Nik Mrdja
| Nik Mrdja | ||
 Mrdja before a test match with the Mariners (2009)
|
||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Nikola Mrdja | |
| birthday | November 30, 1978 | |
| place of birth | Perth , Australia | |
| size | 186 cm | |
| position | striker | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1997 | Bayswater City Panthers | |
| 1998 | Kingsway Olympic | |
| 1998-1999 | Canberra Cosmos | 3 (0) |
| 2000 | Perth SC | |
| 2000-2004 | Perth Glory | 73 (25) |
| 2004 | AIK Solna | 12 (2) |
| 2005-2010 | Central Coast Mariners | 40 (11) |
| 2010 | Melbourne Victory | 2 (0) |
| 2010-2011 | Central Coast Mariners | 6 (0) |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| 2007 | Australia | 1 (0) |
| 1 Only league games are given. | ||
Nikola "Nik" Mrdja (born November 30, 1978 in Perth ) is a former Australian football player . The striker, who came to an international match in 2007, won two Australian championship titles with Perth Glory in the National Soccer League and played in the successor league A-League from 2005 to 2011 for the Central Coast Mariners almost continuously .
Career
Mrdja played at the beginning of his career in the Western Australian Premier League (WAPL) and was given the opportunity to play in the country's top division, the National Soccer League (NSL), for the first time in the 1998/99 season at Canberra Cosmos . After a brief return to WAPL at Perth SC , the striker played for Perth Glory from 2000 until the NSL was discontinued in 2004 . After two seasons as a substitute player, he established himself in the team in the 2002/03 season and helped the team to reach the championship finals ( Grand Final ) with his eight goals this season . In the 2-0 win against the Olympic Sharks there , Mrdja was substituted on shortly before the end of the game.
In the following season he increased his goal count to 14 goals and was the third best goalscorer of the NSL behind Ante Milicic and teammate Damian Mori . The team reached the championship finals again and, like last year, Mrdja was only used towards the end of regular time. After a goalless 90 minutes Mrdja scored the winning goal for Perth Glory in the 8th minute of extra time with a golden goal and the last goal in NSL history.
After the end of the national Australian league, Mrdja moved, like many other Australian players, abroad and came to the Swedish first division club AIK Solna . His stay there lasted only half a year and ended with the descent from AIK to the Superettan . In early 2005 Mrdja returned to Australia and signed with the Central Coast Mariners for the newly created Australian professional league A-League . There he initially missed the entire premiere season 2005/06 due to a serious knee injury and only came to nine missions in the following two seasons due to chronic knee problems.
Despite these injury problems, national coach Graham Arnold nominated him in September 2007 for a friendly against Argentina in the Australian national team . He made his international debut when he came on for Joshua Kennedy after 82 minutes of play. After returning from the national team, he suffered again from knee problems and was out for the rest of the season. After he played regularly for the Mariners in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons and scored nine goals in 33 games, he terminated his contract at the beginning of February 2010 to take out a half-year contract as an injured replacement for the championship candidate and Champions League participant Melbourne Victory sign. At the same time it was announced that he will play for the Mariners again for the 2010/11 season. This transfer outside of the transfer window in the final phase of the season caused significant criticism from league competitors and in the media. The Football Federation Australia announced they want to review the rules after the season.
The season ended prematurely for Mrdja. After he first scored the 1-0 lead in the 2-1 success in the semi-final first leg of the championship play-offs against Sydney FC , he was expelled in the 74th minute after an elbow stroke of the field and suspended for two games, which he also missed the final, which was lost to Sydney 2-4 on penalties. After the 2011/12 season was largely overshadowed by injuries and he sustained a knee injury again in January 2011, he announced his immediate retirement.
successes
- Australian champion: 2002/03, 2003/04
Web links
- Nik Mrdja in the database of weltfussball.de
- Biography at AIK Fotboll (Swedish)
- Entry at ozfootball.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ ozfootball.net: 2002/2003 Grand Final
- ↑ ozfootball.net: 2003/2004 Season Top Scorers
- ↑ ozfootball.net: 2003-2004 Season Playoff Series Matches
- ↑ foxsports.com.au: Mariner returns to face foes (Nov. 11, 2006)
- ↑ twg.sbs.com.au: Mariners re-sign Clark, Mrdja (July 28, 2008) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ smh.com.au: Patient Mrdja's hot streak grabs Arnold's attention (Sep. 6, 2007)
- ↑ smh.com.au: Search for Mrdja replacement takes Mariners into uncharted territory (Oct. 13, 2007)
- ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: FFA: No-One Told Us ... (Feb. 9, 2010)
- ↑ theaustralian.com.au: Replacement rule a joke after striker Nik Mrdja signs with two clubs on the same day (Feb. 6, 2010)
- ↑ smh.com.au: Backlash to Mrdja deal sees FFA review (Feb. 8, 2010)
- ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: Mrdja Hit With Two Game Ban (Feb. 22, 2010)
- ↑ abc.net.au: Mariners sign Baird from Glory (Jan. 6, 2011)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mrdja, Nik |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mrdja, Nikola (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 30, 1978 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Perth |