Veldin Hodža

Veldin Hodža (born 15 October 2002) is a Croatian professional footballer currently playing as a defensive midfielder for Prva HNL club Rijeka.[1]

Veldin Hodža
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-10-15) 15 October 2002
Place of birth Rijeka, Croatia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rijeka
Number 25
Youth career
2008–2021 Rijeka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Rijeka 0 (0)
2021 → Orijent 1919 (loan) 30 (1)
2022 Hrvatski Dragovoljac 16 (0)
2022– Rijeka 42 (1)
International career‡
2018 Croatia U17 6 (0)
2019 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2021 Croatia U19 1 (0)
2022– Croatia U21 12 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 October 2023

Club career

On 7 October 2020, Hodža made his senior competitive debut against Dilj in Croatian Football Cup first round. He scored a goal in the 69th minute and Rijeka won 6-0.[2] On 26 November 2020, Hodža made his first appearance in a European cup competition, coming in as a subsubstitue in the 87th minute for Gnezda Čerin in their Europa League group stage match against Napoli.[3] He then joined Orijent on loan in the winter transfer window.[4] He was taken off loan to Orijent and moved back to Rijeka where his contract was formally terminated and he joined newly promoted club Hrvatski Dragovoljac to help with their relegation battle.[5][6]

On 20 June 2022, Hodža rejoined his former club Rijeka signing a contract until summer 2024.[7]

International career

Hodža represents Croatia at youth international level and has made several appearances for various youth teams.[8] He was called by Croatia U21's coach Igor Bišćan for their 2023 European Under-21 qualifiers against Norway on 3 June 2022 and Estonia on 8 June 2022.[9]

Personal life

Born in Rijeka, Hodža is of Gorani origin from Restelicë.[10]

References
  1. "Croatia - V. Hodza - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  2. "DILJ – RIJEKA 0:6 Završila je utakmica u Vinkovcima, Rijeka rutinski izborila osminu finala Kupa". novilist.hr (in Croatian). 7 October 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  3. "Napoli-Rijeka | UEFA Europa League 2020/21".
  4. "Veldin Hodža i Matija Frigan stigli u Orijent 1919 na posudbu iz Rijeke, u srijedu prva test utakmica". novilist.hr (in Croatian). 12 July 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. "Rijeka povukla Veldina Hodžu s posudbe iz Orijenta 1919 i preusmjerila u redove Hrvatskog dragovoljca" (in Croatian). 24 January 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. "Filip Braut raskinuo ugovor s Rijekom i potpisao za Hrvatski dragovoljac" (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  7. Glasnik 26/22 - HNS-a, HNS, 8 July 2022
  8. Croatian Football Federation
  9. "Igor Bišćan predstavio kandidate za odlučujuće utakmice protiv Norveške i Estonije" (in Croatian). HNS. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  10. "Veldin Hodža pozvan u reprezentaciju Hrvatske do 17 godina" [Veldin Hodža invited to the Croatian U17 national team]. GoraPress (in Serbian). 19 September 2018.
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