Dejan Lovren

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Dejan Lovren
230px
Lovren playing for Liverpool in 2014
Personal information
Full name Dejan Lovren[1]
Date of birth (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 6
Youth career
NK Ilovac
NK Karlovac
2004–2006 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Dinamo Zagreb 37 (1)
2006–2009 → Inter Zaprešić (loan) 50 (1)
2010–2013 Lyon 72 (2)
2012 Lyon B 2 (0)
2013–2014 Southampton 31 (2)
2014– Liverpool 50 (0)
International career‡
2004–2005 Croatia U17 18 (2)
2006 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2006–2008 Croatia U19 10 (1)
2007–2009 Croatia U20 5 (0)
2007–2010 Croatia U21 19 (3)
2009–2016 Croatia 31 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:28, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:26, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Dejan Lovren (pronounced [loʋrêːn]; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Premier League club Liverpool and the Croatian national team.[3]

Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Olympique Lyonnais in January 2010. He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Ligue 1 team, winning the 2012 Coupe de France. In 2013, he signed for Southampton, and after one season there, he joined Liverpool for £20 million.

Although born in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lovren has represented Croatia at many levels and has been a full international since 2009. He has gone on to make 30 appearances and score two goals for his country, as well as being selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[4]

Early life

Lovren was born to Croatian parents in the city of Zenica, then in Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina).[5]

When the Bosnian War began in the 1990s, Lovren's family made the decision to escape to Munich. Lovren was three years old when his family fled Yugoslavia, and spent the next seven years in Germany. Lovren states that he was "a happy boy, I spoke German perfectly, I went to school, I played for a little club." The family, however, eventually had to return as they did not possess necessary documentation. They settled in Karlovac, Croatia, 50 kilometres southwest of the capital city of Zagreb.[6][7]

Lovren initially found settling in Croatia difficult, and struggled in school for a couple of years due to his unfamiliarity with the language.[7]

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Dejan Lovren started his career in the youth teams of NK Ilovac and when he became better, he moved to NK Karlovac. He joined top flight club NK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004. On 10 May 2006, he debuted for the senior squad of Dinamo in a Prva HNL match against NK Varteks Varaždin. On 17 July 2006, he was loaned to NK Inter Zaprešić for two seasons in which he featured in 50 league matches and scored a goal against NK Osijek in Inter's 2–1 loss on 10 May 2008. Following his return from loan, Lovren regularly featured in Dinamo's starting XI, appearing in 38 matches throughout 2008–09 season and scoring three goals. In 2009–10, he featured in all four UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Pyunik Yerevan and Red Bull Salzburg, respectively, also managing to score a close–range header against Pyunik.[8]

Lyon

File:Dejan Lovren.jpg
Lovren playing for Lyon in 2010.

In January 2010, Lovren signed for French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais for €8 million plus €1.5 million in incentives on a four-and-a-half-year contract.[9] He made his competitive debut on 24 January 2010 in their 2–1 defeat at AS Monaco in the Coupe de France, playing the full match. His Ligue 1 debut came on 31 January in Lyon's 2–1 win at home to Paris Saint-Germain, once again playing the full 90 minutes. During the second half of the season, he made 10 appearances, mostly as a substitute. He was not allowed to participate in Lyon's matches in the UEFA Champions League, however, because he had already played in the competition for Dinamo Zagreb.

Lovren's playing time increased during the 2010–11 season, following the departure of two other defenders, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Mathieu Bodmer, in the summer of 2010. During the season, he gradually established himself as the first team regular starter, playing as a centre-back alongside Cris. In some games during the season, he was also used as a right or left full-back, demonstrating himself as a versatile defender.[citation needed]

In November 2010, Lovren was listed in the Don Balón list of the 100 best young players in the world.[10]

On 23 January 2012, the Croatian defender extended his contract with Lyon for two more seasons, signing with the French club until 2016. He started for Lyon in the 2012 Coupe de France Final, a 1–0 win over Quevilly, but was substituted after 18 minutes for Bakary Koné.

Southampton

On 14 June 2013, Lovren signed for Southampton on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[11] which was estimated at £8.5 million.[12] He made his debut on 17 August 2013, in 1–0 win against West Bromwich Albion.[13] He scored his first goal for Southampton against Liverpool at Anfield on 21 September 2013, a goal which proved to be the winner.[14] On 19 October, he assisted in closing minutes to Adam Lallana for equalising goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford.[15]

He added a second league goal in the 2–2 away draw against Sunderland on 18 January 2014,[16] but was stretchered off late in the game and required hospital treatment after the match.[17] On 23 January, it was announced that along with midfielder Gastón Ramírez, Lovren would be out for six-to-eight weeks with ankle ligament damage.[18]

At the conclusion of his first season in the Premier League, Lovren was named in Bloomberg Sports' Power 50 list, which provides statistical rankings of performances from players in Europe's top five leagues.[19] He was the fifth-highest ranked player from the Premier League in 31st position.[20]

After much speculation regarding Lovren's future following the departures of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Rickie Lambert from Southampton, the Liverpool Echo reported on 25 July 2014 that Southampton had agreed a fee with Liverpool for the sale of Lovren, who was set to undergo a medical at the Merseyside club after reportedly handing in a transfer request at Southampton.[21]

Liverpool

On 27 July 2014, Lovren became the third Southampton player that transfer window to join Liverpool, after Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. He signed a four-year deal for a reported fee of £20 million, becoming the most expensive Liverpool defender.[22][23]

On 10 August 2014 he made his debut in a friendly for Liverpool against Borussia Dortmund at Anfield and scored the second goal in a 4–0 victory.[24] He made his competitive debut on 17 August in the club's opening game of the new Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 win over former club Southampton at Anfield.[25]

He scored his first official goal for Liverpool on 28 October, when he headed in the game-winner from a free-kick late in injury time in a fourth round League Cup 2–1 victory over Swansea City.[26] However, following his poor performance in a Champions League defeat to Basel, Lovren was dropped from the first team.[27] As the last penalty taker Lovren put his attempt over the crossbar as Liverpool lost in a penalty shootout to Beşiktaş on 26 February 2015, as they were eliminated from the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League.[28]

The Telegraph website included Lovren in a feature about the 2014–15 Premier League's 20 worst signings which remarked on the number of his errors that resulted in opposition goals.[29]

Lovren regained his place in the lineup for the first three games of the 2015–16 season and performed well securing two clean sheets and seven points. However, following a pair of defeats to West Ham United and rivals Manchester United in which the defence conceded six goals, Lovren again lost his place to Mamadou Sakho.[30] On 8 November, he came on as a substitute for Sakho in a 2–1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield, with Sakho sustained a knee injury that ruled him out for two months.[31] On 13 December, in a 2–2 draw against West Bromwich Albion, Lovren was stretchered off the pitch in the 79th minute due to injury and was replaced by Divock Origi.[32] On 14 April 2016, Lovren scored a stoppage time winning goal for Liverpool in a 4–3 Europa League quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund and sent Liverpool into the Semi Finals of the Europa League.[33]

Having endured a difficult start to his career at Liverpool, by the end of the 2015–16 season under Jurgen Klopp Lovren had been transformed into a "calm and composed" leader on the pitch.[34]

International career

File:Brazil and Croatia match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-06-12 (37).jpg
Lovren (right) defending against Brazil's Oscar in the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Lovren was first called–up to Croatian national team in 2009 by manager Slaven Bilić, who included the player in his match squad against Belarus on 12 August. He was an unused substitute, but still was delighted with the new experience.[35] Lovren was also capped 48 times in the various Croatia youth national teams and scored four goals.[36]

On 2 September 2011, Lovren scored his first international goal, against Malta in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. He was included by manager Slaven Bilić in a preliminary 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012 but had to withdraw because of injury just one week before the tournament.[37]

Lovren scored his second goal for Croatia on 26 March 2013 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Wales at Liberty Stadium in Swansea. It was an equaliser that levelled the match 1–1, after Gareth Bale had given Wales the lead from a penalty conceded when Lovren brought down Joe Ledley. Croatia eventually won the game 1–2.[38][39]

In May 2014, Lovren was named in manager Niko Kovač's provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[40] In the opening match of the tournament, on 12 June against the hosts Brazil in São Paulo, Lovren was judged by the Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura to have fouled Fred in the 69th minute when the score was 1–1. A controversial penalty was given, which was converted by Neymar and led to Brazil's eventual 3–1 win.[41][42]

On 11 April 2016 Lovren was released from the national team due to conflicts with head coach Ante Čačić. He said he would not play for Croatia as long as Čačić was in charge. Lovren's last international game was on 23 March 2016 against Israel.[43] Lovren's deteriorating relationship with Čačić ultimately resulted in him being left out of Croatia's squad for the 2016 UEFA European Championship.[44]

International goals

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.[45]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2011 Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali  Malta 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
2 26 March 2013 Liberty Stadium, Swansea  Wales 1–1 1–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics

Club

As of 19 May 2016[46][47]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Croatia League Croatian Football Cup League Cup Europe Total
2005–06 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 1 0 0 0 — — — — 1 0
2006–07 Inter Zaprešić (loan) Druga HNL 21 0 4 0 — — — — 25 0
2007–08 Prva HNL 29 1 2 0 — — — — 31 1
2008–09 Dinamo Zagreb 22 1 8 1 — — 8 1 38 3
2009–10 14 0 4 0 — — 11 1 29 1
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2009–10 Lyon Ligue 1 8 0 1 0 1 0 — — 10 0
2010–11 28 0 2 0 1 0 6 1 37 1
2011–12 18 1 3 0 2 0 8 0 31 1
2012–13 18 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 24 1
England League FA Cup Football League Cup Europe Total
2013–14 Southampton Premier League 31 2 0 0 0 0 — — 31 2
2014–15 Liverpool 26 0 4 0 2 1 6 0 38 1
2015–16 24 0 1 0 4 0 10 1 39 1
Career total 240 6 29 1 11 1 54 4 334 12

Honours

[48][49]

Club

Dinamo Zagreb
Inter Zaprešić
Lyon

Interests outside football

Lovren runs the "Russell Brown" fashion label in partnership with Lovro Krčar. The company is based in Croatia and employs eight people, including two designers.[6]

References

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External links

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ List of national team appearances at official website of Croatian Football Federation
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  43. ↑ http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/buntovni-lovren-je-otpisan--iz--izvora-bliskih-izborniku-saznajemo--cacic-vise--nece-stopera-zvati-u-reprezentaciju-/1558443/
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Career statistics at Ligue 1 official website
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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