Tin Jedvaj is a football player from Croatia who plays the defensive position for both German football club Bayer Leverkusen and the Croatian national football team.
Before signing with the German football club Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, Tin Jedvaj played for Croatian football club Dinamo Zagreb (where he began his professional career) and for Italian club Roma. He has also represented Croatia at various youth levels before getting drafted as part of the 32 senior team squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia.
Who Is Tin Jedvaj?
Tin Jedvaj was born in Croatia on the 28th day of November 1995 to a former Croatian player Zdenko Jedvaj, who played for several Croatian and Austrian clubs during his active days.
His family left Mostar, Bosnia, and Herzegovina for the Croatian capital city of Zagreb during the Bosnian War of 1992, that was before Tin was born. There is no information online about his mother and of his siblings (if he has any).
League Career
Jedvaj began playing football at the age of six but it wasn’t until he turned eighteen that he made his first professional appearance with Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, after graduating from its football academy. His debut match was against Osijek, playing the central defensive position. He scored his debut goal in the match against Cibalia.
During his rookie season with the club, he became a recipient of the Croatian Prva HNL trophy. The following season, he won another trophy with the club when they beat another Croatian club Hajduk Split during the Croatian Supercup. He made a total of 14 appearances for the club before he was wooed by an Italian club Roma at the end of the season.
The Dinamo board initially refused to release Tin Jedvaj to Roma but in July 2013, it was confirmed that the defender had signed with the Italian side. He made his debut for the club in December 2013, coming in as a substitute in the 83rd minute in a match against Genoa. The game ended in a 4-0 win. His first starting debut was also against Genoa but this time it was in the last round of the Serie A season, and they, unfortunately, lost the match to Genoa.
These were Jedvaj’s only two appearances for the whole of the 2013–14 season, as he was benched 33 times. In June 2014, German football club Bayer Leverkusen announced they have reached an agreement with all parties involved for Jedvaj to join the club on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season.
During his debut for Bayer, which was the club’s first official match for the season, Tin played all 90 minutes against Alemannia Waldalgesheim. The match ended in a 6-0 win. About a week later, he made his debut with the German side at UEFA Champions League. He came in as a substitute for Giulio Donati in the 46th minute, the match also ended in a 2–3 away victory over Copenhagen.
Tin Jedvaj subsequently made his Bundesliga debut in a match against Borussia Dortmund. His first goal for the club was in the second game of the season which was against Hertha BSC. His goal which came in the 50th minute was Bayer’s first goal in the game which eventually ended in a 4–2 home win. This was followed by a powerful curving goal which he scored in a match against Werder Bremen, giving his club a 1–0 lead. Jedvaj would later help Son Heung-min with the goal that tied the game with a 3–3 draw.
In January 2015, Bayer Leverkusen announced it has Tin Jedvaj from Roma on a permanent basis and that the contract will keep the defender on the German side until 2020. Unfortunately, Jedvaj only made one appearance for the German side in the first half of the 2015/16 season due to multiple injuries. His only appearance was was in a match against Hamburger SV and his next appearance would be in October 2016, in a match against VfL Wolfsburg, where he scored the winning goal that ended the game in a 2–1 victory.
Tin Jedvaj International Career
In May 2016, he was confirmed as part of the Croatian squad to represent the nation at the UEFA Euro 2016 and during the tournament, he played in the match against Spain, which ended in a 2-1 win.
Jedvaj has also represented Croatia at various youth levels before being drafted as part of the 32 senior team squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His first appearance with the senior team was at the age of eighteen when he was invited to play in a friendly match against Cyprus. He came in at the last 13 minutes of the game.
His Height, Weight, And Body Measurements
The Croatian footballer stands at the height of 6 ft 0 in which translates to 1.84 m and weighs 81kg. His other body stats are unknown.
