Filip Lončarić Explained

Filip Lončarić
Full Name:Filip Lončarić
Birth Date:1986 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia
Position:Goalkeeper
Youthyears1:1994–2005
Youthclubs1:Dinamo Zagreb
Years1:2005–2012
Clubs1:Dinamo Zagreb
Caps1:41
Goals1:0
Years2:2006
Clubs2:Lokomotiva (loan)
Caps2:0
Goals2:0
Years3:2012
Clubs3:Gaz Metan Mediaş
Caps3:3
Goals3:0
Years4:2013–2014
Clubs4:Željezničar
Caps4:23
Goals4:0
Years5:2014–2015
Clubs5:Osijek
Caps5:6
Goals5:0
Years6:2015–2016
Clubs6:Zrinjski Mostar
Caps6:3
Goals6:0
Years7:2016–2018
Clubs7:Tromsø
Caps7:16
Goals7:0
Totalcaps:92
Totalgoals:0
Nationalyears1:2002
Nationalteam1:Croatia U16
Nationalcaps1:8
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:2002-2003
Nationalteam2:Croatia U17
Nationalcaps2:17
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2003
Nationalteam3:Croatia U18
Nationalcaps3:2
Nationalgoals3:0
Nationalyears4:2003-2005
Nationalteam4:Croatia U19
Nationalcaps4:13
Nationalgoals4:0
Nationalyears5:2006-2007
Nationalteam5:Croatia U20
Nationalcaps5:4
Nationalgoals5:0
Nationalyears6:2007
Nationalteam6:Croatia U21
Nationalcaps6:3
Nationalgoals6:0

Filip Lončarić (born 17 September 1986) is a Croatian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Lončarić joined GNK Dinamo Zagreb in 1994,[1] aged just eight and made his breakthrough to the first-team squad for the 2005–06 season. He had a brief loan-spell at Dinamo Zagreb's feeder team NK Lokomotiva, but made no competitive appearances. With Dinamo, Lončarić won seven Prva HNL titles, five Croatian Cup titles and two Croatian Super Cups. After Dinamo, he played at CS Gaz Metan Mediaș, FK Željezničar Sarajevo, NK Osijek, HŠK Zrinjski Mostar and Tromsø IL, before retiring from football in August 2018 at the age of 31.

In the national team, Lončarić played for various youth selections from 2002 to 2007. He was capped a total of 47 times, most of which he made playing for the under-17 and under-19 teams.

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Lončarić has been part of Dinamo Zagreb's first team since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, but went on to spend the second part of the season on loan to Lokomotiva, who played in the Treća HNL at the time. Returning to Dinamo Zagreb for the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he made his competitive debut for the club on 1 October 2006 in their 2–2 draw away at Hajduk Split, following a couple of blunders by the first-choice goalkeeper Ivan Turina early in the season. He subsequently became the club's first-choice goalkeeper and appeared in a total of 26 domestic league matches during the season.[2]

However, following the club's signing of German goalkeeper Georg Koch in the summer of 2007, Lončarić once again found himself relegated to the bench and only appeared in two domestic league matches early in the season before sustaining an injury in a cup match in October 2007, which led to him being sidelined for most of the season and eventually losing his place as the club's second-choice goalkeeper to Ivan Kelava.[2]

Following the departure of Koch in the summer of 2008, the club decided to re-sign former Croatian international goalkeeper Tomislav Butina to serve as the new first-choice goalkeeper, with Kelava keeping his place as the second-choice goalkeeper and Lončarić staying the club's third-choice goalkeeper until Kelava was loaned to Lokomotiva Zagreb in August 2009. As the club's third-choice goalkeeper, Lončarić made no competitive appearances for Dinamo Zagreb throughout the entire 2008–09 season.

However, following a couple bad performances by Butina in European matches, Lončarić was given a second chance as the club's first-choice goalkeeper and made his first competitive appearance in nearly two years when he appeared in Dinamo Zagreb's 6–0 win at home to Rijeka on 20 September 2009 in the Prva HNL. On 1 October 2009, exactly three years after his competitive debut for Dinamo, Lončarić made his European debut for the club in their 3–0 away win at Timişoara in the UEFA Europa League. However, he was soon forced to take another lengthy break after renewing his injury in Dinamo's Europa League match against Ajax on 22 October 2009.[2]

His first competitive match after the injury break came on 31 July 2010 in a 2–1 defeat at home to Rijeka in the Croatian top flight, deputising for the injured Butina. On 4 August 2010, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, at home to Sheriff Tiraspol. After a 1–1 draw in the regular 90 minutes and the ensuing 30 minutes of extra time, the match went into a penalty shootout, where Lončarić was able to save two kicks, but Dinamo eventually lost 6–5. Dinamo Zagreb was relieved by departure of Butina, which saw Lončarić further increase his first-choice goalkeeper status. However, Lončarić was again injured in a league match at Hajduk Split on 11 September 2010, his 6th appearance in the competition during the 2010–11 season. He subsequently did not appear in a competitive match for almost a year. He made three appearances in the league during the first half of the 2011–12 season, his final season with Dinamo Zagreb.

Tromsø

In January 2016, Lončarić signed a season-long contract with Norwegian club Tromsø IL.[3] Initially the club's second-choice goalkeeper, he made his league debut on 9 July 2016 in a 2–2 draw at home to Haugesund.[4] He kept his place in the starting line-up for the remainder of the season, making a total of 16 appearances in the top flight. On 7 August 2018 at the age of 31 Lončarić decide to retire from football after a new knee injury.[5]

International career

Lončarić started his international career for Croatia with a debut for the under-16 team in a friendly match against the under-16 team of Slovenia on 5 March 2002. He made seven more appearances for the under-16 selection before debuting for the under-17 team in a friendly match against Czech Republic on 7 August 2002, aged just 15.

Lončarić was very successful playing for the under-17 team, collecting a total of 17 caps throughout 2002 and 2003. He featured in two friendly matches for the under-18 team and then with 17 years of age debuted for the under-19 team. Lončarić made a total of 13 appearances for the under-19 selection. He had a short spell with the under-20 team, playing in four friendly matches throughout 2006 and 2007.

In 2007, he made his last appearances for the Croatian youth teams, featuring in three matches for the under-21 team. Lončarić was capped a total of 47 times for the Croatian youth teams.[6]

Career statistics

Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueLeagueCupContinentalTotal
Apps GoalsApps GoalsApps GoalsApps Goals
Dinamo Zagreb2005–061. HNL00000000
2006–072607000330
2007–0820100030
2008–0900000000
2009–10[7] 40102070
2010–116000301010
2011–1230000030
Total4109050550
Gaz Metan Mediaș2012–13Liga I300030
Željezničar2013–14Bosnian Premier League2302000250
Osijek2014–151. HNL601070
Zrinjski Mostar2015–16Bosnian Premier League30000030
Tromsø2016Eliteserien16040200
2017000000
2018000000
Total1604000200
Career total920160501130

1 Including the 2010 Croatian Supercup match against Hajduk Split.[8]

Honours

Club

Dinamo Zagreb[7]

2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12

2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12

2006, 2010

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Filip Lončarić. Dinamo Zagreb. Croatian. 18 August 2010.
  2. Web site: Lončarić Filip. Nogometni Magazin. 18 August 2010.
  3. Web site: Loncaric har signert. til.no. 28 January 2016. 25 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161126003000/http://www.til.no/team1news/article/gx6j97hwonhv1qci0g142rxdn/title/lon. 26 November 2016. dead.
  4. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2016/07/09/norway/eliteserien/tromso-idrettslag/fotballklub-haugesund/2175186/ "Tromsø vs. Haugesund - 9 July 2016 - Soccerway"
  5. Web site: Korsbåndet røk igjen: – Karrieren min er over. aftenposten.no. 7 August 2018.
  6. Web site: Statistike - Nastupi: Filip Lončarić. Croatian. Croatian Football Federation. 18 August 2010.
  7. Web site: Croatia - F. Lončarić - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway. 19 August 2019. English. us.soccerway.com.
  8. News: Bišćan presudio Hajduku. Sportnet.hr. Croatian. 17 July 2010. 28 July 2010.