Darko Matić

Darko Matić

Personal information
Full name	Darko Matić
Date of birth	September 26, 1980 (1980-09-26) (age 31)
Place of birth	Domaljevac, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Beijing Guoan
Number	5
Youth career
1999-2000	Tennis Borussia Berlin
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000-2002	FC Thun	34	(3)
2002-2003	NK Orasje	38	(2)
2004	1. FC Eschborn	17	(2)
2004-2005	NK Orašje	32	(4)
2005-2006	FC Senec	54	(3)
2007-2008	Tianjin Teda	58	(1)
2009-	Beijing Guoan	57	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 December 2008. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 march 2011

Darko Matić (born September 26, 1980) is a Croatian professional soccer player who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League.^[1]

Club career

Originally Yugoslavian Darko Matić left his country because of the Yugoslav Wars and would move to Germany to begin his football career with Tennis Borussia Berlin's youth team Tennis Borussia Berlin II.he had his first game in the first team( second division Germany) when he was 17 under the coach Winfried Schaefer. Unable to break into the first team he would join second tier Swiss football club FC Thun in year 2000. Darko Matic would help FC Thun wining the promotion after 50 years.in year 2002 he returned to Bosnia and played for NK Orasje in the Bosnian Premier League. 2004 Darko joined German third league team 1. FC Eschborn for a short period. In the 2004/05 league season he would join once again top tier side NK Orašje and play in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, helping them finish third and win the Bosnian Cup.^[2] Once again moving on to this time Slovakian football club FC Senec in the 2005/06 league season he would help them win promotion to the Slovak Superliga.he was captain of his team Senec and he got the invintation of the Slovakian Football Federation to play for the Slovakian National Team. He transferred to Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda F.C. in 2007 and would quickly become an integral member of the team by playing in all 28 games of the season.^[3] He would quickly become a fan favourite the following season when he aided the team to a fourth place finish and a chance to play AFC Champions League football and with some fans calling him their best foreign player of all time. At the beginning of the 2009 league season Beijing Guoan were interested at his defensive abilities and signed him, this was to prove a successful signing when Darko Matić once more quickly became an integral member of the team and aided Beijing to win the first league title.Darko Matic was voted the best midfield player of the Chinese Super League 3 times (2007, 2008 and 2010). 2010 the famous football magazin Goal.com has voted Darko Matic as the best defensive midfielder in Asia. A lot of Beijing Guoan fans and journalist call him the best foreign player ever in the club.2011 Matic signed a new 3 year deal with Beijing Guoan.

Honours

Beijing Guoan

• Chinese Super League: 2009

References

1. ^ "马季奇：昨天的故事已在行囊 明天的希望在路上". Tianjin Teda FC. 2007-05-18. http://sports.enorth.com.cn/system/2007/05/18/001666470.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 
2. ^ "Bosnia-Hercegovina 2004/05". rsssf.com. 2005-09-01. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/bih05.html. Retrieved 2010-03-28. 
3. ^ "Player Darko Matić". sohu.com. 2010. http://csldata.sports.sohu.com/player.php?regnum=MP01906&season=2007. Retrieved 2010-03-28. 

External links

• weltfussball.de (German)
• Player profile at sohu.com (Chinese)
• http://transfermarkt.de/de/darko-matic/profil/spieler_14253.html

Persondata
Name	Matic, Darko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1980-09-26
Place of birth	Domaljevac, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death