Bruno Petković

Bruno Petković

Petković in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Bruno Petković[1]
Date of birth	(1994-09-16) 16 September 1994 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth	Metković, Croatia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Dinamo Zagreb
Number	9
Youth career
2003–2006	ONK Metković
2006–2007	Neretva
2007–2009	Dinamo Zagreb
2009–2010	NK Zagreb
2010–2011	HAŠK
2011–2012	Hrvatski Dragovoljac
2012–2013	Catania
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	Catania	5	(0)
2014	→ Varese (loan)	8	(1)
2015	→ Reggiana (loan)	15	(4)
2015	→ Virtus Entella (loan)	13	(1)
2016–2017	Trapani	35	(10)
2017–2019	Bologna	21	(0)
2018	→ Hellas Verona (loan)	16	(0)
2018–2019	→ Dinamo Zagreb (loan)	14	(6)
2019–	Dinamo Zagreb	155	(50)
International career^‡
2013	Croatia U21	1	(1)
2019–	Croatia	42	(11)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Croatia FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar UEFA Nations League Runner-up 2023 Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 October 2024

Bruno Petković (Croatian pronunciation: [brǔːno pêtkoʋitɕ];^[4] born 16 September 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward for HNL club Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatia national team.

Early career

Petković was born in Metković, Croatia. His father Jakov Petković hails from Metković and his mother Ruža Nižić is a Herzegovinian Croat from Crveni Grm near Ljubuški.^[5][6] His childhood football idols were Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović.^[7]

He began his youth career with his hometown clubs ONK Metković and NK Neretva, before he went to Dinamo Zagreb in 2007. He remained there until 4 September 2009, when he transferred across town, to the youth academy of city-rivals NK Zagreb. In the next two seasons, he represented NK HAŠK (2010–11) and Hrvatski Dragovoljac (2011–12), prior to his transfer to Italy, with Serie A side, Catania.^{[citation needed]}

Club career

Calcio Catania

On 27 August 2012, Petković officially transferred to Calcio Catania. The transfer fee involved was undisclosed, though Petković was inserted directly into the club's youth academy following his arrival. His first call-up to the senior squad arrived on 27 January 2013, in a 2–1 home victory over Fiorentina in league play.^[8] His league debut came on the final matchday of the 2012–13 Serie A campaign, when he appeared as an 89th minute substitute in a 2–2 away draw with Torino.^[9] Ahead of the 2013–14 Serie A season, Petković was officially promoted to the first team, and assigned the number 32 jersey.^[10]

Trapani and Bologna

In January 2016, Petković moved to Serie B side Trapani. He scored seven goals in the second round of the Serie B season, as the Sicilian team nearly gained promotion to Serie A, failing only in the final play-off match against Pescara. The following season he scored three goals in the first round of the 2016–17 Serie B season. On 12 January 2017 Petković was purchased by Serie A team Bologna, for 1.2 million euros. He made total of 21 Serie A appearances for the team, before being loaned to Hellas Verona on 11 January 2018.

Dinamo Zagreb

2018–19 season

On 6 August 2018, he joined Dinamo Zagreb on a season-long loan with Dinamo holding an obligation to buy his contract out at the end of the loan if certain conditions are met.^[11] On 25 August, he scored his first goal for Dinamo in a 1–0 home win over Lokomotiva. As the season wore on, Petković became more important to the squad and played the starring role in the peak of Dinamo Zagreb season, the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League Round of 32 home fixture against Viktoria Plzeň, when he assisted the first goal and scored the third in the 3–0 win.^[12] In the Round of 16 home fixture against Benfica he scored the only goal in the 1–0 win.^[13] However, Benfica came back beating Dinamo 3–0 at Estádio da Luz after extra time.^[14] He finished his first season in the club with 11 goals and 5 assists in 37 matches in all competitions.

2019–20 season

Petković was instrumental to Dinamo Zagreb's successful Champions League qualifying campaign, scoring four goals against Saburtalo Tbilisi home and away, Ferencváros away, and Rosenborg home. His performances earned him a new contract with Dinamo, signed on 13 September 2019, which keeps him in the club until 2024.^[15]

He made his Champions League debut on 18 September 2019 in a 4–0 home win over Atalanta and scored his debut goal on 6 November in a 3–3 home draw with Shakhtar Donetsk.

On 17 June 2020, he scored a last minute goal in a 3–2 home victory over Slaven Belupo, the first home game of Dinamo's new coach Igor Jovićević.^[16] On 27 June, he suffered an injury in a goalless draw with Osijek that ruled him out for the rest of the season.^[17]

2020–21 season

After missing the first Dinamo's game of the season against Lokomotiva due to the injury, Petković returned on 21 August for a game against Istra 1961, coming off the bench and scoring the only goal in the 1–0 victory.^[18] During the season, Petković was the target of criticism from the media and fans due to his inconsistency and poor form.^[19] However, on 18 February 2021, in the Europa League Round of 32, he scored a brace and provided Luka Ivanušec with a pre-assist for Iyayi Atiemwen's third goal as Dinamo defeated Krasnodar 3–2 away.^[20]

2021–22 season

On 30 September 2021, he scored two goals from the penalty spot in a 3–0 away win over Genk in the Europa League.^[21]

2022–23 season

On 2 November 2022, he scored a goal in a 2–1 away defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League.^[22]

International career

Youth

At youth level, he was capped only once for Croatia U21 in a game against Liechtenstein on 13 August 2013, scoring a goal in the 5–0 victory.^[23]

Senior

Petković received his first senior Croatia call-up as a replacement for the injured Marko Pjaca, for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Hungary in March 2019.^[24] On 21 March, he debuted in a 2–1 victory against the former opponent.^[25] Petković scored his first goal for the national team on 11 June in a friendly loss to Tunisia.^[26]

Petković turned out to be instrumental to Croatia's successful UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, scoring four goals and assisting one.^[27] However, following the tournament's postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Petković was heavily criticized for his inefficiency in the national team during Croatia's disappointing 2020–21 Nations League campaign where they managed to win only three points in six games.^[28][29]

In the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final on 9 December, Petković scored the equalizing goal against Brazil to take the game to penalties.^[30]

Personal life

On 3 April 2021, Petković and his partner Iva Šarić became parents of a baby boy, whom they named Adrian.^[31]

Petković is an active amateur chess player and he regularly participates in humanitarian chess tournaments organized by Croatian chess grandmaster and Vice President of European Chess Union, Alojzije Janković.^{[citation needed]}

Petković was an inspiration for a scene in the first episode of RTL Televizija's comedy drama show San snova, where Marko Braić's character's reaction to being interviewed by reporters was identical to that of Petković from the Zagreb Airport in 2022.^[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 October 2024^[33]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Catania	2012–13	Serie A	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2013–14		4	0	0	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
Varese (loan)	2014–15	Serie B	8	1	1	0	—		—		9	1
Reggiana (loan)	2014–15	Lega Pro	15	4	0	0	—		3	0	18	4
Virtus Entella (loan)	2015–16	Serie B	13	1	0	0	—		—		13	1
Trapani	2015–16	Serie B	18	7	0	0	—		3[b]	0	21	7
	2016–17		17	3	0	0	—		—		17	3
	Total		35	10	0	0	—		3	0	38	10
Bologna	2016–17	Serie A	12	0	0	0	—		—		12	0
	2017–18		9	0	1	0	—		—		10	0
	Total		21	0	1	0	—		—		22	0
Hellas Verona (loan)	2017–18	Serie A	16	0	0	0	—		—		16	0
Dinamo Zagreb	2018–19[c]	Prva HNL	25	9	5	1	9[d]	2	—		39	12
	2019–20		25	7	2	1	12[e]	5	1[f]	0	40	13
	2020–21		25	9	4	1	13[g]	4	0	0	42	14
	2021–22		30	7	1	0	14[h]	4	—		45	11
	2022–23	HNL	28	10	2	0	12[e]	4	1[f]	0	43	14
	2023–24		27	11	3	0	13[i]	7	1[f]	0	44	18
	2024–25		9	3	1	0	5[e]	2	—		15	5
	Total		169	56	18	3	78	28	3	0	268	87
Career total			282	72	20	3	78	28	9	0	389	103

1. Includes Coppa Italia and Croatian Cup
2. Appearances in Serie B promotion play-offs
3. Part of this season was spent on loan from Bologna
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
6. Appearance in Croatian Super Cup
7. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eleven appearances and four goals in UEFA Europa League
8. Seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League
9. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, seven appearances and seven goals in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 12 October 2024^[34]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Croatia	2019	8	5
	2020	5	1
	2021	8	0
	2022	8	1
	2023	5	3
	2024	8	1
Total		42	11

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Petković goal.^[34]

List of international goals scored by Bruno Petković

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 June 2019	Stadion Varteks, Varaždin, Croatia	3	Tunisia	1–1	1–2	Friendly
2	6 September 2019	Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava, Slovakia	4	Slovakia	3–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
3	10 October 2019	Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia	6	Hungary	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
4					3–0
5	16 November 2019	Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia	8	Slovakia	2–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
6	5 September 2020	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	9	Portugal	1–3	1–4	2020–21 UEFA Nations League A
7	9 December 2022	Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar	27	Brazil	1–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)	2022 FIFA World Cup
8	14 June 2023	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	30	Netherlands	3–2	4–2 (a.e.t.)	2023 UEFA Nations League Finals
9	8 September 2023	Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia	32	Latvia	1–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
10					3–0
11	27 March 2024	New Administrative Capital Stadium, New Administrative Capital, Egypt	36	Egypt	2–1	4–2	2024 FIFA Series

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

• HNL: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Croatian Cup: 2020–21^[35]
• Croatian Super Cup: 2019, 2022, 2023

Croatia

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2022^[36]
• UEFA Nations League runner-up: 2022–23

Individual

• Football Oscar – Best Prva HNL player: 2020, 2021
• Football Oscar – Prva HNL Team of the Year: 2019, 2020, 2021
• Tportal Prva HNL Player of the Year: 2019^[37]
• Croatian First Football League top assist provided: 2019–20, 2020–21
• UEFA Europa League Team of the Week: 2020–21 Round of 32^[38]
• CIES Croatian First Football League Team of the Season: 2021–22^[39]
• Croatian Football League Player of the Year: 2023–24
• Croatian Football League Team of the Year: 2023–24

Notes

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Croatia (CRO)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 8. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
2. "Bruno Petković | Croatia | UEFA Nations League". UEFA. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
3. "Bruno Petković". GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
4. "Pètar". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 March 2018. Pȅtković
5. Tolić, Josip (22 January 2020). "Petković: Bio sam ministrant, a ponosan sam na oca branitelja". 24sata (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 23 January 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
6. Čutura, Vlado (19 January 2020). "BRUNO PETKOVIĆ, NOGOMETAŠ HRVATSKE REPREZENTACIJE I »DINAMA« »Neprestance svaki dan zahvaljujem Bogu«". Glas Koncila (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 May 2021.
7. "PETKOVIĆ U PODCASTU SN Prvi napadač Dinama i Vatrenih otkrio hoće li igrati u utorak; JOVIČEVIĆ 'Prednost Šahtara je i jedan čovjek na njihovoj klupi'". Sportske novosti. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
8. "Catania vs. Fiorentina - 27 January 2013 - Soccerway". Us.soccerway.com. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
9. "Torino vs. Catania - 19 May 2013 - Soccerway". Us.soccerway.com. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
10. "Numerazione ufficiale maglie da gioco per la stagione sportiva 2013/2014". Ilcalciocatania.it (in Italian). 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
11. "Petkovic joins Dinamo Zagreb". Bologna. 6 August 2018.
12. "Europa League: Dinamo Zagreb Moves into Last 16!". Total Croatia News. 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
13. "Petković from Metković: Tata je bio u pravu, Bruno je zabio!". 24sata. 8 March 2019.
14. "Benfica-Dinamo Zagreb 2019 History". UEFA. 14 March 2019.
15. "BRUNO PETKOVIĆ POTPISAO NOVI UGOVOR". Dinamo Zagreb. 13 September 2019.
16. Hudika, Drago; Hina (17 June 2020). "Dinamo se namučio protiv Slavena, plave u 90. minuti spasio Petković". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
17. Ničota, Tomo (27 June 2020). "Strah u Maksimiru: Petković u bolovima nakon utakmice, postoji bojazan da bi ozljeda mogla biti teška!". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 21 August 2020.
18. Ničota, Tomo (21 August 2020). "VIDEO: Ipak pobjeda! Petković ušao u igru prvi put ove sezone i spasio Dinamo golom iz jedanaesterca". Sportske novosti (in Croatian).
19. Ničota, Tomo (19 February 2021). "Mamić nije odmah kliknuo s Petkom, no bio je strpljiv i dobio je genijalca, a Dalić zicer za EURO!". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
20. Olivari, Davorin (18 February 2021). "Bruno Petković je nogometni Bog! Bio je Mbappe, Messi i Ronaldo, a Dinamo je bogatašima - očitao lekciju". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
21. "Genk 0–3 Dinamo Zagreb". UEFA. 30 September 2021.
22. "Chelsea 2–1 Dinamo Zagreb". BBC Sport. 2 November 2022.
23. "Bruno Petković". Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
24. "Pjaca otpao s potpisa, Petković pozvan: "Reprezentacija mi je jedan od najvećih sportskih ciljeva u karijeri"". Sportnet Croatia (in Croatian). 11 March 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
25. Bradovska, Mihaela (22 March 2019). "Petković: "Gledajući na sve što mi se događa u zadnje vrijeme, mogu biti samo ponosan"". Sportnet (in Croatian).
26. "Africa Cup of Nations: Tunisia beat World Cup finalists Croatia in warm-up game". BBC Sport. 12 June 2019.
27. "Pojavio se Preko Noći i Postao Svjetska Klasa, Danas je Vatrena Jedanaestroka Nezamislivabez Njega: "On mene jako podsjeća na Ibrahimovića"". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 19 November 2019.
28. Ničota, Tomo (24 November 2020). "Petković je u Osijeku najavio buđenje, je li vrijeme za konačno veliku partiju i to već u Austriji?". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
29. "Zlatko Dalić kritizirao Brunu Petkovića: Pa ne možeš takav doći u reprezentaciju". Večernji list (in Croatian). 11 September 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
30. "Brazil out of World Cup as Croatia win on penalties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
31. "Neočekivan ispad Brune Petkovića: Fotoreporteru ispred rodilišta pokazao srednji prst". Večernji list (in Croatian). 7 April 2021. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
32. "VIDEO Znate li tko je inspirirao ovu scenu iz serije 'San snova'? Alen Stošić reagirao kao Bruno Petković". RTL Televizija (in Croatian). 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
33. Bruno Petković at Sofascore. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
34. "Bruno Petković profile". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
35. "DINAMO - ISTRA 1961 6:3". HNS-CFF (in Croatian). 19 May 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
36. Smyth, Rob (17 December 2022). "Croatia 2-1 Morocco: World Cup 2022 third-place playoff – as it happened". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
37. "Bruno Petkovic voted Croatian player of the year by captains". CroatiaWeek.com. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
38. "Oproštaj od godine. Sjajna 2021". GNK Dinamo Zagreb (in Croatian). 2 January 2022.
39. "CIES odabrao najbolju momčad sezone u HT Prvoj ligi". HNTV (in Croatian). 24 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.

External links

• Bruno Petković – UEFA competition record (archive) 
• Bruno Petković at National-Football-Teams.com
• Bruno Petković at the Croatian Football Federation
• Bruno Petković at Goal.com
• It.eurosport.yahoo.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 November 2013)