Ivan Tomečak

Ivan Tomečak
	Tomečak with Dinamo Zagreb in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth	7 December 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth	Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Right-back / winger
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007–2013	Dinamo Zagreb
2007–2009	→ Lokomotiva (loan)
2013–2015	Rijeka
2015–2016	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
2016–2017	Al-Nassr
2017–2018	Mechelen
2018–2019	Club Brugge
2019–2022	Rijeka
2022	→ Pafos (loan)
2022–2023	Lokomotiva
2023	Gorica
2023–2024	Rudeš
International career
2007	Croatia U18
2007–2008	Croatia U19
2008–2009	Croatia U20
2009–2010	Croatia U21
2014	Croatia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 December 2024

Ivan Tomečak (pronounced [ˈiʋan tɔmɛˈtʃaːk]; born 7 December 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer. He is usually deployed as a right full-back, but is often used as a right winger or left full-back.^[2]

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Loan to Lokomotiva

On 14 August 2007, Tomečak joined Croatian third-tier club Lokomotiva on an 18-month loan spell. He played in almost every match of 2007–08 season and helped Lokomotiva win the promotion to Druga HNL. In 2008–09 season he featured in all 15 of Lokomotiva's league matches before his loan finished.^[3]

Return to Dinamo Zagreb

Tomečak returned from loan on 1 January 2009 and has played an important part in Dinamo's 2008–09 championship title. His debut came on 1 March 2009 in a home match against Slaven Belupo, which Dinamo won 1–0. On 5 April 2009, he scored his first ever goal for Dinamo Zagreb, entering the match in 74th minute against Cibalia and scoring two crucial goals in Dinamo's 4–3 away win. He also played in both legs of 2009 Croatian Cup finals which Dinamo won third time consecutively, defeating Hajduk Split 4–3 after penalty shootout. With Dinamo Zagreb, Tomečak has won two consecutive domestic league titles, making a total of 30 league appearances for the club during the two seasons following his return. He also made his debut in the European competitions on 21 July 2009 in a 2009–10 UEFA Champions League match against Pyunik Yerevan which Dinamo Zagreb won 3–0.

At the start of the 2010–11 season, Tomečak won his fourth honour with Dinamo Zagreb, as the club won the 2010 Croatian Supercup.^[4]

On 22 November 2011, Tomečak scored Dinamo's second goal in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, netting a header in Dinamo's 6-2 away loss to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Rijeka

On 7 June 2013, Tomečak signed a three-year contract with HNK Rijeka.^[5] He scored on his official debut for the club on 12 July 2013, opening the score in the 16th minute of a league match against NK Istra 1961.^[6] He immediately established himself as a regular starter both in Prva HNL and Europe. On 7 May 2014, Tomečak scored the winning goal in Rijeka's away win at GNK Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of the 2014 Croatian Football Cup Final.^[7]

Later years

On 31 August 2015, Tomečak signed a two-year contract with Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, for a fee of €1 million.^[8] However, his contract was terminated in July 2016 after the club faced financial difficulties.^[9]

Subsequently, Tomečak switched clubs and countries and signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr which was managed by fellow Croatian and former Dinamo Zagreb manager Zoran Mamić.^[10] In his only season with the Saudi club he scored three goals and gave five assists.

In August 2017, he moved to Belgian club KV Mechelen and penned a two-year contract.^[11]

In January 2018, Tomečak moved to Mechelen's league rivals Club Brugge KV signing a 3+1⁄2-year contract. The transfer fee was reported as €1 to 1.5 million^[12]

Return to Rijeka

On 5 February 2019 Tomečak signed for HNK Rijeka as a free agent.^[13]

International career

Tomečak started his international career for Croatia with the friendly match for the under-18 team in a match against Poland under-18. He made three more friendly match appearances for the under-18 team before he debuted for the under-19 team on 18 September 2007 in a friendly match against Slovenia under-19. He made a total of seven appearances for the under-19 selection before debuting for the under-20 and under-21 teams. He made two appearances in friendly matches for the under-20 team throughout the 2009 and 2010. On 7 June 2009, Tomečak debuted for the under-21 team in a qualifying match against Cyprus under-21.^[14]

He made his senior debut on 12 November 2014 in a friendly match against Argentina in London, coming as a 71st-minute substitute for Hrvoje Milić.^[15]^[16]

Career statistics

As of 18 December 2021^[17]^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lokomotiva (loan)	2007–08	Croatian Third League	32	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	32	2
	2008–09	Croatian Second League	15	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	15	2
	Total		47	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	47	4
Dinamo Zagreb	2008–09	Croatian First League	13	4	3	0	–	–	–	–	16	4
	2009–10		17	1	5	0	8	1	–	–	30	2
	2010–11		22	4	6	2	4	0	–	–	32	6
	2011–12		14	3	6	0	6	1	–	–	26	4
	2012–13		8	0	1	0	1	0	–	–	10	0
	Total		74	12	21	2	19	2	0	0	114	15
Rijeka	2013–14	Croatian First League	27	2	4	1	10	0	–	–	41	3
	2014–15		33	4	3	1	11	0	1	0	48	5
	2015–16		5	0	–	–	1	0	–	–	6	0
	2018–19		2	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	3	0
	2019–20		23	2	3	0	2	0	1	0	29	2
	2020–21		32	0	3	0	8	1	–	–	43	1
	2021–22		14	1	1	0	6	0	–	–	21	1
	Total		136	9	15	2	38	1	2	0	191	12
Dnipro	2015–16	Ukrainian Premier League	9	0	–	–	4	0	–	–	13	0
Al-Nassr FC	2016–17	Saudi Professional League	26	2	2	0	–	–	–	–	28	2
Mechelen	2017–18	Belgian First Division A	9	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	9	0
Club Brugge	2017–18		5	1	1	0	–	–	–	–	6	1
Club Brugge	2018–19		3	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	4	0
Career total			310	28	39	4	61	3	2	0	412	35