Marked for Ivan Simunovic
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Iván Bella in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Renato Medici
12 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Goran Perisic’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zadar.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Dinamo Zagreb to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zadar and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad9 Nov 2026
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zadar pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Zadar do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Iván Bella in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Zadar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Zagreb runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zadar know it.
Match10 Oct 2026
It needed Matej Petkovic to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Segesta, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bojan Juranovic, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 5.50, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
8 unbeaten for Zadar
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Zadar did not have in the autumn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Iván Bella in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.92 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Zadar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Zagreb runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo López, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
It needed Ivan Simunovic to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Cibalia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Luka Šimunović asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ivo Kralj has taken the shirt
At 27 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Zadar are won quietly and lost loudly.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zadar have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mate Tadic and Zadar agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Iván Bella in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Tin Brekalo has left for Sibenik in a $140.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match8 Aug 2026
Zadar get the job done against Segesta
A 3‑1 win over Segesta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luka Šimunović, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.