Silvio Marić

Infobox Football biography
playername = Silvio Marić


fullname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|3|20|df=y
cityofbirth = Zagreb
countryofbirth = SFR Yugoslavia
height = height|m=1.78
nickname =
position = Forward
currentclub =
youthyears =
youthclubs = Lokomotiva Zagreb
years = 1992-1994
1994-1995
1995-1998
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2003
2003-2005
2005-2006
clubs = Dinamo Zagreb
Segesta (loan)
Dinamo Zagreb
Newcastle United
Porto
Dinamo Zagreb
Panathinaikos
Dinamo Zagreb
caps(goals) =
09 0(1)
87 (28)
23 0(0)
11 0(1)
33 (12)
33 0(2)
22 0(1)
nationalyears = 1997-2002
nationalteam = footyflag|Croatia
nationalcaps(goals) = 19 0(1)

Silvio Marić (born 20 March 1975) is a retired Croatian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Born in Zagreb, Marić began his professional career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1992. In the autumn of 1998, he appeared for Dinamo Zagreb in all of their six group matches in the UEFA Champions League and secured himself a move to English side Newcastle United in early 1999. He made his Premier League debut for Newcastle United on 10 March 1999 against Nottingham Forest, but never managed to establish himself as a regular at the club and, after making 23 Premier League appearances without scoring a goal, went on to move to Portuguese side Porto in 2000. At Newcastle United, he notably managed to become the first Croatian player to appear in an FA Cup Final, when he came on as a substitute in the Magpies' 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in the 1999 Final. During the final, with Newcastle trailing 2-0, Maric weakly shot past the post when exceptionally well-placed to score. This summed up his Newcastle career in general.

After playing one season for Porto, where he also never managed to become a regular, he made his first comeback to Dinamo Zagreb and subsequently spent two seasons with the club before making another move abroad, to Greek side Panathinaikos in 2003. He subsequently spent two seasons at Panathinaikos and also managed to make nine UEFA Champions League appearances for the club before making his second comeback to Dinamo Zagreb in 2005, signing a two-year contract. However, with his role in the team largely diminished and the fact that he mostly appeared as a substitute, he cancelled his contract upon the end of the 2005-06 season and thus finished his playing career.

International career

Marić made his international debut for the Croatian national team on 30 April 1997 in their 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Greece and managed to score his first international goal in his second cap against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 6 September 1997 in this same qualifying session. Between 1995 and 1997, he also made several appearances for the Croatian national under-21 team.

He was also a member of the Croatian squad that won the bronze medal at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France and appeared in four matches at the tournament, although he only started the final group match against Argentina. He won a total of 19 international caps for Croatia between 1997 and 2002, but his first international goal also remained his only one. His last appearance for the Croatian national team came on 12 October 2002 in their second Euro 2004 qualifier, which they lost 2-0 to Bulgaria on the road.

External links

* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=1769 National Football Teams - Maric, Silvio Player Details]