Domagoj Vida (Croatian pronunciation: [dômaɡoj ʋîːda];[4][5] born 29 April 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Super League Greece club AEK Athens. He is capable of playing in any defensive position but is mostly deployed as a centre-back.

Domagoj Vida
Vida with Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Domagoj Vida[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-29) 29 April 1989 (age 35)[1]
Place of birth Našice, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
AEK Athens
Number 21
Youth career
1996–2003 NK Jedinstvo Donji Miholjac
2003–2006 Osijek
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Osijek 90 (6)
2010–2011 Bayer Leverkusen 1 (0)
2011–2013 Dinamo Zagreb 44 (6)
2013–2018 Dynamo Kyiv 105 (10)
2018–2022 Beşiktaş 137 (15)
2022– AEK Athens 70 (7)
International career
2008 Croatia U19 4 (0)
2007–2009 Croatia U20 10 (1)
2007–2010 Croatia U21 19 (2)
2010–2024 Croatia 105[3] (4)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Croatia
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2018 Russia
Third place 2022 Qatar
UEFA Nations League
Runner-up 2023 Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:24, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Vida was the first Croatian footballer to win a league title in four different European football leagues (with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine, Beşiktaş in Turkey and AEK Athens in Greece).[6]

Club career

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Youth career

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Vida has spent his entire youth career in Croatia, rising through the Osijek youth system and being first featured with the senior team in the 2006–07 season, at the age of 17; he then went on to make 12 appearances in the season. In the 2007–08 season, Vida further solidified his credentials, being featured more regularly for his club.[7] He was linked with Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.

 
Vida in 2010

Bayer Leverkusen

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On 29 April 2010, Vida signed for German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.[8] He spent just one season with the club, making a total of eight appearances in the UEFA Europa League. He did not make his Bundesliga debut until 5 March 2011, when he came on as a substitute for the injured Manuel Friedrich in the 14th minute of a 3–0 win at home to VfL Wolfsburg.[9] It turned out to be his only appearance in the league.

Dinamo Zagreb

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On 14 June 2011, it was announced that Vida would join Dinamo Zagreb for an undisclosed fee.[10] In December 2011, Dinamo Zagreb lost 7–1 against Lyon in the Champions League group stage which allowed the French club to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League at the expense of Ajax, who lost 3–0 against Real Madrid. Following media coverage alleging match-fixing which also showed clips of Vida winking after Lyon's fifth goal, UEFA decided not to take action.[11][12][13]

On 25 July 2012, Vida scored a 98th–minute goal against Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad in a UEFA Champions League match and thus helped his team to a 3–2 home win, which enabled it to progress to the competition's next round. On 24 September 2012, he was thrown out of the first team and the team bus after he opened up a beer while the team were on their way to a cup match. He also had several altercations with Dinamo head coach Ante Čačić prior to this incident.[14] The next day, it was announced that he would be fined a record 100,000.[15]

Dynamo Kyiv

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Vida (left) with Dynamo Kyiv in 2015

On 2 January 2013, it was announced that Vida had signed for Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv on a five–year deal, for a reported transfer fee of €6 million.[16][17] On 14 February, he made his debut for Dynamo in a home Europa League match against Bordeaux, which ended 1–1. A week later, he played in the tie's second leg and was unable to help Dynamo get to the round of 16, losing 0–1. In both games, Dynamo head coach Oleh Blokhin used him as a right–back.[citation needed]

On 3 March, Vida played his first game in the Ukrainian Premier League, against Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. The home 1–1 draw was disappointing for Dynamo, as it made much more difficult for them to get second place and qualify for the Champions League against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Metalist Kharkiv. On 10 March, Vida played his second league match for Dynamo, against Volyn Lutsk; it ended 2–0 and was Dynamo's first victory in 2013. That match was notable because Oleh Blokhin used Vida for the first time as a central defender, partnered with Yevhen Khacheridi, as the first three games for Dynamo he played as a right defender. On 17 March, Vida scored his first goal for Dynamo early in the game against Vorskla Poltava after a corner kick taken by Andriy Yarmolenko, by an excellent header, having forestalled Pavlo Rebenok and goalkeeper Serhiy Dolhanskyi. That goal gave Dynamo a 1–0 win.[citation needed]

On 17 May 2015, Vida scored the winning goal against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to clinch Dynamo Kyiv their first Ukrainian Premier League title in six years.[18]

Beşiktaş

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On 3 January 2018, Vida moved to Beşiktaş, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[19] Vida made his Beşiktaş debut on 21 February 2018, in a 2–1 away win over Antalyaspor. Vida was sent off 16 minutes into his club's UEFA Champions League round of 16 match against Bayern Munich after he fouled Robert Lewandowski. Beşiktaş went on to lose the match 5–0.[20]

AEK Athens

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On 31 July 2022, Vida signed for Greek club AEK Athens.[21] On 20 August 2022, he made his debut in a 3–0 away win over Lamia. On 22 January he scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Ionikos. Vida scored a last minute header in a 2–2 draw, in a 4–3 aggregate win over Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League play-offs scoring past his Croatian national teammate Dominik Livaković. AEK qualified for the Europa League Group stage and Vida played in 5 out of the 6 games. On 5 October 2023 he scored a powerful header against Ajax in a 1–1 draw. He went on to score another header against Panetolikos in the same week, opening the score. On 4 December 2023, Vida scored his 4th goal of the season against Aris, a header assisted by Petros Mantalos. AEK won the game by 1–0.

International career

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Vida in 2013

Vida was an active member of the Croatia national under-21 team.[22]

On 23 May 2010, he made his full international debut in Croatia's 2–0 win against Wales in Osijek, entering as a substitute for Darijo Srna in the 80th minute.[23] Three days later, he played the full 90 minutes in a goalless draw with Estonia.

In 2011, he featured for Croatia in four UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, including both play-off matches against Turkey, which saw them securing a place in the finals. His only appearance at the finals came when he was in the starting lineup for Croatia's final group match, a 1–0 defeat to Spain, after which they were eliminated from the tournament.

On 10 September 2013, Vida scored his first goal for the national side in the 65th minute of a friendly match against South Korea, played at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju.[24]

Vida was a part of the Croatian squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil, but remained as an unused substitute in the tournament. He regained his place as a regular during the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, making nine appearances, and also appeared in three matches at the finals, where the team were eliminated by Portugal in the round of 16.

 
Vida and his Croatian teammates Vedran Ćorluka (left) and Dejan Lovren (right) celebrate after Vida had scored a goal during the 2018 World Cup quarter-final against Russia.

On 3 September 2017, Vida scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Kosovo in the World Cup qualification.

In June 2018, he was named in Croatia's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[25] Vida scored a header in the quarter-final against hosts Russia to give his side a 2–1 lead in extra time. The match finished 2–2, Vida converted his spot kick in the penalty shootout to help his side advance. In the final, he took a free kick from Luka Modrić to set up Ivan Perišić for Croatia's first goal of the match, and picked up a runners-up medal as France eventually defeated his side 4–2.[26][27]

On 15 October 2018, he captained the national team for the first time and scored in a 2–1 friendly win over Jordan.

On 11 November 2020, he captained the national team once again in a friendly 3–3 draw with Turkey, being at fault for Turkey's first two goals.[28][29] The same night, after the game, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was left to self-isolate in Istanbul.[30]

On 16 November 2022, he played his 100th match for Croatia in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia.[31][32] He remained an unused substitute at the 2022 FIFA World Cup[33] and the UEFA Euro 2024.[34] Croatia finished third at the former but had an early exit in the group stage at the latter. He announced international retirement after the Euro, having last cap in a pre-tournament friendly match against North Macedonia.[35]

Controversy

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Vida and Ognjen Vukojević celebrated Croatia's World Cup victory over Russia by shouting "Glory to Ukraine!",[36] a common slogan in Ukraine.[37] FIFA's disciplinary code prohibits political, nationalist and racist slogans in any form. Vida later said: "I like Russian people. It was just a joke."[36] Following Croatia's victory over 2018 World Cup hosts Russia in the quarter-finals, Vida, celebrating the victory with former Croatian international and current assistant coach, Ivica Olić, was recorded saying "Belgrade is burning!" in Croatian. Later it turned out Belgrade was the name of the tavern in Kyiv where they used to hang out.[38] Aleksandar Holiga, editor of Croatian website Telesport, has largely downplayed the incident saying "I don't think Vida understood the full meaning and context of what he was saying. Both of them were just doing it because they are close to Dynamo Kyiv. It's something that fans would chant" and that "politically, Croatia doesn't have a perfect relationship with Russia, but then who does in the rest of Europe?"[26] BBC reported that "Ukrainians accused FIFA of siding with Russia and flooded the football body's Facebook page with declarations of 'Glory to Ukraine'."[38] On 11 July, in an interview in Russian with Russia 24, Vida said that he was mistaken and apologized to Russian people.[39]

Personal life

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Domagoj Vida was born in Našice, but grew up in Donji Miholjac in the family of Željka Ursanić and former footballer Rudika Vida.[40][41]

In 2015, Vida and his fiancee Ivana Gugić welcomed their first child, a baby boy they named David.[42][43] Vida and Gugić married in Umag in June 2017.[44]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 13 September 2024[45]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Osijek 2006–07 Prva HNL 12 0 0 0 12 0
2007–08 21 0 1 0 22 0
2008–09 30 2 1 0 31 2
2009–10 27 4 3 0 30 4
Total 90 6 5 0 95 6
Bayer Leverkusen 2010–11 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 8[a] 0 9 0
Dinamo Zagreb 2011–12 Prva HNL 29 2 6 0 12[b] 0 47 2
2012–13 15 4 1 0 12[b] 2 28 6
Total 44 6 7 0 24 2 75 8
Dynamo Kyiv 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 12 1 0 0 2[a] 0 14 1
2013–14 17 0 4 1 5[a] 0 26 1
2014–15 20 2 6 0 10[a] 1 1[c] 0 37 3
2015–16 18 2 3 0 5[b] 0 1[c] 0 27 2
2016–17 28 3 4 0 6[b] 0 1[c] 1 39 4
2017–18 9 2 0 0 8[d] 0 1[c] 0 18 2
Total 104 10 17 1 36 1 4 1 161 13
Beşiktaş 2017–18 Süper Lig 13 1 4 0 1[b] 0 0 0 18 1
2018–19 31 3 0 0 7[a] 0 38 3
2019–20 31 5 2 0 5[a] 0 38 5
2020–21 34 5 4 1 1[b] 0 39 6
2021–22 28 1 1 0 2[b] 0 1[e] 0 32 1
Total 137 15 11 1 16 0 1 0 165 16
AEK Athens 2022–23 Super League Greece 31 1 2 0 33 1
2023–24 29 6 1 0 9[f] 2 39 8
2024–25 4 0 0 0 3[g] 0 7 0
Total 64 7 3 0 12 2 79 9
Career total 440 44 43 2 96 5 5 1 585 52
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ a b c d Appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
  4. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
  6. ^ Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

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As of match played 3 June 2024[46]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2010 2 0
2011 5 0
2012 8 0
2013 6 1
2014 6 0
2015 7 0
2016 12 0
2017 9 1
2018 16 2
2019 8 0
2020 5 0
2021 11 0
2022 5 0
2023 3 0
2024 2 0
Total 105 4
As of match played 3 June 2024
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vida goal.[47]
List of international goals scored by Domagoj Vida
No Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 September 2013 Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju, South Korea 19   South Korea 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2 3 September 2017 Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia 50   Kosovo 1–0 1–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 7 July 2018 Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia 63   Russia 2–1 2–2 2018 FIFA World Cup
4 15 October 2018 Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia 69   Jordan 1–0 2–1 Friendly

Honours

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Dinamo Zagreb

Dynamo Kyiv

Beşiktaş

AEK Athens

Croatia

Orders

Individual

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ "Vida - Athens". Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Appearances for Croatia National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Dȍmagoj". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Dȍmagoj
  5. ^ "Vȋd". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Vȋda
  6. ^ Domagoj Vida achieves what no other Croatian footballer has done before croatiaweek.com. Croatia Week. Published 15 May 2023. Access date 15 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Ekskluzivno: Intervju 031 - Vedran Jugoviæ i Domagoj Vida!". portal Osijek031.com.
  8. ^ "Bayer 04 verpflichtet Domagoj Vida" (in German). Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Bender bringt die "Wölfe" aus dem Tritt" (in German). Kicker. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  10. ^ Gašparac, Maj (16 June 2011). "Dinamo potvrdio Vidin dolazak". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 20 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Uefa will not investigate Lyon's improbable 7–1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League". The Telegraph. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  12. ^ "UEFA plays down Zagreb-Lyon fears". ESPNFC. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  13. ^ "No unusual betting in Lyon's win". ESPN. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Ante Čačić izbacio Vidu iz momčadi! - Sportske novosti". sportske.jutarnji.hr. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Domagoj Vida kažnjen sa 100.000 eura". gnkdinamo.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  16. ^ Домагой ВИДА: "Настроен отобрать чемпионский титул у "Шахтера"!" (in Ukrainian). FC Dynamo Kyiv Official Website. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Dynamo Kyiv bring in Vida". UEFA.com. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  18. ^ "Vida - životna priča: Bećar koji je bježao, izbačen iz kluba, a sad su ga htjeli izbaciti sa SP-a!". goal.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Vida pens 4.5-year deal with Beşiktaş". bjk.com.tr. Beşiktaş J.K. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  20. ^ UEFA.com (20 February 2018). "Bayern put five past ten-man Beşiktaş". UEFA.com. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Domagoj Vida signed for AEK FC!". aekfc.gr. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Vida folgt Pamic zu Bayer". kicker.
  23. ^ "Croatia – Wales 2:0". Croatian Football Federation. 23 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  24. ^ "Friendly: South Korea 1 Croatia 2". FourFourTwo. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  25. ^ Radičević, Vlado (4 June 2018). "Zlatko Dalić donio najtežu odluku; višak postao igrač koji to sigurno nije očekivao" [Zlatko Dalić made the toughest decision; the surplus became a player who did not expect it]. Tportal.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  26. ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Richard (10 July 2018). "Domagoj Vida: The Controversial Joker Beloved by His Croatian Teammates". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  27. ^ "Donji Miholjac, Croatia. 17th July, 2018. Croatian football player Domagoj Vida bites his World Cup medal during celebration in Donji Miholjac, Croatia, on July 17, 2018. Croatia won the second place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Credit: Dino Stanin/Xinhua/Alamy Live News Stock Photo - Alamy".
  28. ^ Buškulić, Ante; Tolić, Josip (11 November 2020). "Dalić: Baš sam zabrinut... Svaki put kad prijeđu centar, eto gola!". 24sata (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  29. ^ Bevanda, Antonio (11 November 2020). "Ante Budimir je oduševio i grabi prema Euru, Brekalo je klasa, a Vida zakazao u 'svojem domu'". 24sata (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Vida pozitivan na korona virus! A igrao je poluvrijeme u Turskoj". 24sata (in Croatian). 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  31. ^ "Croatia beats Saudi Arabia in World Cup warm up". Croatia Week. 16 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Pet igrača Hrvatske nije dobilo ni minutu na Svjetskom prvenstvu". Index.hr (in Croatian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  34. ^ "VIDEO Dalić: Vidi ću se ispričati pred svim igračima. Nije igrao niti minute, a nije se ni žalio | 24sata".
  35. ^ "Croatia's Vida retires from international football 14 years after making debut | Flashscore.com". www.flashscore.com.
  36. ^ a b "World Cup 2018: Croatia defender likely to face Fifa punishment over post-match celebrations after Russia win". The Independent. 8 July 2018.
  37. ^ "Croatia's Domagoj Vida investigated over 'Glory to Ukraine' chant". The Sunday Telegraph. 8 July 2018.
  38. ^ a b "Domagoj Vida: Fifa 'looking into' new video of Croatia defender". BBC News. 11 July 2018.
  39. ^ "Хорват Вида в эфире "России 24" на русском языке извинился за свои выкрики". vesti.ru (in Russian). 12 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  40. ^ Miličić, Dubravko; Mikola, Danijela (8 July 2018). ""Zbog tuge je moj Domagoj htio prekinuti karijeru"". Express (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  41. ^ "Veliki Srna opet uz tim: Ovdje sam, to je bitno!". Radio Televizija BN (in Bosnian). 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  42. ^ "Filho de jogador croata roubou a cena após jogo e o Brasil não aguentou: Reações". 11 July 2018.
  43. ^ "Eksluzivno: Domagoj Vida dobio sina!". Story (in Croatian). 7 September 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  44. ^ "Domagoj Vida oženio ljubav svog života, vjenčanju nazočio i sin David". Story (in Croatian). 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  45. ^ "Domagoj Vida > Club Matches". WorldFootball.net. 12 November 2020.
  46. ^ Domagoj Vida at the Croatian Football Federation
  47. ^ "Domagoj Vida, international footballer". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  48. ^ McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  49. ^ Smyth, Rob (17 December 2022). "Croatia 2-1 Morocco: World Cup 2022 third-place playoff – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  50. ^ "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 11 January 2019. the Order of Prince Branimir with Ribbon was awarded to Mr. Domagoj Vida...
  51. ^ "П'ять номінацій + «33 найкращих»". upl.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  52. ^ Aslan, Erkan (3 May 2019). "2018-2019 Sezonunun Enleri "Futbolun Süperleri" Töreniyle Ödüllerine Kavuştu". ListeList (in Turkish). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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