Teddy Lučić

Teddy Mark Šime Lučić (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtɛ̌dːʏ ˈlʊ̌tːɕɪtɕ]; born 15 April 1973) is a Swedish footballer and manager who currently manages KF Velebit in Division 4. He played as a centre-back.[2] Lučić made his debut for Sweden in 1995, and competed at three FIFA World Cups (1994, 2002, and 2006) and two UEFA European Championships (2000 and 2004), earning a total of 86 caps.

Teddy Lučić
Lučić lining up for Team Sweden during the FIFA World Cup in Germany in June 2006
Personal information
Full name Teddy Mark Šime Lučić
Date of birth (1973-04-15) 15 April 1973
Place of birth Gothenburg, Sweden
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Lundby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1992 Lundby IF 63 (13)
1993–1995 Västra Frölunda IF 68 (0)
1996–1998 IFK Göteborg 58 (2)
1998–2000 Bologna 9 (0)
2000–2003 AIK 58 (4)
2002–2003 → Leeds United (loan) 17 (1)
2003–2005 Bayer Leverkusen 11 (0)
2005–2007 BK Häcken 70 (8)
2008–2010 IF Elfsborg 66 (3)
2012 KF Velebit 15 (1)
2015 Holmalunds IF 9 (1)
National team
1993–1995 Sweden U21 18 (1)
1995–2006 Sweden 86 (0)
Teams managed
2011– KF Velebit (manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Lučić was born on 15 April 1973 in Biskopsgården, Gothenburg to Croatian father, Krešimir, and Finnish mother, Annis. His father Krešimir was also a football player. In 1966, Krešimir moved to Sweden where he played football. In 1971, his father was offered to play for Halmstads BK but declined because he thought he was too old, at age 27.[3] The Lučić family decided to live in Sweden but visited Croatia and Finland often.

As a boy, Lučić attended the Bjurslätt School in Hisingen, which is only 500 meters from where BK Häcken have their exercise equipment. Due to his parents' heritage, Lučić had Yugoslavian passport rather than a Swedish one, which prevented him from playing in the Swedish Junior Team.[3]

Club career

Early career

He began playing for Lundby IF as an 18-year-old for whom he played 44 times in the Swedish league and scored 10 goals from fullback. He moved to Västra Frölunda IF in 1993 for a two-year spell in which he played 68 matches. In 1996, he moved on to IFK Göteborg, landing the Swedish championship in his first season.

Bologna

Lučić went abroad to Italy upon leaving IFK Göteborg in 1998. However, he found his opportunities limited at his new club and consequently made just nine league appearances in the Serie A in a two-year spell.[4]

AIK

Lučić returned to Sweden in 2000, signing for AIK Fotboll. He made 58 appearances and scored four times. He left the club in 2003 to move to Germany.

Loan to Leeds United

Lučić's period at AIK Fotboll was broken up by a loan spell at English club Leeds United, starting in 2002.[5] During his time in England, he made a total of 17 league appearances and scored one goal, in a 3–2 defeat at Chelsea in January 2003.[6] His loan spell ended in 2003 after Leeds decided not to sign him on a permanent deal. AIK had offered Lučić to a number of clubs.[7]

Bayer Leverkusen

Lučić signed for Bayer Leverkusen directly from Leeds in May 2003.[8] In two years between 2003 and 2005 he played 11 times for the club.

Return to Sweden

Lučić went back to Sweden for a second time to sign for BK Häcken, where he made 70 appearances and scored 8 goals. In 2008, Lučić moved again to the ninth club of his career, IF Elfsborg where he was a regular in the starting eleven until the end of his career.[9] After IF Elfsborgs last game of the season, on 7 November 2010, Lucic officially ended his career as a player.[10][11]

International career

Lučić played 86 times for the Swedish national team, mostly as a full back. He was handed his debut against Brazil in June 1995.[12]

Since 2004, he played as centre back. Lučić played in Euro 2004, and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups (in 1994 he was unused substitute having been called up to replace Jan Eriksson).[13] Against Germany, in what turned out to be Sweden's final 2006 World Cup match, he was given two yellow cards by Brazilian referee Carlos Eugênio Simon, and sent off in the 35th minute.[14]

Career statistics

Club

[15]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Club Season League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Sweden League Svenska Cupen League Cup Europe Total
Lundby 198910
1990183
1991223
1992227
Västra Frölunda 1993Allsvenskan170
1994250
1995260
Göteborg 1996Allsvenskan240
1997112
1998230
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
Bologna 1998–99Serie A80
1999–0010
Sweden League Svenska Cupen League Cup Europe Total
AIK 2000Allsvenskan223
2001200
2002161
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Leeds United 2002–03Premier League171
Germany League DFB-Pokal DFB Ligapokal Europe Total
Bayer Leverkusen 2003–04Bundesliga110
2004–0500
Sweden League Svenska Cupen League Cup Europe Total
Häcken 2005Allsvenskan211
2006256
2007Superettan241
Elfsborg 2008Allsvenskan292
2009251
2010
Sweden 37130
Italy 90
England 171
Germany 110
Total 40831

International

[16]

Sweden national team
YearAppsGoals
199550
199650
199740
199860
199960
200060
200170
200290
200380
2004110
2005110
200680
Total860

Personal life

Due to his multinational background, Lučić had the option to play for two other countries—his mother is Finnish and his father Croatian. He is fluent in Croatian and also speaks some Finnish. He has a summer cottage in Lappeenranta, Finland, and is a fan of Lappeenranta-based first division football team Rakuunat and ice hockey team SaiPa.[17]

Honours

Club
IFK Göteborg

International

Sweden

References
  1. "Teddy Lucic lägger av? "Det gäller att orka"" (in Swedish). Sportsday.se. 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  2. "Teddy Lučić blir tränare i KF Velebit". Fotbolltransfers. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  3. Balkander, Mattias (19 September 2009). "Teddy Lucic på hemmaplan" (in Swedish). www.gp.se. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  4. "Teddy Lucic". BBC News. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  5. "Leeds land Lučić". BBC Sport. 31 August 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  6. Moore, Glenn (29 January 2003). "Matteo mistake adds to Leeds despair". Independent Online. London. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  7. Hedludh, Kent. "AIK willing to let Lučić leave". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  8. "Lučić joins Leverkusen". BBC Sport. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  9. Johannes Cleris/TT (2 January 2008). "Teddy Lucic till Elfsborg" (in Swedish). DN.se. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  10. "Lucic får inte avsluta på planen i dag" (in Swedish). Bt.se. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  11. "Teddy Lucic - Steckbrief" (in German). spox.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  12. "Teddy Lucic (defender) 2002-03". mightyleeds.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  13. "FIFA Player Statistics: Teddy LUCIC". FIFA. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  14. "Germany v Sweden statistics". BBC News. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  15. "Teddy Lucic". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  16. "Teddy Lucic - International Appearances". Rsssf.com. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  17. "VM-profilen 3 juni: Teddy Lucic —". Svenskfotboll.se. 15 April 1973. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
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