After Adelaide United completed the signing of Tomi Juric for the upcoming season, get reacquainted with our newest addition to the squad.
A Socceroos international, Juric brings experience, pedigree and another dimension to Adelaide’s attack having played the last five years overseas in Europe.
The 29-year-old’s capture provides the Reds with a genuine out-and-out striker, who is known for his finishing, aerial prowess inside the box, coupled with tremendous hold-up play to incorporate his teammates.
Juric is also comfortable with both feet, possesses a strong positional sense, making him an effective goal poacher, and has represented his country at three major tournaments.
Born on July 22, 1991 in Sydney, Juric began playing his junior football at local clubs, Hurstville Zagreb, Sydney Olympic and Sydney United before moving to Croatia in 2008.
He played a season in the second tier at Croatia Sesvete scoring a prolific 12 goals in 24 matches in the 2010/11 season which courted a transfer to the top-flight, signing with Lokomotiva Zagreb and later Inter Zaprešić.
In early 2013, Juric returned to Australia, penning a short-term deal with the Reds until the end of the 2012/13 campaign. He was on target in his opening two matches with goals against Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.
Juric joined Western Sydney Wanderers on a two-year agreement and was a prolific scorer during his time there. In his first season he scored eight league goals in 20 games and played an instrumental role in the Wanderers’ 2014 AFC Champions League campaign. He scored a total of four goals which included a clinically-taken volley coming off the bench in the first leg of the final against Al-Hilal, securing a 1-0 aggregate win over the Saudi Arabian outfit.
In January 2015 he was selected in the Socceroos squad for the AFC Asian Cup, playing in five matches and scored in a 4-0 group stage defeat of Oman. However, his biggest contribution occurred in the final where his sheer persistence and trickery enabled him to deliver a pin-point cross for James Troisi to finish and claim a 2-1 extra-time win over Korea Republic.
At the conclusion of the A-League 2014/15 season, Juric was determined to challenge himself in Europe and signed with then Eredivisie outfit Roda JC.
With the Dutch team, he managed a total of seven goals in 20 games across all competitions.
After a year there, he left for Swiss Super League club FC Luzern and experienced his most productive season abroad – scoring 11 goals in 35 appearances.
His impressive form continued and bagged a crucial brace for the Socceroos in a 3-2 win against Saudi Arabia in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification clash at Adelaide Oval.
He was then unsurprisingly named in the Socceroos camp for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia later that month in June.
Juric started all three group matches against Germany, Cameroon and Chile respectively, finding the net against Die Mannschaft in a 3-2 loss.
He remained in Switzerland for the 2017/18 campaign, on target on nine occasions in 31 matches as Luzern finished in third place.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Juric featured as a substitute in Australia’s opening two group stage fixtures against France and Denmark, before starting against Peru.
Juric’s third and final season in Switzerland was hampered by injury and subsequently joined CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria’s first tier in August 2019. Although, his opportunities on the Balkan Peninsula were limited and mutually agreed to terminate his contract after more than a year.
.png)
