Tomislav Marić

Tomislav Marić (born January 28, 1973) is a German-born Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Tomislav Marić
Marić during his time as assistant coach at VfB Stuttgart
Personal information
Full name Tomislav Marić
Date of birth (1973-01-28) 28 January 1973
Place of birth Heilbronn, West Germany
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
TSV Talheim
ESV Heilbronn
VfR Heilbronn
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg 59 (14)
1994–1995 Karlsruher SC 4 (0)
1995–1996 SG Wattenscheid 09 31 (7)
1996–2000 Stuttgarter Kickers 112 (42)
2000–2004 VfL Wolfsburg 85 (31)
2003–2004 VfL Wolfsburg II 12 (3)
2004Borussia MG (loan) 7 (1)
2005 Urawa Reds 13 (8)
2006–2007 TSG Hoffenheim 47 (17)
Total 370 (123)
International career
2002–2003 Croatia 9 (2)
Managerial career
2007–2010 TSG Hoffenheim (assistant)
2013–2014 VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
2015–2016 Dunajská Streda
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Marić was born to Bosnian Croat parents in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg and started his first-team career in 1992 at amateur side SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg from the nearby Ludwigsburg in then third-division Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. He spent two seasons with the third-division side, making 60 league appearances in which he scored 14 goals.[1] In July 1994, he signed his first professional contract with then Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC, but never managed to become a regular at the club, making only four Bundesliga appearances as a second-half substitute throughout the 1994–95 season of the league. He made his Bundesliga debut on 7 October 1994 in KSC's 1–0 defeat away against Eintracht Frankfurt, playing as a substitute in the last five minutes of the match. After this unsuccessful season with KSC, he went on to move to then 2. Bundesliga side SG Wattenscheid 09 for the 1995–96 season. He made 31 appearances and scored seven goals for the club in the 2. Bundesliga during the season after which he went on to move to another 2. Bundesliga side at the time, Stuttgarter Kickers.

He subsequently spent four seasons with the Kickers team and was a regular from the beginning. In his final season with the club, in 1999–2000, he became the top goalscorer of the 2. Bundesliga with 21 goals scored in 33 matches and practically saved the club from being relegated to the third division as his 21 goals were almost a half of all goals scored by the team in the 2. Bundesliga that season in which they narrowly avoided relegation with a 15th-place finish. In the same season, he also helped the club to surprisingly reach the semifinals of the DFB-Pokal, where they lost 2–1 to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in extra time. In four seasons with Stuttgarter Kickers, Marić made 112 2. Bundesliga appearances and scored 42 goals for the club in the league, a half of which was in his final season with the club.

Marić went on to leave Stuttgarter Kickers for Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in the summer of 2000 and became a regular in the team during his first season with the club, making 30 Bundesliga appearances in which he managed to score six goals. He scored his first Bundesliga goal when he netted the fifth goal in VfL Wolfsburg's 6–0 victory over 1. FC Köln on 21 October 2000. In the 2001–02 season, he managed to score 12 goals in only 17 Bundesliga appearances and was VfL Wolfsburg's most successful goalscorer that season as well as in the following 2002–03 season, when he once again scored 12 goals, but also played ten matches more than in the preceding season. However, he lost his place in the team for the 2003–04 season and did not make any Bundesliga appearances before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach in January 2004. He spent only six months with the Gladbach team and managed to score only one goal in seven Bundesliga appearances for the club.

He returned to VfL Wolfsburg in the summer of 2004, but spent the first part of the 2004–05 season with the club's reserve squad in the third-division Regionalliga Nord, where he scored two goals in seven appearances. He returned to the first team in January 2005 and went on to make 11 Bundesliga appearances until the end of the season, scoring once as he netted the final goal in the club's 4–0 home victory over FC Hansa Rostock only a few seconds after entering the match as a substitute. In three and half seasons with VfL Wolfsburg's first team, he made 85 Bundesliga appearances and scored 31 goals for the club in the league. In July 2005, he transferred to Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds, but spent only six months with the club and scored eight goals in 13 J1 League appearances for the team.[2] He returned to Germany with the beginning of the year 2006 and signed a three-and-half-year contract with TSG Hoffenheim,[3] a third-division Regionalliga Süd side with strong ambitions of being promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. In his first six months with the club, he scored nine goals in 15 Regionalliga Süd matches, but the team only finished fourth at the end of the 2005–06 season, two places below the promotion ranks.

International career

Marić also had a short international career with the Croatia national team in 2002 and 2003. He made his international debut in Croatia's friendly match against Hungary on 8 May 2002 and scored his first international goal in Croatia's 1–0 away victory over Romania in a friendly match played on 20 November 2002. In the 2002–03 season, he also made five appearances for Croatia in the Euro 2004 qualifying and scored once as he netted the third goal in their 4–0 home victory over Belgium on 29 March 2003. His last international match was Croatia's Euro 2004 qualifier against Estonia on 11 June 2003. In all, he won nine international caps and scored two goals for Croatia.[4]

Managerial career

He was named assistant to manager Thomas Schneider at VfB Stuttgart in August 2013.[5] He later was manager of Slovakia top-tier side DAC Dunajská Streda.[6]

Personal life

Marić's younger brother Marijo is also a professional footballer who formerly played in the Bundesliga, most notably for VfL Bochum, but also made a successful career with FC Kärnten in the Austrian Bundesliga and was an occasional member of the Croatia national team between 2002 and 2004 as well.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg 1992–93[7] 264264
1993–94[7] 33103310
Total 5914005914
Karlsruher SC 1994–95[8] Bundesliga 40000040
SG Wattenscheid 09 1995–96[8] 2. Bundesliga 31720337
Stuttgarter Kickers 1996–97[8] 2. Bundesliga 20610216
1997–98[8] 3372100358
1998–99[8] 2680000268
1999–2000[8] 332154003825
Total 1124285000012047
VfL Wolfsburg 2000–01[8] Bundesliga 306300041377
2001–02[8] 17123100002013
2002–03[8] 27122000002912
2004–05[8] 111000000111
Total 85318100419733
VfL Wolfsburg II 2003–04[7] 5100000051
2004–05[8] Regionalliga Nord 7200000072
Total 123000000123
Borussia Mönchengladbach (loan) 2003–04[8] Bundesliga 7121000092
Urawa Reds 2005 J1 League 13856302114
TSG Hoffenheim 2005–06[8] Regionalliga 159000000159
2006–07[8] 328000000328
Total 47170000004717
Career total 37012325133041402137

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[7]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Croatia 200241
200351
Total92

References

  1. Matthias Arnhold (19 September 2013). "Tomislav Marić - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  2. "Stats Centre: Tomislav Marić Facts". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  3. Tomislav Marić ponovno u Njemačkoj - SportNet (in Croatian)
  4. "Tomislav Marić - national football team player". EU-football.info. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  5. Novi trener Stuttgarta za pomoćnika uzeo Tomislava Marića - Večernji (in Croatian)
  6. Stats - Fortuna Liga
  7. "Tomislav Marić". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  8. "Tomislav Marić » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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