Dragan Mrđa

Dragan Mrđa

Mrđa playing for Omiya Ardija in 2015
Personal information
Full name Dragan Mrđa
Date of birth (1984-01-23) January 23, 1984
Place of birth Vršac, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Omiya Ardija
Number 8
Youth career
2000–2001 Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Red Star Belgrade 39 (7)
2003–2005 → Jedinstvo Ub (loan) 27 (10)
2005–2007 Lierse 30 (2)
2006 → Zulte Waregem (loan) 5 (0)
2007–2008 Khimki 9 (2)
2008–2010 Vojvodina 56 (35)
2010–2013 Sion 32 (9)
2012 → Sion II (loan) 5 (4)
2013–2014 Red Star Belgrade 27 (19)
2014– Omiya Ardija 82 (34)
National team‡
2003–2007 Serbia U21 15 (6)
2008–2014 Serbia 14 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 June 2014

Dragan Mrđa (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Мрђа; born 23 January 1984) is a Serbian footballer who plays as a striker for J. League Division 2 club Omiya Ardija. In international competition he has represented Serbia.

Club career

Early career

After spending many years of his youth playing with Red Star Belgrade, during which he was loaned to FK Jedinstvo Ub, he decided to accept a challenge that came from Belgium and moved to Lierse S.K. in August 2005. In the summer of 2006, he was loaned to another Belgian First Division club, S.V. Zulte Waregem before moving to Russia to play with Premier League club FC Khimki.

Vojvodina

After one season in Russia, he returned to Serbia to join FK Vojvodina in the Serbian SuperLiga. In spite of arriving to the club off of dry spells in Belgium and Russia, he became Vojvodina's captain after a remarkably short period of time due to a spontaneous explosion of good form. His prolific goal-scoring with Vojvodina earned him calls from the Serbian national team from 2008, having been called up for a friendly against Bulgaria and another friendly match against Austria which took place the same year.[1] By the end of the 2009–10 season, Mrđa had scored 22 goals in 29 league games and was named SuperLiga Player of the Year.

Sion

After two seasons spent in Novi Sad, in summer 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with Swiss side FC Sion.[2] In March 2011 in a match against FC Zürich he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out of football for six months.[3]

Return to Red Star Belgrade

After seasons spent in Sion, Mrđa returned to the club at which he debuted professionally, signing a two-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.[4] On September 29, 2013, he scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win against FK Spartak Subotica.[5] On November 23, 2013, he scored another hat-trick in a 4–1 win against FK Sloboda Užice, becoming Red Star's highest goal-scorer of the half-season.[6]

Omiya Ardija

On July 1, 2014, Mrđa joined J. League Division 1 club Omiya Ardija.[7] Mrđa scored on his debut on 19 July 2014 helping them to earn a 3–3 draw against Sanfrecce Hiroshima.[8] He played 18 times for Omiya in the 2014 as they suffered relegation to the Division 2.

International career

Mrđa was a part of the Serbian U21 team that made it to the final of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he scored coming off the bench against the Netherlands U21 side. By the end of the championship he had scored a total of two goals, which was on level with the likes of Ryan Babel. Mrđa scored two goals for the Serbian national team in a 3–0 friendly win against Japan on April 7, 2010.[9] He was then called up by Radomir Antić to Serbia's squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, although Mrđa ended up not playing a single game in the competition.

Career statistics

Club

As of 5 January 2016
Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J. League Cup Total
2014Omiya ArdijaJ1 League18910-199
2015J2 League361910-3719
2016J1 League26600-266
Total 803420-8234

International

Serbia national team
YearAppsGoals
200820
200900
201072
201130
201200
201300
201420
Total142

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 April 2010 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan  Japan 0–1 0–3 Friendly
2. 7 April 2010 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan  Japan 0–3 0–3 Friendly

References

  1. ↑ http://www.reprezentacija.rs/cgi-bin/index.pl?str=igraci&strana=Mrdja_Dragan
  2. ↑ http://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2010&mm=08&dd=12&nav_id=451427
  3. ↑ Sportal: "Orlovi" bez jednog napadača protiv Irske i Estonije (Serbian) - March 13, 2011
  4. ↑ B92: Dragan Mrđa u Zvezdi - August 13, 2013
  5. ↑ Blic Sport: Petarda Zvezde: het-trik Mrđe i sjajni golovi Daude i Milijaša protiv Spartaka (Serbian) September 29, 2013. By B. Vinulović
  6. ↑ Mozzart Sport: Mrđa ne zna da da gol, on daje samo po dva-tri (Serbian) November 23, 2013
  7. ↑ FKレッドスター・ベオグラード ムルジャ選手 大宮アルディージャ加入のお知らせ (Notice of FK Red Star Belgrade player Murr Ja Omiya Ardija join)
  8. ↑ Return from shutdown helps to forget World Cup woes. Japan Times. July 21, 2014.
  9. ↑ Blic Sport: Mrđa i slobodnjak Tomića za trijumf Srbije u Japanu! (Serbian) April 7, 2010
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