Mladen Petrić facts for kids

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Mladen Petrić

Petrić at practice with Hamburg in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Mladen Petrić
Date of birth	(1981-01-01) 1 January 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	Dubrave, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1986–1996	FC Neuenhof
1996–1998	FC Baden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–1999	FC Baden	22	(4)
1999–2004	Grasshopper	114	(30)
2004–2007	FC Basel	72	(38)
2007–2008	Borussia Dortmund	29	(13)
2008–2012	Hamburger SV	99	(38)
2012–2013	Fulham	23	(5)
2013–2014	West Ham United	3	(0)
2014–2016	Panathinaikos	58	(12)
Total		420	(140)
International career
1998	Switzerland U17	1	(0)
2001	Switzerland U21	1	(0)
2002–2004	Croatia U21	7	(1)
2001–2013	Croatia	45	(13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mladen Petrić (born January 1, 1981) is a retired professional football player. He was a forward, which means he played mostly to score goals. Mladen played for many famous clubs like Grasshopper, Basel, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg, Fulham, West Ham United, and Panathinaikos. He was born in Bosnia. He played for Switzerland as a young player. Later, he chose to play for the Croatia senior team.

Early Life and First Steps in Football

Mladen Petrić was born in a village called Dubrave. This village is near Brčko in what was then Yugoslavia. His family later moved to Vinkovci and then to Neuenhof, Switzerland. It was in Neuenhof that Mladen started playing football for a local club, FC Neuenhof. He then joined FC Baden and began his professional career there in 1998. After one season, he moved to Grasshopper Club Zürich in 1999.

Club Career Highlights

Playing for Grasshopper Club

Petrić joined Grasshopper Club for the 1999–2000 Nationalliga A season. At first, it was hard for him to get playing time. This was because Grasshopper Club was the top team in Switzerland. They often brought in foreign players for attacking positions.

However, things changed when Hans-Peter Zaugg became the new coach. Petrić started playing more often. He scored three goals in his first five games. At the end of the 2000–01 Swiss Football League season, Petrić and Grasshopper Club won the championship.

In the 2001–02 season, Grasshopper Club finished second behind FC Basel. They also reached the Swiss Cup final. Petrić scored a goal in the final, but FC Basel won the trophy 2–1. Petrić won his second championship with Grasshopper Club in the 2002–03 Nationalliga A season. During the celebrations, he did something that caused a lot of talk: he burned a scarf from rival team Basel.

In the 2003–04 season, Grasshopper Club reached the cup final again. This time, they lost 3–2 to Wil. Petrić left the club in the summer of 2004. He played 114 league games for Grasshopper Club and scored 30 goals.

Time at FC Basel

Petrić joined FC Basel in 2004. He signed a four-year contract. His coach, Christian Gross, convinced him to join the team. He played his first league game for Basel on July 17, 2004. Basel won that game 6–0 against Aarau. He scored his first goal for Basel on September 22, but they lost that game 4–1.

In February 2005, Petrić got injured and missed the rest of the season. Basel still had a great season. They won the Swiss championship by 10 points. Petrić played in 22 games and scored five goals.

As champions, Basel played in the Champions League qualifiers. They lost to German team Werder Bremen. Then they played in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. Petrić scored his first European goal in this competition. Basel made it to the quarter-finals. They won the first game against Middlesbrough 2–0. But Middlesbrough won the second game 4–1, so Basel lost overall. Petrić played in 13 European games and scored three goals.

In the 2005–06 season, Basel was leading the league until the very last day. Petrić scored three goals in one game against Thun. On the final day, Basel played against Zürich. Petrić scored to make it 1–1. But Zürich scored a last-minute goal to win 2–1. This meant Zürich won the championship by a small difference in goals. Petrić was one of the top scorers that season with 14 goals. After this loss, there were some problems outside the stadium.

In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, Basel played many matches. Petrić played in all ten of these games. In one match against Nancy, on November 23, 2006, Basel's goalkeeper was sent off. Since they had no more substitutions, Petrić had to play as a goalkeeper! Nancy got a penalty kick, but Petrić saved it. This helped his team get a 2–2 draw.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, Basel finished second. Petrić was the top goal scorer in the league with 19 goals. Fans also voted him Player of the Year. Basel won the Swiss Cup that season, beating Luzern 1–0 in the final. Petrić played in all six cup games.

Petrić left Basel after this season. He played 141 games for the club and scored 79 goals in total.

Moving to Borussia Dortmund

On June 11, 2007, Petrić signed with the German team Borussia Dortmund. He joined as part of the team's plan to build a stronger squad. He was meant to play behind the main attackers. But it quickly became clear he was better as a striker. He started the season very well, scoring two goals in a 3–0 win against Werder Bremen. He was one of the top scorers in the league. He also helped Dortmund reach the DFB-Pokal final. In the final, he scored a goal in the last moments against Bayern Munich, but Bayern still won.

Playing for Hamburg

On August 17, 2008, Petrić moved from Dortmund to Hamburg. This was part of a deal where another player, Mohamed Zidan, went to Dortmund. Both players signed four-year contracts.

Petrić played his first game for Hamburg on August 23, 2008. He came on as a substitute in a 2–1 win. He scored his first goal for Hamburg on September 13, 2008, which was the winning goal in a 3–2 game. In late 2008, Petrić scored all five goals in three different games for Hamburg. He scored the winning goal in a 2–1 away game against Energie Cottbus. This kept Hamburg at the top of the league table. On April 28, 2010, he scored a goal in the Europa League semi-final against Fulham. However, Hamburg lost the overall match. Petrić left Hamburg at the end of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season.

Time at Fulham

Petrić playing for Fulham in 2013

After leaving Hamburg, Petrić signed a one-year deal with the English team Fulham. He joined his old coach, Martin Jol, there. The Croatian striker played his first game for Fulham against Norwich City on the first day of the Premier League season. Petrić scored two goals and helped with another goal as Fulham won 5–0.

Petrić was one of the players who left Fulham at the end of the 2012–13 Premier League season.

Short Spell at West Ham United

On September 10, 2013, Petrić joined West Ham United for one year. He played his first game on September 21, 2013, in a 3–2 loss. He only played three more games for the club before leaving in December 2013.

Final Club: Panathinaikos

On January 8, 2014, the Greek club Panathinaikos announced they had signed Petrić. He signed a one-and-a-half-year deal. In Athens, he played again with his old Hamburg teammate Marcus Berg. He also played with two teammates from the Croatia national team. On February 16, 2014, Petrić played his first game for Panathinaikos. On May 4, 2014, he scored his first goal for the team. On February 22, 2015, he scored against rival club Olympiacos in a 2–1 win. On January 7, 2016, he scored the winning goal in a Greek Cup game.

On May 28, 2016, Mladen Petrić announced he was retiring from professional football.

International Career

In 2001, Mirko Jozić, the coach of the Croatia national team, saw Petrić playing in Switzerland. Petrić made his first international appearance for Croatia in November 2001. He played in two friendly matches against South Korea. He came on as a substitute in both games. However, he was not chosen for the 2002 World Cup team.

He scored his first goal for Croatia in a friendly match against Wales on August 21, 2002. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. He then played his first competitive international game in a Euro 2004 qualifier. After this, he did not play for the national team for three and a half years.

In early 2006, Petrić returned to the Croatia team. He played in friendly matches against South Korea and Argentina. He was not chosen for the final team for the 2006 World Cup.

In August 2006, Croatia's new coach Slaven Bilić called him up for a friendly match against Italy. Petrić played as a substitute. He was an important player for Croatia in their Euro 2008 qualifying games. In a game against Andorra on October 7, 2006, he scored four goals in just 60 minutes! He was the first player ever to score four goals for Croatia in a competitive match. Croatia won that game 7–0, which was their biggest competitive win at the time. He scored two more goals against Andorra on September 12, 2007.

On November 21, 2007, the last day of Euro 2008 qualifiers, Petrić came on as a substitute against England. Croatia had already qualified for Euro 2008. The score was 2–2. Petrić scored the winning goal from about 25 yards away. This goal meant England did not qualify for Euro 2008. It was England's first loss in a competitive game at the New Wembley. After the match, he said he would not swap his jersey. He said it was the most important goal of his career.

Because he played so well in the qualifiers, he was part of Croatia's Euro 2008 team. Croatia won all their group matches, even beating Germany. But they lost to Turkey in the quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out.

Petrić did not play for the national team in 2012. In February 2013, he played his last international match and scored a goal against South Korea.

Career Statistics

Club

International

#	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	21 August 2002	Stadion Varteks, Varaždin, Croatia	6	Wales	1–1	1–1	Friendly
02.	7 October 2006	Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia	10	Andorra	1–0	7–0	Euro 2008 qualifying
03.					2–0
04.					3–0
05.					4–0
06.	7 February 2007	Kantrida, Rijeka, Croatia	13	Norway	1–0	2–1	Friendly
07.	12 September 2007	Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	18	Andorra	0–2	0–6	Euro 2008 qualifying
08.					0–3
09.	21 November 2007	Wembley Stadium, London, England	20	England	2–3	2–3
10.	6 September 2008	Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia	29	Kazakhstan	3–0	3–0	2010 World Cup qualifying
11.	6 June 2009	Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia	33	Ukraine	1–0	2–2
12.	3 September 2010	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	39	Latvia	0–1	0–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
13.	6 February 2013	Craven Cottage, London, England	45	South Korea	0–4	0–4	Friendly

Honours and Awards

Club Achievements

Grasshopper

• Nationalliga A:
  • 2000–01
  • 2002–03

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2004–05
• Swiss Cup: 2006–07

Borussia Dortmund

• DFL-Supercup: 2008

Panathinaikos

• Greek Cup: 2013–14

Individual Awards

• Swiss Golden Player Award: 2006
• Swiss Super League Best player: 2006–07
• Swiss Super League Top scorer: 2006–07

See also

In Spanish: Mladen Petrić para niños