Dejan Mezga

Dejan Mezga
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-07-16) 16 July 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Čakovec, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
SV Übelbach
Number 8
Youth career
Sloboda Slakovec
Venera PMP
2002–2004 Varteks
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 Sloga Čakovec
2004–2007 Čakovec 73 (17)
2007–2014 Maribor 159 (39)
2014–2015 Hajduk Split 21 (3)
2015–2016 Apollon Limassol 25 (2)
2016–2017 Maribor 4 (0)
2017 Nacional 6 (1)
2017–2018 Inter Zaprešić 4 (0)
2018 Varaždin 2 (0)
2018–2021 Polet Sv. Martin na Muri
2021– SV Übelbach 27 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 March 2023

Dejan Mezga (born 16 July 1985) is a Croatian footballer who plays for Austrian amateur side SV Übelbach as a midfielder.[2]

During his career, he played for Čakovec, Maribor, Hajduk Split, Apollon Limassol, Nacional, Inter Zaprešić, Varaždin, Polet Sv. Martin na Muri, and SV Übelbach.

Mezga acquired Slovenian citizenship on 23 August 2012.[3]

Career

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Coming from the village of Brezje, near Čakovec, in the region of Međimurje,[4] Mezga went through the ranks of several lower-tier local clubs, debuting at the age of 15 for the seniors of NK Sloga Čakovec,[5] before joining the under-17 team of NK Varteks. In his last season of eligibility for the under-19 team, he left the club, however, and joined the Croatian Second League side NK Čakovec, where he played for the next three years.[6]

In 2007, Mezga joined Slovenian PrvaLiga side Maribor. He soon established himself in the first team and won his first league title with the team in 2009, and was also declared the most distinguished player of the season by the Maribor fans.[7] Maribor went on to win four titles in the following five seasons, with Mezga featuring heavily in all campaigns, and was selected in the league's ideal eleven of the 2011–12 championship.[8]

After his contract expired in the summer of 2014, Mezga joined Hajduk Split in his homeland. He briefly returned to Maribor in August 2016, before signing for Portuguese side Nacional in January 2017.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dejan Mezga". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ^ Austrian career stats – ÖFB
  3. ^ "Mezga brez statusa tujca" [Mezga is not foreign player anymore] (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Dejan Mezga iz Brezja potpisao za splitski Hajduk" (in Croatian). 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. ^ Biografija at dejan-mezga.com
  6. ^ "Mezga Dejan". hnl-statistika.com (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Vijol'čni bojevnik" [Purple Warrior] (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  8. ^ T. O. (14 May 2012). "Vršič najboljši igralec sezone slovenskega prvenstva" [Vrsic is the best player of the season] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  9. ^ Dominko, Peter (26 January 2017). "Mezga še drugič v karieri zapustil Ljudski vrt" [Mezga left Ljudski vrt for the second time in career]. Slovenski nogometni portal (in Slovenian). Retrieved 26 January 2017.
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