Marko Babić (footballer)

Marko Babić (born 28 January 1981) is a Croatian football manager and former professional footballer. He primarily played as left midfielder, but was also often deployed as a left-back.

Marko Babić
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-01-28) 28 January 1981
Place of birth Osijek, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Left midfielder / Left-back
Youth career
0000–1997 Osijek
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Osijek 16 (0)
2000–2007 Bayer Leverkusen 144 (13)
2007–2009 Real Betis 12 (0)
2009 Hertha BSC 8 (0)
2009–2010 Real Zaragoza 14 (0)
2010–2012 Osijek 26 (4)
2013 LASK Linz 8 (0)
Total 228 (17)
International career
2002–2008 Croatia 49 (3)
Managerial career
2017 Olympiacos (assistant)
2019 Čelik Zenica
2019–2020 Rudeš
2022 Ilirija 1911
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Babić began his senior career with Osijek in 1997. However, he only made 16 league appearances before moving to Germany to join Bayer Leverkusen. He became a regular for the club, and made 144 league appearances before joining Spanish side Real Betis. He was less successful here, and made 12 league appearances in two years, while his spells at Hertha BSC and Real Zaragoza were brief. In 2010, Babić returned to Osijek, but struggled to re-establish himself, and made just 26 league appearances in two years. A switch to LASK Linz followed in 2013, but this yielded just eight league matches before he left the club and afterwards retiring from professional football.

Having represented Croatia at under-15, under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-20 levels between 1996 and 2001, Babić made his under-21 and senior international debut in 2002, and made 49 appearances for the senior international appearances. However, he was omitted from Croatia's UEFA Euro 2008 squad, and did not play for the national team ever again.

After finishing his playing career, he became a manager, working as an assistant manager at Olympiacos in 2017. In 2019 he managed Bosnian Premier League club Čelik Zenica. Between 2019 and 2020, he was the manager of Rudeš.

Club career

Babić made his debut with hometown club NK Osijek, where he spent three seasons. In 2000, Babić completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen where he joined the German outfit's Croatian contingent. He played for the club during their loss to Real Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final. Babić was offered a new contract in 2003.[1]

Real Betis presented the player to the press and fans on 17 July 2007. Early reports suggested he had signed on a free transfer as his contract had ended.[2] On 23 July 2007, Babić made his Betis debut in a friendly match against San Fernando. His competitive debut came in the La Liga season against Recreativo de Huelva on 26 August 2007.

In January 2009, Babić left Spain to play for Hertha BSC on a free transfer and gave up the non-EU quota to Ricardo Oliveira.[3] He left Hertha six months later. On 8 August 2009, he signed a two-year contract with Real Zaragoza.[4] On 6 September 2010 his contract was terminated.[5] On 2 March 2011, Babić signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with former club Osijek.[6] After leaving Osijek in 2012, he signed with Austrian club LASK Linz, for who he played until 2013, after which he decided to retire from professional football at the age of 32.

International career

Babić made his Croatia national team debut in May 2002 against Hungary. He was part of the Croatian squad at UEFA Euro 2004, but did not make an appearance.

He played all three matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, stationed as a left wing-back in a 3–5–2 formation. He was a surprise omission from Slaven Bilić's Euro 2008 squad.

Managerial career

Early career

Babić started off his managerial career in June 2017, being appointed as an assistant manager of Besnik Hasi at Olympiacos. He stayed at Olympiacos until September of the same year, before leaving the club after Hasi got sacked.

Čelik Zenica

On 5 September 2019, Babić got his first managerial position, being appointed as the new manager of Bosnian Premier League club Čelik Zenica.[7] In his first game as the club's manager, Čelik beat Mladost Doboj Kakanj at home 1–0 in a league match.[8] His first loss as Čelik manager was in a cup game against Rudar Kakanj on 18 September 2019, in which Čelik surprisingly lost 3–0 away in Kakanj.[9]

Less than a month after being named manager, on 30 September 2019, Babić left Čelik after making some poor results and not being in good contact with the players of the club.[10]

Rudeš

On 7 October 2019, it was announced that Babić was named the new manager of 2. HNL club Rudeš.[11]

Ilirija 1911

In January 2022, Babić became the new head coach of Slovenian Second League side Ilirija 1911.[12]

Career statistics

International goals
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Babić goal.[13]
List of international goals scored by Marko Babić
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 4 June 2005 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria  Bulgaria 1–0 3–1 2006 World Cup qualifiers
2 23 May 2006 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria  Austria 3–1 4–1 Friendly
3 28 May 2006 Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia  Iran 2–2 2–2 Friendly

Managerial statistics
As of 8 March 2020[14]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Čelik Zenica 5 September 2019 30 September 2019 5 1 1 3 020.00
Rudeš 7 October 2019 30 June 2020 10 3 3 4 030.00
Total 15 4 4 7 026.67

Honours

Player

Osijek

Bayer Leverkusen

References
  1. "Babic lengthens Leverkusen stay". UEFA.com. 24 November 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  2. "Babić to bid Levekusen adieu". UEFA.com. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  3. "Hertha sign Marko Babic". Hertha BSC. 28 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  4. "Babic, sexto fichaje de la temporada" (in Spanish). realzaragoza.com. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  5. "Babic y Songo'o se desvinculan del Real Zaragoza" (in Spanish). 6 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  6. Plavčić, Mario (2 March 2011). "Babić: Pomoći ću mladima". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  7. "Hrvatski stručnjak Marko Babić novi trener zeničkog Čelika". Klix.ba (in Bosnian). 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  8. E. Škorić (14 September 2019). "Dilaver junak Čelika u komšijskom derbiju". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  9. "FK Rudar Kakanj 3–0 NK Čelik Zenica". besoccer.com. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  10. E. Škorić (30 September 2019). "Čelik ostao bez trenera!". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  11. M. M. (7 October 2019). "Marko Babić novi trener Rudeša". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  12. Čavalić, Mirsad K. (11 January 2022). "Nov veter za spomladanski del sezone pri Iliriji". Slovenski nogometni portal (in Slovenian). Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  13. "Marko Babić, international footballer". eu-football.info. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  14. "Marko Babic – Stats and titles won". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
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