Dario Šimić

Dario Šimić
Šimić in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-11-12) 12 November 1975
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1][2]
Position Defender
Youth career
1987–1992 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1999 Dinamo Zagreb 140 (14)
1999–2002 Inter Milan 66 (3)
2002–2008 AC Milan 82 (1)
2008–2010 Monaco 27 (0)
2010 Dinamo Zagreb 0 (0)
Total 315 (18)
International career
1993 Croatia U17 2 (0)
1993–1994 Croatia U18 2 (0)
1993–1994 Croatia U19 4 (0)
1995 Croatia U20 1 (0)
1994–1996 Croatia U21 8 (1)
1996–2008 Croatia 100 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Croatia
FIFA World Cup
1998 France
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dario Šimić (pronounced [dâːrio ʃǐːmitɕ];[3][4] born 12 November 1975) is a Croatian former footballer. Šimić was a versatile defender who played as full-back, sweeper or centre back; a physical and hard-tackling defender, he was known in particular for his strength and ability in the air.[5] A product of Dinamo Zagreb Academy, he later played for Serie A sides Inter Milan and AC Milan and Ligue 1 side Monaco, before returning to Dinamo Zagreb in 2010, where he retired from the game during the same year.

Šimić played for Croatia national football team between 1996 and 2008. He retired from international football shortly after becoming the first Croatian player to win 100 international caps. He is currently the team's eighth most capped player. He was a member of Croatia's squad for each of the six major tournaments for which the team qualified during the 1990s and 2000s, which includes three FIFA World Cups (11 appearances in 1998, 2002 and 2006) and three UEFA European Championships (5 appearances in 1996, 2004 and 2008).

Club career

Under coach Marcello Lippi, Šimić made his Serie A debut for Inter Milan in a 2–0 victory against Venezia at San Siro on 10 January 1999. By the end of his first season in Italy, Šimić earned a total of 17 appearances and scored 2 goals for Internazionale. In the following couple of seasons, Šimić's services were regularly used until the 2001–02 season, when he had only 12 league and 8 European appearances. After Héctor Cúper was appointed for coach in 2001, Šimić fell out of favour with the new manager and in June 2002 Internazionale and their cross-city rivals AC Milan agreed a player swap with Ümit Davala going in the opposite direction,[6] which Šimić was valued €16.5 million, despite it was purely accounting purpose.[7] In his 3+1⁄2 years with Internazionale, he earned a total of 66 league appearances and scored three goals. The club failed to win any silverware in this period, and their highest finish was fourth place in the 1999–2000 season, even though this was the time when some of football's biggest stars played there with Šimić, such as Roberto Baggio, Ronaldo, Ivan Zamorano, Diego Simeone and Christian Vieri.

In August 2008, Šimić moved to Monaco.[8]

On 27 April 2010, Šimić returned to Dinamo Zagreb on a free transfer, after having spent eleven years playing abroad.[9] However, Šimić went on to announce his retirement from active football only three months later on 10 August 2010.[10] During the short spell Šimić appeared in 3 competitive matches for the Blues, including the 2010 Croatian Supercup,[11] and two European away matches against Koper and Sheriff Tiraspol,[12] without ever appearing in the 2010–11 Prva HNL.[13] In his announcement, Šimić said that he enrolled at the coaching academy and confirmed that his future plans involved staying in football, possibly as a manager.[10]

International career

On 16 September 2008, Šimić announced his retirement from international football after being a Croatian international footballer for 12+1⁄2 years.[14]

Personal life

Šimić is a devout Catholic and organizes pilgrimages.[15] He is the owner of Aquaviva company.[16] He married Jelena Medić in 2000 with whom he has sons Roko, Viktor, Nikolas and David, the latter of whom has Down syndrome.[17]

He is the older brother of Josip Šimić and a distant relative of Herzegovinian hajduk Andrijica Šimić.[18]

Career statistics

Club

Club performance League Cup1 League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Croatia League Croatian Cup League Cup Europe Total
1992–93 Croatia Zagreb Prva HNL 6 0 1 0 - - 7 0
1993–94 19 2 6 0 - - 25 2
1994–95 22 1 8 0 - 1 0 31 1
1995–96 26 2 8 1 - - 34 3
1996–97 25 6 6 2 - 4 1 35 9
1997–98 29 2 2 0 - 9 1 40 3
1998–99 13 1 - - 8 0 21 1
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
1998–99 Internazionale Milano Serie A 15 2 6 0 - 6 0 27 2
1999–2000 19 1 3 0 - - 22 1
2000–01 18 0 2 0 - 4 1 24 1
2001–02 12 0 1 0 - 8 0 21 0
2002–03 Milan 29 1 3 0 - 13 0 45 1
2003–04 10 0 6 0 - 2 0 18 0
2004–05 2 0 1 0 - - 3 0
2005–06 15 0 4 0 - 2 0 21 0
2006–07 22 0 6 0 - 6 0 34 0
2007–08 4 0 2 0 - 1 0 7 0
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2008–09 Monaco Ligue 1 27 0 2 0 1 0 - 30 0
2009–10 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
Croatia League Croatian Cup League Cup Europe Total
2010–11 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 0 0 1 0 - 2 0 3 0
Country Croatia 140 14 32 3 - 24 2 164 16
Italy 146 4 34 0 - 42 1 222 5
France 27 0 2 0 1 0 - 30 0
Total 313 18 69 3 1 0 66 3 449 24
1 Played in Croatian Cup and Croatian Super Cup with Dinamo Zagreb.
2 Played in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Cup with Croatia Zagreb, Internazionale Milano and Milan.[19]

International

Source:[20]
Croatia national team
Year Apps Goals
1996 5 0
1997 8 0
1998 13 1
1999 7 0
2000 5 0
2001 8 0
2002 6 0
2003 10 1
2004 8 0
2005 5 0
2006 11 1
2007 9 0
2008 5 0
Total 100 3

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. 10 October 1998 Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Malta 1–1 1–4 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
02. 10 September 2003 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
03. 1 March 2006 St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland  Argentina 3–2 3–2 Friendly

Honours

Club

Dinamo Zagreb

Milan[21]

International

Croatia

Individual

Orders

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dario Šimić". A.C. Milan (in Italian). Archived from the original on 15 December 2002. Retrieved 15 December 2002.
  2. ^ "Dario Šimić". Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Dȃrio". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Dȃrio
  4. ^ "Šȉmūn". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Símić
  5. ^ May, John (22 May 2007). "AC Milan Pen Pics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  6. ^ "IL MILAN PRENDE SIMIC A TITOLO DEFINITIVO, ALL'INTER UMIT CHE VIENE TRASFERITO IN PRESTITO AL GALATASARAY" (in Italian). FC Internazionale Milano. 29 June 2002. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  7. ^ FC Internazionale Milano SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2002 (in Italian), CCIAA
  8. ^ "Dario Simic va s'engager avec l'AS Monaco FC". AS Monaco (in French). 11 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  9. ^ "DARIO ŠIMIĆ OPET DOMA: "Želim se odužiti Dinamu"". Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  10. ^ a b Attias, Vedran. "Šimić odlazi u mirovinu". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  11. ^ Attias, Vedran. "Bišćan presudio Hajduku". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  12. ^ "UEFA Champions League – Šimić". UEFA. 5 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  13. ^ "ŠIMIĆ ( Šimić Dario – Hrvatska ) – Prestao igrati". Nogometni magazin (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Simic retires from internationals". Special Broadcasting Service. 17 September 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  15. ^ "Čitajući Sveto pismo svaki dan slušam što mi Bog poručuje". Večernji list (in Croatian). 18 November 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Aquaviva: After the premium drinking water went for the breakthrough with coffee" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  17. ^ Matteoni, Robert (30 December 2019). "ČAK TRI SINA LEGENDARNOG VATRENOG KRENULA PUTEM SLAVNOGA OCA! JEDAN JE VEĆ ZAKORAČIO U ELITU Sa samo 16 godina već je priključen prvoj momčadi!". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  18. ^ "VIDEO: 110. godina od smrti hajduka Andrijice Šimića". Grude Online (in Croatian). 5 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Dario Šimić Stats". Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Dario Simic - International Appearances".
  21. ^ "Dario Simic" (in Italian). www.magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  22. ^ "International centurions to receive UEFA award". UEFA. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  23. ^ "Predsjednik Tudjman odlikovao hrvatsku nogometnu reprezentaciju" [President Tudjman decorated Croatian national team] (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 12 July 1998. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
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