Date of birth 10 January 1992 (age 22)
Place of birth Zadar, Croatia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 73 kg
Playing position Right back
Šime Vrsaljko (pronounced [ʃiːmê ʋrsaːʎko]; born 10 January 1992) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a right back for Genoa CFC and the Croatian national team. His preferred position is at right back, but can also play as a left back, making him a very versatile player. He made his national team debut in February 2011 and represented the country at UEFA Euro 2012. Vrsaljko has been hailed as one of the most talented Croatian footballers, drawing parallels with Luka Modrić who – like Vrsaljko – grew up in Zadar and later came through Dinamo Zagreb's youth ranks.
Club career
Vrsaljko started his senior career at Dinamo Zagreb's feeder team, Lokomotiva, where he spent the 2009–10 season on loan. He debuted for Lokomotiva in the Croatian top level in the match against Rijeka on 26 July 2009 at the age of 17. Vrsaljko was in the starting lineup in each of the 17 Lokomotiva's league matches in 2009, being substituted only once.
Dinamo Zagreb
He rejoined Dinamo Zagreb's squad on 22 December 2009 before the winter break and appeared in his first match for Dinamo Zagreb on 27 February 2010 against Croatia Sesvete in the Prva HNL. He made nine more appearances by the end of the season for Dinamo, making a total of 27 league appearances throughout the whole season. Vrsaljko also made one appearance in the semi-finals of the 2009–10 Croatian Cup.
Vrsaljko missed the opening matches of the 2010–11 season, as he was called up for international duties with the Croatian under-19 team. He made his first appearance of the season on 31 July in a league match against Rijeka which Dinamo Zagreb lost 2–1. Vrsaljko then made his debut in European competitions, featuring in their defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. In August that year he was linked with a transfer to Olympique Marseille for a fee of €4 million, but executive vice-president of the club Zdravko Mamić turned down the French club's offer. On 29 August he scored his first league goal for the club in the match against Cibalia which Dinamo Zagreb won 2–0. Due to his impressive performances for Dinamo under the coach Vahid Halilhodžić, he was named Croatian Football Hope of the Year for 2010. By the end of the season, he won the double with Dinamo.
He started the 2011/2012 season by providig an assist for Ivan Krstanović in UEFA Champions League qualifier 3-0 victory against Neftchi Baku in Zagreb. In August 2011, he was sent off during the away match of 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round against Malmö FF, as Dinamo managed to qualify for their first UEFA Champions League in 12 years. He was banned with 3 matches absence in Champions League. He made his 2011–12 UEFA Champions League debut on Matchday 4 against AFC Ajax, and made another appearance in the final match against Olympique Lyonnais on Maksimir Stadium. In domestic league, he made 22 league appearances and provided 5 assists in process, as Dinamo won another double - Prva HNL and Hrvatski kup titles.
After his return from Poland, where he was a part of Croatian team at UEFA Euro 2012, he helped Dinamo to qualify for another UEFA Champions League. He made 4 appearances as right full-back in 2012–13 UEFA Champions League as Dinamo finished bottom of their group with only one point.
Genoa
On 12 July 2013, Vrsaljko joined Italian Serie A side Genoa for an undisclosed fee, believed to be close to €4 million.
International career
He received his first call to the Croatia national football team on 2 November 2010 for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Malta. He made his national team debut on 9 February 2011 in a friendly match versus the Czech Republic. He made 3 more appearance before May 2012, when he was named in Croatia 26 players preliminary squad for UEFA Euro 2012. After the friendly match against Estonia in May 2012, Croatia manager Slaven Bilić withdrew him from the final list for UEFA Euro 2012.[8] However, just a week after being withdrawn from the final list, he was called up again due to injury of Hamburger SV player Ivo Iličević. He was unused substitute in all 3 Croatia matches at UEFA Euro 2012.
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