokomotiva	33	(5)
2012–	Dinamo Zagreb	64	(9)
2015–	→ Internazionale (loan)	42	(5)
National team^‡
2009–2010	Croatia U18	4	(0)
2011	Croatia U19	1	(0)
2011–2013	Croatia U20	5	(3)
2011–2014	Croatia U21	13	(7)
2014–	Croatia	15	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 April 2016. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 March 2016

Marcelo Brozović (born 16 November 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays for Italian club Internazionale, on loan from Dinamo Zagreb. He is usually deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, but is considered to be a versatile midflielder who can perform well anywhere in the midfield. On the international level, Brozović plays for Croatia national team, and was part of the squad that represented his country on 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Brozović was born in Zagreb, and graduated from neighbouring Hrvatski Dragovoljac's youth setup. He made his debut as a professional on 24 July 2010, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–4 loss against Dinamo Zagreb. Brozović scored his first goal on 18 March of the following year, the winner against Karlovac.

Lokomotiva

In July 2011, he signed with Lokomotiva, after Dragovoljac's relegation.^[3] He appeared in 27 league matches in his first campaign, scoring four times as Lokomotiva achieved a comfortable mid-table position.

Dinamo Zagreb

In August 2012, Brozović signed a seven-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb, as a replacement for Hamburger SV-bound Milan Badelj.^[4]

Internazionale

On 24 January 2015, Brozović signed with Internazionale on a one-and-a-half year loan deal, with an conditional obligation for Inter to buy.^[5][6] Brozović took his preferred shirt number 77, last worn at Inter by Sulley Muntari. He made his official debut with the club on 1 February 2015, playing the last 20 minutes of the 3–1 away upset of Inter against Sassuolo Calcio, becoming the 900th player to wear the Nerazzurri shirt.^[7] He scored his first Inter goal in final day in a 4–3 win over Empoli, helping Inter to end the season with a win.^[8] Brozović finished his first Inter season with 15 league appearances, 13 of them as a starter and one goal.

Brozović continued to cement his place in the starting lineup even in the second season by playing 85 minutes in team's opening league match against Atalanta at home.^[9] He scored his first league goal of the season on 23 November during the match against Frosinone at home, coming off the bench in 88th minute and netting the fourth goal of the match four minutes later, helping Inter to record its biggest win of the season.^[10] On 12 December, Brozović scored his second league goal, a screamer, and the last goal of the 4–0 away win against Udinese, celebrating the goal with his teammates with EpicBrozo signature in the process.^[11]

Only three days later, in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia's round of 16 match against Cagliari, Brozović scored the same identical goal that he scored against Udinese, helping Inter to progess in the quarter-final with a 3–0 win.^[12] On 7 February of the following year, he assisted Jeison Murillo's goal from a corner kick in the match against Hellas Verona, which finished in a 3–3 away draw.^[13] Two week later, Brozović supplied his second assist to Mauro Icardi who scored the third goal of the 3–1 home win against Sampdoria.^[14]

On 2 March, in the returning leg of Coppa Italia's semi-final against Juventus at San Siro, Brozović scored a brace, including one with penalty kick, to help Inter overturn the 3–0 defeat and equal the aggregate 3–3, which led the match into the penalty shootouts; he scored his penalty shootout attempt, but Inter lost 3–5 and eventually was eliminated from the competition.^[15][16]

International career

Brozović during Brazil and Croatia match at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Brozović appeared with Croatia in the under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 categories. With the latter he appeared well during 2013, scoring seven goals in eight appearances.

On 31 May 2014, Brozović was included in Niko Kovač's final list for 2014 FIFA World Cup,^[17] and made his debut for the main squad on 7 June, starting in a 1–0 success against Australia at the Estádio de Pituaçu.^[18] Brozović made his World Cup debut five days later, playing the last 26 minutes in a 1–3 loss against the hosts.^[19] Since the 2014 World Cup, Brozović became a regular starter in Croatia's Euro 2016 qualifiers, playing alongside Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić as part of a rotating midfield triangle for Croatia. He scored his first goal for Croatia against Azerbaijan, in a 6-0 win in Osijek. His second goal of the Euro 2016 qualifiers came in March 2015 against Norway, when he gave his team a 1-0 lead with a low curving shot from 20 meters into the bottom right corner.^[20]

Other activities

In January 2010, Brozović participated in song "$agud – Car". His vocal is in the introduction.^[21] His favorite hobbies are billiards, darts and gambling.

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 April 2016^{[22] [23][24]}

Club	Season	League		Cup[nb 1]		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hrvatski Dragovoljac	2010–11	22	1	1	0	—		—		23	1
	Total	22	1	1	0	—		—		23	1
Lokomotiva	2011–12	27	4	—		—		—		27	4
	2012–13	6	1	1	1	—		—		7	2
	Total	33	5	1	1	—		—		34	6
Dinamo Zagreb	2012–13	23	2	1	0	6[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		30	2
	2013–14	27	6	6	1	8[lower-alpha 2]	1	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	42	8
	2014–15	14	1	0	0	12[lower-alpha 4]	2	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	27	3
	Total	64	9	7	1	26	3	2	0	99	13
Internazionale	2014–15	15	1	1	0	—		—		16	1
	2015–16	27	4	3	3	—		—		30	7
	Total	42	5	3	3	—		—		46	8
Career totals		161	20	13	5	26	3	2	0	202	28

1. All appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League,Six appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in Croatian Football Super Cup
4. Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League,Eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 23 March 2016^[25]

Croatia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2014	7	1
2015	7	2
2016	1	1
Total	15	4

International goals

Scores and Results show Croatia's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1.	13 October 2014	Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia	Azerbaijan	4–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2.	28 March 2015	Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia	Norway	1–0	5–1	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
3.	17 November 2015	Olimp-2, Rostov-on-Don, Russia	Russia	1–2	1–3	Friendly
4.	23 March 2016	Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia	Israel	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

• Prva HNL: 2012–13, 2013–14
• Croatian Supercup: 2013

Notes

1. Includes cup competitions such as the Croatian Football Cup , and Coppa Italia

References

1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 12. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
2. "Marcelo Brozovic: Player Profile". Internazionale.
3. "Lokomotiva cilja na ostanak" [Lokomotiva aims to stay] (in Croatian). 13 July 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
4. Dubravac, Ante (31 August 2012). "Marcelo Brozović potpisao sedmogodišnji ugovor s Dinamom" [Marcelo Brozovic signed a seven-year contract with Dinamo]. Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 31 August 2012.
5. "Marcelo Brozovic is an Inter player". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
6. "Marcelo Brozovic unveiling". inter.it. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
7. "Sassuolo 3-1 Inter Milan: Roberto Mancini's side suffer another loss in bad-tempered affair at surprise-package Sassuolo". Daily Mail. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
8. "Inter 4-3 Empoli: Seven second-half goals see Nerazzurri finish with a flurry". Goal.com. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
9. Rohan Banerjee (23 August 2015). "Inter Milan 1-0 Atalanta: Manchester City flop Stevan Jovetic marks San Siro debut with last-minute wonder strike". Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
10. Hernán Buso (23 November 2015). "Inter Milan 4-0 Frosinone: Delight for Mancini as his team climb top". Vavel.com. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
11. "Mauro Icardi scored twice as Inter Milan dispatched Udinese to extend their lead at the top of Serie A". BBC.com. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
12. "Inter 3-0 Cagliari: Mancini's men stroll to Coppa Italia win". Goal.com. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
13. "Hellas Verona vs. Internazionale 3 – 3". Soccerway. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
14. "Watching Mourinho inspires Inter to 3-1 win over Sampdoria". Nzherald.co.nz. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
15. "Inter overturn 3-0 deficit but lose Coppa Italia shootout to Juventus". The Guardian. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
16. "Coppa: Juve penalties break Inter hearts". Football Italia. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
17. "World Cup 2014: Lovren and Jelavic in Croatia squad". BBC Sport. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
18. "Australia’s 1–0 loss to Croatia was a step in the right direction ahead of the World Cup kick-off". Herald Sun. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
19. "Brazil 3–1 Croatia". 12 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
20. "Croatia thrashes Norway 5-1 in Euro qualifier". Yahoo. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
21. "ISPOVIJEST DINAMOVE ZVIJEZDE PRIJE TRANSFERA". 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
22. "Croatia - M. Brozović - Profile with news, career statistics". Soccerway. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
23. Marcelo Brozović at Croatian Football Statistics (Croatian)
24. "Marcelo Brozović". inter.it. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
25. Marcelo Brozović at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Inter Milan official profile
• Marcelo Brozović – UEFA competition record
• Marcelo Brozović – FIFA competition record
• Marcelo Brozović at National-Football-Teams.com
• Marcelo Brozović career statistics at Soccerbase
• BDFutbol profile