Martin_Erlic
Martin Erlić
Croatian footballer (born 1998)
Martin Erlić (Croatian pronunciation: [mǎrtin êːrlitɕ];[4][5] born 24 January 1998) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Sassuolo and the Croatia national team.
 Erlić in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Erlić[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1998-01-24) 24 January 1998 (age 26)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Zadar, Croatia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Sassuolo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-2010 | Raštane | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Rijeka | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Parma | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Sassuolo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Sassuolo | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | → Südtirol (loan) | 30 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | → Spezia (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Spezia | 50 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Sassuolo | 53 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | → Spezia (loan) | 30 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Croatia U17 | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Croatia U18 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Croatia U19 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Croatia | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:24, 17 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:43, 23 March 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Early career
Hailing from the village of Tinj, Erlić started training football at NK Raštane in a nearby village. At the age of 12 he was noticed by GNK Dinamo Zagreb scouts and brought to their academy, where he would spend two years before moving on to NK Rijeka. Erlić moved abroad at the age of 16, to Parma.[6]
Sassuolo
After Parma's bankruptcy, in 2015, Erlić went to Sassuolo.[7]
Loan to Südtirol
On 31 August 2017, Erlić was signed by Serie C side Südtirol on a season-long loan deal. On 8 October he made his Serie C debut for Südtirol, as a substitute replacing Filippo Sgarbi in the 70th minute of a 3–1 away defeat against Padova.[8] On 15 October he played his first entire match for Südtirol, a 5–0 home win over Santarcangelo.[9] On 8 November, Erlić scored his first professional goal for Südtirol in the 81st minute of a 1–0 away win over Sambenedettese.[10] Erlić ended his season-long loan to Südtirol with 30 appearances, 1 goal and 1 assist.[11]
Loan to Spezia
On 10 July 2018, Erlić was loaned to Serie B club Spezia on a season-long loan deal.
Spezia
After missing most of the 2018–19 season through the injury,[7] he rejoined Spezia on a permanent basis on 15 July 2019.[12]
Return to Sassuolo
On 16 August 2021, Erlić's rights were sold to Sassuolo, who then loaned him back to Spezia for the 2021–22 season.[13]
Erlić made his debut for the Croatia national team on 6 June 2022, in a 1–1 draw with France in the Nations League. As he confessed, he missed his brother's wedding in order to play the match.[14] On 9 November 2022, Erlić was named in Zlatko Dalić's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[15] where he remained an unused substitute as Croatia finished third.[16]
Erlić is a fan of Hajduk Split.[17]
Club
- As of match played 17 March 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Südtirol (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie C | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | ||
| Spezia (loan) | 2018–19 | Serie B | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Spezia | 2019–20 | Serie B | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 3 | |||
| Total | 50 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 55 | 3 | ||
| Spezia (loan) | 2021–22 | Serie A | 30 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 3 | ||
| Sassuolo | 2022–23 | Serie A | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Serie A | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 53 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 163 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 172 | 8 | ||
International
- As of match played 23 March 2024[18]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | |
Croatia
- FIFA World Cup third place: 2022[19]
- UEFA Nations League runner-up: 2022–23
- "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Croatia (CRO)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 8. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- "Martin Erlić | Croatia | UEFA Nations League". UEFA. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- "Martin Erlić". US Sassuolo Calcio. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- "Finale playoff: da Gyasi a Nzola, gli (altri) talenti da seguire in Spezia-Frosinone" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- "Game Report by Soccerway". Soccerway. 8 October 2017.
- "Südtirol vs. Santarcangelo - 15 October 2017 - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- "Sambenedettese vs. Südtirol - 8 November 2017 - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- "Croatia - M. Erlić - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- "Mercato: Martin Erlic ancora in maglia bianca" (Press release) (in Italian). Spezia. 15 July 2019.
- "MARTIN ERLIC A TITOLO DEFINITIVO AL SASSUOLO" (in Italian). Spezia. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- "Erlić: Brat mi se ženio, a ja nisam otišao na vjenčanje zbog Hrvatske". Index.hr (in Croatian). 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- "Dalić objavio popis za Svjetsko prvenstvo u Kataru". Index.hr (in Croatian). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- "Pet igrača Hrvatske nije dobilo ni minutu na Svjetskom prvenstvu". Index.hr (in Croatian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- "Comunicato ufficiale: Martin Erlić" (Press release). Spezia. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- "Martin Erlić profile". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- Smyth, Rob (17 December 2022). "Croatia 2-1 Morocco: World Cup 2022 third-place playoff – as it happened". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- Martin Erlić at Soccerway
- Martin Erlić at the Croatian Football Federation