Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 10:21, 27 December 2024

Vedran Ćorluka

Ćorluka with Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Vedran Ćorluka
Date of birth	(1986-02-05) 5 February 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Derventa, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back, right-back
Team information
Current team	Croatia (assistant coach)
Youth career
	Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2007	Dinamo Zagreb	61	(7)
2004–2005	→ Inter Zaprešić (loan)	27	(4)
2007–2008	Manchester City	38	(1)
2008–2012	Tottenham Hotspur	81	(1)
2012	→ Bayer Leverkusen (loan)	7	(0)
2012–2021	Lokomotiv Moscow	200	(7)
Total		414	(20)
International career
2002	Croatia U16	7	(2)
2002–2003	Croatia U17	11	(2)
2003	Croatia U18	3	(0)
2004–2005	Croatia U19	12	(4)
2005–2006	Croatia U21	9	(0)
2006–2018	Croatia	103	(4)
Managerial career
2021–	Croatia (assistant)
2021	Lokomotiv Moscow (assistant)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Croatia FIFA World Cup Runner-up 2018 Representing  Croatia (assistant coach) FIFA World Cup 2022
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vedran Ćorluka (Croatian pronunciation: [ʋědran tɕǒrluka]; born 5 February 1986) is a Croatian football coach and former player who played as a centre-back or right-back. He is an assistant to Zlatko Dalić in the Croatia national team.

Ćorluka graduated from the Dinamo Zagreb Youth Academy, before making his professional debut for the senior team in 2003. In 2007, he made a £8 million move to Premier League club Manchester City, and after a season moved on to Tottenham Hotspur. He spent four seasons there before joining Lokomotiv Moscow, where he eventually retired in 2021.

As a Croatia international, Ćorluka has earned 103 caps for the country, making him one of the nation's most capped players. He represented Croatia at various youth levels before making his senior debut in August 2006, in a friendly match against Italy. He was part of the country's squad at the UEFA European Championships in 2008, 2012, 2016 and at the FIFA World Cups in 2014 and 2018. In August 2018, Ćorluka confirmed his retirement from international football.

Club career

Early days

Ćorluka was born in Derventa, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. His parents, Jozo and Anđa, come from Modran, a village near Derventa. Due to the Bosnian War, in 1992 the family moved to Zagreb, where his father still works as an engineer in addition to being Ćorluka's manager. His mother is a judge. Vedran has one brother. Ćorluka began playing football in Dinamo Zagreb's youth teams when he was eight years old, impressing many scouts from the youth academy. His professional career began in 2003, but during that season he made no appearance for the first team. He was sent on a one-year loan to Inter Zaprešić, helping the team place second in the league, before returning to Dinamo in 2005. After establishing himself as a key player for Dinamo, he helped the club win the Croatian First League title three seasons in a row from 2005–06. He also played a dominant part in his side capturing the Croatian Cup in the 2006 season.

Manchester City

After consistently strong performances, Ćorluka was signed by English Premier League side Manchester City on 2 August 2007. City did not reveal the fee, though Croatian media reports suggested the deal was worth around £8 million, with the 21-year-old penning a five-year deal.

As usual, Ćorluka consistently found a starting spot for his side in the Premier League. Despite a nightmare blunder during his side's shocking 6–0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, he remained strong during his first season in England as his side finished ninth in the league and gained entry to a UEFA Cup qualifying round via the UEFA fair play ranking. On few rare occasions, he was also used as a defensive midfielder during the season, proving to be a factor for opposing attackers.

Ćorluka scored his first goal in the 4–2 loss at Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the 2008–09 season. In the UEFA Cup second qualifying round match second leg, Ćorluka scored the decisive spot kick in the dramatic 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory over Danish minnows Midtjylland after the tie had ended 1–1 on aggregate. He played his last match for City against Sunderland on 31 August 2008, throwing his shirt into the crowd at the end of the match.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 1 September 2008, it was announced that Ćorluka had signed for Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £8.5 million on a six-year contract, joining his fellow Croatian international and best friend Luka Modrić at the club. During the match against Stoke City on 19 October, Ćorluka was severely injured; kneed under his chin by teammate Heurelho Gomes, he was immediately knocked unconscious. After ten minutes of on-field treatment, he was rushed to hospital where it was announced no serious damage was evident. In the League Cup final on 1 March 2009, Ćorluka scored his and Tottenham's only penalty in the shootout loss to Manchester United, receiving a runners up medal for his efforts.

Ćorluka scored his first Premier League goal for Spurs during a 2–2 draw against Bolton Wanderers on 3 October 2009. On 2 February 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes at right-back ahead of the injured Alan Hutton in the 1–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Bayer Leverkusen (loan)

In the January 2012 transfer window, Ćorluka signed on loan for German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen for the remainder of the 2011–12 season on 31 January, with the option to buy out his contract in the summer transfer window.

Ćorluka made his debut for the club in a 2–2 home draw against VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on 4 February, playing the full 90 minutes. In his only Champions League appearance for the club, Ćorluka provided the cross for Michal Kadlec's leveler in the 52nd minute in a 3–1 loss to Barcelona. On 25 February, the defender provided an assist for the first of Lars Bender's brace in the 2–0 win over 1. FC Köln.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 27 June 2012, Lokomotiv Moscow announced the signing of Ćorluka from Tottenham for £5.5 million. The signing came in light of recent naming of former Croatia national team Slaven Bilić as the manager of Lokomotiv. Ćorluka signed a three-year contract following the successful completion of his medical examination. At Lokomotiv, he also reunited with Roman Pavlyuchenko, with whom he had previously played for Tottenham Hotspur from September 2008 until January 2012. He scored on his debut against newly promoted Mordovia Saransk in a 3–2 victory. In September 2012, March 2014, and December 2014 Ćorluka won the monthly poll among Loko supporters in the social networks and was named the best club player of the month. In June 2015, after Ćorluka helped Lokomotiv to win Russian Cup, fans named him team's Player of the Year.

On 1 April 2021, Ćorluka announced his departure from the club at the end of the season. He played his last game for Lokomotiv in a 1–0 victory over Ural Yekaterinburg.

International career

He started to play for the Croatia under-21 team and eventually progressed to his country's national team, for which he soon made his debut in the friendly match against world champions Italy on 16 August 2006 in Livorno. Croatia won the match 2–0 and Ćorluka, aged 20 during his debut, entered the game in the second half and satisfied critics with his very good, solid performance against experienced Serie A forwards.

During Croatia's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, he became one of the key players under head coach Slaven Bilić. Croatia finished first in Group E, notably ahead of Russia and favourites England, who eventually failed to qualify from the group.

Ćorluka was in the final match of the tournament where Croatia's exit came against Turkey in extra time and penalties. Turkey winger Arda Turan revealed in an interview with UEFA that Ćorluka is the most difficult right-back he has ever played against, whom he came up against during this match.

The defender was included for the preliminary squad for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine after impressive performances in his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen.

Ćorluka was included in Croatia's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On 21 June, he came on as an added-time substitute for Mario Mandžukić in a 3–0 group stage win over Argentina at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, earning his 100th cap.

On 10 August 2018, Ćorluka retired from international football, confirming his retirement via social media.

Managerial career

On 17 May 2021, Ćorluka was officially presented as Zlatko Dalić's assistant for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2020, succeeding Ivica Olić. At the press conference, Ćorluka expressed his wish to enroll in a coaching academy after the tournament.

On 6 July 2021, he returned to Lokomotiv Moscow, also as an assistant coach, while still remaining the assistant coach of Croatia. On 19 July, he left Lokomotiv due to family reasons.

Personal life

Ćorluka married his long-time girlfriend, Croatian singer Franka Batelić on 21 July 2018.

On 5 January 2020, Ćorluka and Batelić became parents of a baby boy they named Viktor.

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 May 2021

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

International goals

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 October 2009	Stadion Kantrida, Rijeka, Croatia	35	Qatar	1–0	3–2	Friendly
2	11 November 2011	Türk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey	52	Turkey	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
3	25 May 2012	Stadion Aldo Drosina, Pula, Croatia	54	Estonia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
4	12 October 2012	Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia	60	Macedonia	1–1	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

• Prva HNL: 2005–06, 2006–07
• Croatian Cup: 2006–07
• Croatian Super Cup: 2006

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Cup runner-up: 2008–09

Lokomotiv Moscow

• Russian Premier League: 2017–18
• Russian Cup: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2020–21
• Russian Super Cup: 2019

Croatia

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2018

Individual

• Lokomotiv Moscow Player of the Year by club supporters: 2015
• Vatrena krila heart of the supporters Award: 2016
• Russian Premier League Centre-back of the Season: 2020–21

Orders

• Order of Duke Branimir: 2018

See also

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References

1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Croatia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
2. "Vedran Corluka: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
3. "vȅdar". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Vèdran
4. ^ "Vatreni velikan Vedran Ćorluka oprostio se od reprezentacije!" (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 August 2018.
5. "ĆORLUKA (Vedran Ćorluka) – Manchester City and Croatia". footballdatabase.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
6. "Vedran Corluka – Manchester City's New Croatian International". Soccerphile. Soccerphile.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
7. "Elano heads Man City triple swoop". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
8. Oscroft, Tim (2 August 2007). "Sven welcomes Corluka". Manchester City F.C. mcfc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
9. Bailey, Graeme (2 August 2007). "City land Croatian stopper". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
10. Bevan, Chris (17 August 2008). "Aston Villa 4–2 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
11. Stevenson, Jonathan (1 September 2008). "Transfer deadline day". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
12. "Spurs sign Corluka from Man City". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
13. Hughes, Ian (19 October 2008). "Stoke 2–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
14. "FT: Man United 0 Tottenham 0 (MU win 4–1 on penalties)". Sky Sports. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
15. ^ Phil McNulty (1 March 2009). "Man Utd 0-0 Tottenham (aet) – Man Utd win 4-1 on penalties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
16. Lyon, Sam (3 October 2009). "Bolton 2–2 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
17. "Vedran Corluka leaves Tottenham to join Bayer Leverkusen on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
18. "Bayer Leverkusen 2–2 VfB Stuttgart". ESPN Soccernet. 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
19. Ornstein, David (14 February 2012). "Bayer Leverkusen 1–3 Barcelona". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
20. "Rhine revenge for Leverkusen". bundesliga.de. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
21. Ведран Чорлука подписал контракт с "Локомотивом" (in Russian). fclm.ru. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
22. Ведран Чорлука – игрок сентября! (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 8 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
23. Ведран Чорлука – игрок марта! (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
24. Ведран Чорлука – игрок декабря! (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
25. Ведран Чорлука – лучший игрок «Локомотива» в сезоне! (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 8 June 2015.
26. Kačan, Matej (1 April 2021). "Ćorluka najavio odlazak iz Lokomotiva: 'Loko je zauvijek stekao istinskog navijača'". Sportnet (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
27. mn (17 May 2021). "Slomile ga emocije, pogledajte kako se Ćorluka oprostio od Lokomotiva". Direktno.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
28. Kay, Oliver (20 June 2008). "Slaven Bilic left dazed by reversal of fortune". Vienna: The Times Online. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
29. "Arda stronger and wiser". UEFA. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
30. "Bilic drops Petri and Klasnic from Croatia squad as he reveals he will step down as manager after Euro 2012". rte.ie. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
31. "World Cup 2018: Dejan Lovren named in strong Croatia squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
32. "Argentina 0–3 Croatia". Sky Sports. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
33. "Vedran Ćorluka on Instagram: "Dragi navijaci Hrvatske reprezentacije, nakon 12 godina i 103 nastupa u najdrazem dresu došlo je vrijeme da se oprostim od Hrvatske…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
34. "Dalić progovorio o Sosi i otkrio kako stoje stvari!; Ćorluka objavio kraj karijere: 'Bilo je teško'". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
35. "Крыховяк и Чорлука присоединились к «Локомотиву» на втором сборе" (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 6 July 2021.
36. "Чорлука покидает "Локомотив"" (in Russian). FC Lokomotiv Moscow. 19 July 2021.
37. Benčić, Luka; Ban, Barbara (21 July 2018). "Vedran izrekli sudbonosno 'da' na hrvatskom vjenčanju godine!". Jutarnji (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 July 2018.
38. "STIGAO JE SINČIĆ: FRANKA JE RODILA, VEDRAN ĆORLUKA POHVALIO SE FOTKOM IZ BOLNICE". Gloria (in Croatian). 5 January 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
39. ^ "V. Ćorluka". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
40. "Vedran Corluka" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
41. "Vedran Ćorluka profile". eu-football.info. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
42. "Lokomotiv beat FNL champions Krylia to win Russian Cup". Russian Premier League. 12 May 2021.
43. McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
44. Ведран Чорлука – лучший игрок «Локомотива» в сезоне! (in Russian). 8 June 2015.
45. "Vedran Ćorluka dobio nagradu 'Vatrena krila'" (in Croatian). www.nacional.hr. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
46. "Итоги Исполкома РФС". Российский футбольный союз (in Russian). Retrieved 15 September 2023.
47. "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 6 December 2018. the Order of Prince Branimir with Ribbon was awarded to...

External links

• Vedran Ćorluka – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Vedran Ćorluka – UEFA competition record (archive)
• Vedran Ćorluka at the Croatian Football Federation
• Vedran Ćorluka at Soccerbase

Croatia squads

v t e Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Pletikosa 2 Šimić 3 Šimunić 4 R. Kovač 5 Ćorluka 6 Vejić 7 Rakitić 8 Vukojević 9 Kalinić 10 N. Kovač (c) 11 Srna 12 Galinović 13 Pokrivač 14 Modrić 15 Knežević 16 Leko 17 Klasnić 18 Olić 19 Kranjčar 20 Budan 21 Petrić 22 Pranjić 23 Runje Coach: Bilić v t e Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Pletikosa 2 Strinić 3 Šimunić 4 Buljat 5 Ćorluka 6 Pranjić 7 Rakitić 8 Vukojević 9 Jelavić 10 Modrić 11 Srna (c) 12 Kelava 13 Schildenfeld 14 Badelj 15 Vrsaljko 16 Dujmović 17 Mandžukić 18 Kalinić 19 Kranjčar 20 Perišić 21 Vida 22 Eduardo 23 Subašić Coach: Bilić v t e Croatia squad – 2014 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa 2 Vrsaljko 3 Pranjić 4 Perišić 5 Ćorluka 6 Lovren 7 Rakitić 8 Vukojević 9 Jelavić 10 Modrić 11 Srna (c) 12 Zelenika 13 Schildenfeld 14 Brozović 15 Badelj 16 Rebić 17 Mandžukić 18 Olić 19 Sammir 20 Kovačić 21 Vida 22 Eduardo 23 Subašić Coach: Kovač v t e Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2016 1 Vargić 2 Vrsaljko 3 Strinić 4 Perišić 5 Ćorluka 6 Jedvaj 7 Rakitić 8 Kovačić 9 Kramarić 10 Modrić 11 Srna (c) 12 L. Kalinić 13 Schildenfeld 14 Brozović 15 Ćorić 16 N. Kalinić 17 Mandžukić 18 Rog 19 Badelj 20 Pjaca 21 Vida 22 Čop 23 Subašić Coach: Čačić v t e Croatia squad – 2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up 1 Livaković 2 Vrsaljko 3 Strinić 4 Perišić 5 Ćorluka 6 Lovren 7 Rakitić 8 Kovačić 9 Kramarić 10 Modrić (c) 11 Brozović 12 L. Kalinić 13 Jedvaj 14 Bradarić 15 Ćaleta-Car 16 N. Kalinić 17 Mandžukić 18 Rebić 19 Badelj 20 Pjaca 21 Vida 22 Pivarić 23 Subašić Coach: Dalić

• 1986 births
• Living people
• People from Derventa
• Sportspeople from Doboj Region
• Croatian men's footballers
• 21st-century Croatian sportsmen
• Men's association football central defenders
• Men's association football fullbacks
• GNK Dinamo Zagreb players
• NK Inter Zaprešić players
• Manchester City F.C. players
• Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
• Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
• FC Lokomotiv Moscow players
• Croatian Football League players
• Premier League players
• Bundesliga players
• Russian Premier League players
• Croatia men's youth international footballers
• Croatia men's under-21 international footballers
• Croatia men's international footballers
• UEFA Euro 2008 players
• UEFA Euro 2012 players
• 2014 FIFA World Cup players
• UEFA Euro 2016 players
• 2018 FIFA World Cup players
• FIFA Men's Century Club
• Croatian expatriate men's footballers
• Expatriate men's footballers in England
• Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
• Expatriate men's footballers in Russia
• Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England
• Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
• Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Croatia
• Yugoslav Wars refugees