Sandi Lovrić

Sandi Lovrić (born 28 March 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Udinese and the Slovenia national team.[1] After playing for Austria at all youth levels, he decided to represent Slovenia at senior level.

Sandi Lovrić
Lovrić with Slovenia in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-03-28) 28 March 1998
Place of birth Lienz, Austria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Udinese
Number 4
Youth career
2002–2008 SV Rapid Lienz
2008–2009 FC Nußdorf/Debant
2009–2012 SV Rapid Lienz
2012–2014 Sturm Graz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2019 Sturm Graz 64 (1)
2014–2017 Sturm Graz II 31 (4)
2019–2022 Lugano 93 (9)
2022– Udinese 40 (5)
International career‡
2013–2014 Austria U16 10 (6)
2014–2015 Austria U17 10 (5)
2015 Austria U18 3 (1)
2016–2017 Austria U19 13 (3)
2017–2019 Austria U21 19 (4)
2020– Slovenia 31 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

Club career
Lovrić playing for Sturm Graz in 2015

Lovrić joined Sturm Graz in 2012 from SV Rapid Lienz. He made his league debut on 17 August 2014 in a 1–1 home draw against Austria Wien by coming on as a substitute for Marko Stanković.[2] On 9 May 2018, he won the Austrian Cup with Sturm after defeating Red Bull Salzburg 1–0 in the final.[3]

On 3 July 2019, Lovrić signed a three-year deal with Swiss side Lugano after he decided to not extend his contract with Sturm Graz.[4]

On 28 March 2022, he signed a five-year contract with Serie A side Udinese.[5]

International career

Eligible to represent Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia internationally, Lovrić represented Austria in all youth selections from under-16 to under-21, making over 50 appearances between 2013 and 2019.[6] He stated that he was never approached by anyone from the Croatian Football Federation.[7]

In September 2020, he decided to represent Slovenia at senior level after being approached by their coach Matjaž Kek.[7][8][9] He debuted for Slovenia on 7 October 2020 in a friendly game against San Marino, playing for 59 minutes before being substituted by Benjamin Verbič.[10]

On 14 October 2020, Lovrić scored his first goal in a 4–0 UEFA Nations League victory over Moldova.[11] On 24 March 2021, he scored his second goal, the only goal in the 1–0 World Cup qualifying victory over his fatherland Croatia. The upset victory was notably Slovenia's first victory over Croatia in history.[7][12]

Personal life

Lovrić's parents are of Croatian descent. His father hails from Slavonski Brod and his mother is a Bosnian Croat from Modriča.[7] They moved to Piran, Slovenia as migrant workers, and later to Austria, where Lovrić was born.[13] Alongside German, Lovrić also fluently speaks Croatian[13] and Italian.[7]

As a youngster, Lovrić often spent summer vacations in Slovenia, and cited his connection to the country as the main reason to represent the Slovenia national team.[13]

Lovrić named Luka Modrić as his football idol.[7]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 September 2023[1][14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sturm Graz II 2014–15 Regionalliga Mitte 93——93
2015–16 81——81
2016–17 140——140
Total 3140000314
Sturm Graz 2014–15 Austrian Bundesliga 8000—80
2015–16 802000100
2016–17 3010—40
2017–18 250403[lower-alpha 1]0320
2018–19 201104[lower-alpha 2]0251
Total 6418070791
Lugano 2019–20 Swiss Super League 273205[lower-alpha 1]0343
2020–21 33222—354
2021–22 33461—395
Total 9391035010812
Udinese 2022–23 Serie A 37520—395
2023–24 3011—41
Total 4053100436
Career total 2281921412026123
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 17 October 2023[15][16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Slovenia
202061
2021122
202270
202361
Total314
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lovrić goal.[15][16]
List of international goals scored by Sandi Lovrić
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
114 October 2020Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova3 Moldova1–04–02020–21 UEFA Nations League C
224 March 2021Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia7 Croatia1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
34 September 2021Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia13 Malta1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
410 September 2023San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino30 San Marino3–04–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Honours

Sturm Graz

Lugano

References
  1. "Sandi Lovrić". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. "Sturm Graz vs. Austria Wien – 17 August 2014 – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. "Sturm gewinnt zum fünften Mal ÖFB-Cup" (in German). Sky Sport Austria. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. "Ufficiale il colpo del Lugano: Sandi Lovric ha firmato un triennale". Ticinonline (in Italian). 3 July 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  5. "Med reprezentančno akcijo v Katarju je Sandi Lovrić realiziral prestop v Serie A" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  6. "Sandi Lovric" (in German). Austrian Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  7. Burić, Jure (27 March 2021). "Šokirao Vatrene na startu: Iz HNS-a me nisu zvali! A ovo što sam Lovrena kopačkom razderao po licu..." Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. Gruden, Toni (7 September 2020). "Kek po okrepitvi z Lovričem upa še na vrnitev Kampla" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  9. Uredništvo (1 September 2020). "Sandi Lovrič ne bo več čakal Avstrije: Zdaj želi igrati za Slovenijo, odločitev je dokončna" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  10. A. G. (7 October 2020). "Mitrović, Vučkić in Rep s prvenci za gladko zmago Slovenije" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  11. Lisjak, Mitja (14 October 2020). "Hat-trick Vučkića za gladko zmago v Moldaviji" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  12. "VIDEO: Hrvatska prvim porazom od Slovenije u povijesti otvorila kvalifikacije za Svjetsko prvenstvo". Gol.hr (in Croatian). 24 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  13. Miljković, Andrej (10 October 2020). "Prvi intervju SANDIJA LOVRIĆA: Zrasel v Avstriji, govorim hrvaško – zlahka pa pojasnim, zakaj hočem igrati za Slovenijo! DARKO MILANIČ? On je ..." Ekipa24 (in Slovenian). Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  14. "Sandi Lovrič » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  15. "Sandi Lovrić". eu-football.info. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  16. "Lovrič, Sandi". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
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