September 9, 2021 - Great news for fans of the ''bijeli'' and the world's best-selling football simulator series, as the Croatian club announced that it will appear in the new edition of the popular EA Sports videogame, and now fans will be able to choose Hajduk Split to play with!

Hajduk Split announced yesterday on its social networks and official website that it will be an officially licensed team in the new edition of the best-selling football simulator in the world: FIFA 22. The announcement was surprising not only because of the inclusion of Hajduk itself, but because Croatian football, in general, has been underrepresented in the video game.

For instance, the last time the Croatian national team appeared in the EA Sports videogame was in 2012 (with the exception of the special editions of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018), despite the great growth and evolution not only of the team in the previous decade but also by its players in international and local tournaments. Likewise, the Croatian First League has never appeared in the video game.

When it comes to European football, the EA Sports videogame has officially licensed the main leagues on the continent such as the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), the Bundesliga (Germany), the Ligue 1 (France), the Eredivisie (Netherlands) the Liga NOS (Portugal). Additionally, it includes European leagues such as those of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. Finally, some European teams belonging to unlicensed leagues are in the Rest of the World category, and this is the case of teams such as CSKA Moscow (Russia), Dinamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Olympiacos (Greece), or Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic).

The official gameplay trailer for FIFA 22 was shared a month ago.

The only Croatian team present in the game is Dinamo Zagreb, which for a few years has been an eligible team in the Rest of the World category. Similarly, the EA Sports videogame is officially licensed by UEFA's main international tournaments, such as the Champions League, the Europa League, and the recently founded Conference League. For this reason, Dinamo Zagreb has maintained its validity in the game by participating in at least one of these tournaments.

Hajduk will then join Dinamo Zagreb in the latest edition of the EA Sports videogame, as officially licensed teams on the Rest of the World category. Being a FIFA licensed team means having, for example, real uniforms and their sponsors, as well as the squad and their names. Despite no official confirmation, the game will most likely not include the Stadion Poljud or the official faces of the players. The technology used to reproduce stadiums and faces is being used almost exclusively with clubs belonging to the major licensed leagues.

Something positive about the presence of Hajduk Split in the new EA Sports videogame is the possibility that players can hire Hajduk players in Career Mode, where they can manage and train a club by making signings and developing the most promising players. Thus, it will be possible to hire a promising youngster from Hajduk Split to FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Manchester United and make him a star of the team. Unfortunately, Hajduk Split cannot be used in Career Mode, as only clubs belonging to a licensed league can be used in this mode.

On its official website, Hajduk Split announced the club's presence in the new EA Sports videogame in this way:

''FIFA 22, the most authentic football simulation available, is becoming even more realistic with HNK Hajduk, which will present itself to many fans of this mega-popular game in the latest season!

With the official entry into FIFA 22, Hajduk strengthens its position in global football and confirms that it follows world trends and the practice of the world's largest clubs.

With 17,000 players in more than 700 teams, in more than 90 stadiums in more than 30 leagues, FIFA 22 brings unparalleled authenticity and the most comprehensive interactive football experience. FIFA 22 is the only place where you can play in cult competitions such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the brand new UEFA Europa Conference League, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga Santander, CONMEBOL Libertadores and CONMEBOL Sudamericana.

Enhanced by revolutionary HyperMotion technology, ie the integration of advanced motion recording of 22 professional footballers in a competitive match (11 vs. 11) and machine learning (knowledge from 8.7 million frames of advanced match recordings), FIFA 22 brings an ever more realistic football experience to all players' homes!

The official release of FIFA 22 is scheduled for October 1, 2021!''

The club promoted the news on its social networks and on its website with an image of its star, Marko Livaja, who has just scored his first goal for the national team at Stadion Poljud in the qualifying match against Slovenia, along with the official logo of the videogame and the Hajduk Split crest. Many fans of Hajduk Split are already beginning to suspect if the Croatian player, being the image of the news, will have a personalized face or if he will have a good rating in the game. Some are even beginning to recommend that he and his teammates be given ratings of 90 or more (something that only occurs with players like Mbappé, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lewandowski):

LIVAJAAA he deserves 90+ rating and 95+ potential

— Vaki ?? (@Vaki10_) September 8, 2021

biuk and ljubicic 99 potential ?

— Fizzy Rhino (@JoeOucas) September 8, 2021

Some Croatian players who have official faces in the videogame are: Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović, Mateo Kovačić, Ivan Rakitić, Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Rebić, Šime Vrsaljko, Nikola Vlašić, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Borna Sosa, Josip Brekalo and Tin Jedvaj. 

The Croatian national team is expected to return to the EA Sports videogame next year, with the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. To do so, they will have to continue their good run of results and ensure their qualification in the coming months against Cyprus and Malta in their away games, and against Slovakia and Russia at home. Let's hope that very soon the company decides to officially include the Croatian national team in the game and, in the same way, the Croatian First League and the rest of the teams.

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June 15, 2021 - Hajduk preparations for the 2021/22 season kicked off Monday at Poljud with new coach Jens Gustafsson. 

In the Hajduk Salon at Poljud, coach Jens Gustafsson and his assistants gathered the Hajduk A-team players at the beginning of preparations for the new season. The Management Board President Lukša Jakobušić and the sports director Mindaugas Nikoličius spoke to the players along with the head coach before the very beginning of the preparations, announced Hajduk.hr.

The first gathering was attended by 30 players:

Kristian Dimitrov, Alexander Kačaniklić, Stefan Simić, Marko Livaja, Dimitrios Diamantakos, Marin Jakoliš, Josip Elez, Jani Atanasov, Jairo, Dino Skorup, Stanko Jurić, Luka Škaričić, Stipe Biuk, Karlo Sentić, Ivan Dolček, Toni Silić, David Čolina, Ivan Perić, Mario Vušković, Josip Posavec, Emir Sahiti, Ivan Ćubelić, Marin Ljubičić, Tonio Teklić, Mark Bushaj, Mario Čuić, Tino Blaž Lauš, Madžid Šošić, Ivan Čalušić, Ivan Šarić. 

Samuel Eduok will join the team on Tuesday, and the arrival of Lumbard Dell is expected later.

Hajduk had their first training on the Poljud auxiliary field, since work is underway on the main pitch to change the lawn.

"Today we start with light training, and then throughout the week, we continue with two training sessions a day, until the weekend when we play the first preparatory match in Dubrovnik. First of all, we will dedicate ourselves to working on physical fitness, and then to our style of play, that is, the style we want to play. I feel comfortable at the start of the preparations, we are all very ambitious, I feel a good balance between different personalities in my staff, and I hope that together we will improve Hajduk. We will fight and compete as long as we can and better, we have a long way to go and everyone will demand the maximum from everyone," said coach Jens Gustafsson.

"There are a lot of new, young players, who with their games through the Academy have shown that they deserve to be here with us. They will definitely need a little time to grasp everything, and we seniors will allow them everything to adjust as quickly as possible. I think we all had a good rest together and now we have to dedicate ourselves to our goals, which is to try to enter the groups of the Conference League, if we are able to achieve that, and to better prepare for the championship where we also have high ambitions," added Marko Livaja.

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May 27, 2021 - Paolo Tramezzani is no longer the coach of Split club HNK Hajduk. 

As of today, Paolo Tramezzani is no longer the coach of the HNK Hajduk first team. After a conversation, an agreed termination of cooperation was agreed with the now-former coach of the Split club. 

Paolo Tramezzani took over the first team in January this year, which won fourth place at the end of the season and a place in the qualifying round of the Europa League. He led Hajduk in a total of 24 games and achieved 14 victories, four draws, and six defeats. He is accompanied by his assistants Attila Malfatti and Valerio Zuddas.

"Thank you to Mr. Tramezzani for everything he has done for the Club, and we wish him good luck in the continuation of his career.

HNK Hajduk will inform the public about the new coach of our first team promptly," Hajduk concluded on its website. 

"First of all, thank you to the club for allowing me to send this message, and thanks. The message is sincere and from the heart, and I want to thank the club, the president, and the sports director for making a courageous decision to invite me to the club at a very delicate time," said Tramezzani after the agreed termination.

"For my part, I hope I helped achieve the goals, and for me, it was a wonderful experience that brought me a lot of joy. I realized when I came to be the coach of Hajduk it is a great privilege. It is a very desirable bench on which better coaches were sitting in front of me, big names, and I hope I did not disappoint anyone in what was my job. I want to thank everyone in the city on my own behalf and behalf of my family. Their passion and love and way of everyday behavior, as if they accepted me as their own. I don't like tears if they are not joyful," said Tramezzani and added:

"Because I've already shed tears of pain in my life, for things, unfortunately, much more important. But I carry with me in one part of my heart all the people I could meet in these four and a half months. I'm grateful to them for that. I'm a little bit disappointed that I did not experience the atmosphere with the fans at the stadium, and that is one thing I missed a lot because of their passion and love. I want to thank everyone who worked with me, really everyone; I would not list them because I will surely forget someone. From the medical service, the technical staff, my staff, and above all, a big thank you goes to all my players because a great relationship has been established with them. It was a beautiful adventure, a beautiful journey. So, I thank everyone, and I will always remain a fan of this club, and Hajduk and Split will always remain in my heart." 

As Index.hr exclusively finds out, Hajduk's sports director Nikoličius Mindaugas and president Lukša Jakobušić have already held talks with the main candidate for the new coach.

Allegedly, it is 51-year-old Portuguese expert Jose Manuel Gomes. The former coach of Almeria, Maritim, Reading, and many other clubs met with Hajduk leaders in Zagreb and is close to an agreement, says Index.

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May 27, 2021 - Stipe Miočić revealed to Croatian Sports that he wouldn't mind having the UFC title fight at Poljud Stadium in Split. 

Legendary UFC fighter Stipe Miočić is not giving up on his career and hopes to return the UFC champion belt he lost against Francis Ngannou.

As UFC boss Dana White recently hinted, Miočić should soon be in the ring against the winner of the Francis Ngannou - Derrick Lewis fight. 

Gol.hr reports that Miočić recently interviewed with Croatian Sports, a Croatian media portal in the United States, and revealed that he should soon arrive in Croatia soon and wishes to fight at Poljud.

"Oh yeah, that would be amazing. I love that Croatian fan mentality, Croatia is a perfect country… I am for the fight in Croatia, at Poljud, let's do it," said Miočić for Croatian Sports.

Journalist Ante Kvartuč asked Miočić if he had watched his beloved Hajduk live. Recall, Miočić was at Poljud during his last visit to Croatia and often pointed out that he was a fan of the famous Split club.

"No, I'm more of a guy who follows the national team," Stipe said honestly.

Croatia has Cro Cop, bronze and silver at the football World Cup, Goran Ivanišević, Marin Čilić, water polo players, basketball players… What do they have to achieve such great success?

"It can't be explained; it's all up to the mentality. You get into something, and you don't go out without achieving something," explains Miočić.

Back in March, and for the second time in his career, Stipe Miočić lost the UFC heavyweight title. Stipe suffered a heavy defeat in the fight for the UFC title in a rematch against Francis Ngannou. The Cameroonian defeated Miočić with a brutal knockout at the beginning of the second round. 

UFC president Dana White recently said that Miočić would fight the winner of Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis, a highly anticipated fight that should be held this August. Miočić said he is only waiting for the contract to make it real. 

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May 7, 2021 - TCN's regular retrospect of Highlights of the week, through the selection of TCN's reporter Ivor Kruljac. 

President Milanović loved by locals in Plaški. Firefighters quickly reacted to the fire in Zagreb recycle yard. Pula celebrated its liberation while Šibenik received new doses of coronavirus vaccines. Dinamo and Hajduk end their match in a tie. Overall another interesting week in Croatia, and here are more details on all highlights.

 Highlights of the week: President Milanović loved in Plaški county

© Kristina Stedul Fabac/ PIXSELL

Croatian president Zoran Milanović visited Plaški county near Ogulin on Tuesday to visit the newly-build Firefighter's home and Plaški Culture Home. The locals welcomed president Milanović with ovations, and many use the opportunity to handshake and take a photo with the president. As Večernji List reports, Milanović took the visit as an opportunity to comment on the hate speech incident at Borovo Selo. He stated that the President of Serbian National Council Milorad Pupovac and Croatian Prime Minister „should use the police, but they don't, they are causing incidents.

Highlights of the Week: Pula celebrating its liberation in WW2

© Srecko Niketic/ PIXSELL

Pula celebrated its annual liberation day and the Pula City Day, marked on May 5. In Tito's park, the traditional commemoration to the fallen WW2 soldiers of Tito's partisan army saw Tiziano Sošić (president of Pula City Council), Elena Puh Belci (vice mayor of Pula), Aleksandar Matić (chief of the City of Pula Office) and Fabrizio Radin (vice-county ruler of Istria county) paid their respects. Representatives of associations of anti-fascist fighters and anti-fascist of the city of Pula were present too. 

 Highlights of the Week: Dinamo and Hajduk end with an even score 1:1

© Milan Sabic/ PIXSELL

Hajduk and Dinamo's eternal opponents played another game at Hajduk's home of Poljud Stadium in Split on Wednesday. The match was the 22nd round in Croatian First League, and fans couldn't wait for it as the game was postponed.

Hajduk opened the match well and had a chance to take the lead in the first 20 seconds. Kačaniklić received an excellent long ball and ran on the right side. He rushed into the penalty area and shot diagonally, but Livaković came out and closed his corner. Dinamo improved and took the lead in the 16th minute with a goal by Majer, and Livaja returned the favor in the 44th minute. Diamantakos hit the crossbar in the final minutes of the match but without success.

After three victories in the previous three clashes with Hajduk this season, Dinamo failed to achieve maximum performance and almost mathematically secured the title but entered the last four rounds with a seven-point advantage over Osijek. The fail happened despite Dinamo facing Hajduk with the strongest possible lineup.  

Highlights of the Week: Vaccination in Šibenik continues successfully

© Hrvoje Jelavic/ PIXSELL

Larger quantities of vaccines came to Šibenik on Friday, allowing vaccination in Baldeki Sports Hall to go without problems for the second day in the row. The vaccination attracts a number of citizens, so the area got quite crowded.

Highlights of the Week: Recycling yard in Zagreb on fire, reasons unclear

© Matija Habljak/ PIXSELL

Zagreb's recycling yard, located on Sarajevska Cesta in Novi Zagreb, was victimized by fire but quickly localized and put under control on Tuesday. The fire caught four containers, and 21 firefighters with six fire trucks rushed to the field. Police investigated the cause of the fire, but the reason is, for the moment, unknown. Firefighters managed to operate despite the lack of hydrants, and the thick white smoke was noticed by citizens who live in the buildings close to the yard, reported Večernji List. 

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May 5, 2021 - Hajduk and Dinamo met in Croatia's Eternal Derby on Wednesday, playing 1:1 in the postponed match of the Croatian First League's 22nd round. 

Dinamo took the lead in the 16th minute with a goal by Majer, and Livaja equalized in the 44th minute. Diamantakos hit the crossbar in the final minutes of the match. 

Dinamo came to Poljud with the strongest possible lineup, hoping to secure the points needed to defend the Croatian championship title. On the other hand, Hajduk needed a victory to keep pace in the fight for Europe after a win against Rijeka last weekend.

Hajduk opened the match well and had a chance to take the lead in the first 20 seconds. Kačaniklić received an excellent long ball and ran on the right side. He rushed into the penalty area and shot diagonally, but Livaković came out and closed his corner.

Dinamo made a lot of mistakes in the opening, but the first cardinal mistake was made by Marco Fossati, who Dinamo quickly punished. The Hajduk player lost the ball near the goal line; Petković took advantage of his mistake and entered the penalty area. Petković found Majer, who hit the opposite corner with his head from the top of the box.

Additional pressure from Dinamo was expected after the lead but they left the ball to Hajduk and waited for counters. Hajduk played smart and controlled the match.

In the 33rd minute, Jurić nailed the penalty area, but Stefan Simić shot straight at Livaković. In the next attack, Ivanušec shot well from about 20 meters, but Kalinić defended even better.

Hajduk played better nearing halftime, and in the 41st minute, they had another great chance. Livaja masterfully played Jurić, but Livaković reacted superbly. 

Hajduk deservedly equalized a minute before the end of the first half after a big mistake by Dinamo's defense. Lauritsen reacted desperately, Theophile lost focus on Livaja, and Hajduk's best player scored for 1:1.

Ivanušec was subbed off at halftime for Kastrati, and Tramezzani played Diamantakos instead of Ljubičić.

The tempo of the second half was dull until the 61st minute when Petković shot high over the goal. Kastrati missed three minutes later.

Hajduk, who played well in the first hour, started to lose strength, which became more and more obvious as the match came to an end. However, Diamantakos hit the crossbar in the final minutes. 

After three victories in the previous three clashes with Hajduk this season, Dinamo failed to achieve maximum performance and almost mathematically secured the title but entered the last four rounds with a seven-point advantage over Osijek.

Hajduk has not inched much closer to third place, which certainly leads to Europe.

Source: Index.hr

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February 17, 2021 - Croatian striker Marko Livaja returns to his hometown club, Hajduk Split!

Marko Livaja returns to Poljud! The experienced 27-year-old striker returned to the Split club after 11 years and signed a contract with Hajduk until the end of the current season after terminating his contract with the Greek first league team AEK.

After many years, Marko will fulfill his great wish and boyhood dream to play an official match for Hajduk's first team. He made six appearances for Hajduk, but all in friendly matches.

In 2010, as a sixteen-year-old, he left Hajduk for Inter Milan, where he played 13 official matches and scored four goals.

In the meantime, he played for Swiss Lugano, Italian clubs Cesena, Atalanta, Empoli, Russian Rubin Kazan, Spanish Las Palmas, and Greek club AEK from Athens, for which he played for the past two seasons and collected 147 official appearances with 42 goals scored.

Livaja played for all the younger selections of the Croatia national team, while he made a total of four appearances for the first team.

"I am happy to be back home after so much time, and I am looking forward to new opportunities and challenges here. I am glad that I will try to achieve goals with my beloved club, and I hope for better results," said Marko after signing for Hajduk.

"Marko, welcome back to Hajduk, and we wish you good luck and success in the white jersey!" Hajduk concluded in its official announcement. 

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January 18, 2021 - Paolo Tramezzani is the new coach of Hajduk!

Hajduk.hr announced on Monday that the 50-year-old Italian expert signed a contract until the summer of 2022 and will take over the management of the first team immediately.

The new Hajduk coach was born on July 30, 1970 in the city of Castelnovo ne ’Monti, and began his playing career at Inter Milan. In addition to Inter, he played for Prato, Cosezna, Lucchese, Venezia, Cesena, Piacenza, Tottenham, Pistoiese, Atalanta, Empoli and Pro Patria.

He began his coaching career as the assistant coach of Gianni de Biasi in the national team of Albania, which then qualified for the European Championship for the first time in history. He continued on his own in 2016 as the coach of the Swiss first league side Lugano, and under his leadership, the club qualified the group stage of the Europa League for the first time in history. Lugano was at the bottom of the league table and eventually finished third with an average of 1.94 points scored that season, which is why he was named coach of the year in Switzerland.

In 2017, Tramezzani took over the leadership of Swiss first league team Sion and later left for personal reasons. In 2018, he took over APOEL in Cyprus, with which he became the champion, and in Cyprus, he was named the best coach of the first league with an average of 2.16 points. After APOEL, in 2019, he took over the Italian second division team Livorno, and his last coaching job was in 2020 in Sion.

Tramezzani's coaching staff will also include his first assistant Attila Malfatti and assistant coach Valerio Zuddas, and the rest of the professional staff will be filled by two fitness coaches who have already participated in the work of the first team, Toni Modrić and Šime Veršić, assistant coach Toni Golem and goalkeeper coach Hrvoje Sunara.

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November 4, 2020 - The Hajduk transformation continues as Hari Vukas is sacked as the first-team coach. The Split club announced today that Boro Primorac would takeover. 

Vukas is leaving the bench of the Split club after three consecutive defeats, and after Mario Stanic and Ivan Kepcija left Poljud this week.

Vukas took over the Hajduk coaching role after Igor Tudor's departure on August 21, 2020. In that period, he led 10 official matches, achieving four victories, five defeats, and one draw. In the last five rounds, he won only three points, and Hajduk is in sixth place.

"I wish all the best to my Hajduk and a lot of success to the new coach. Unfortunately, the results were not what we all expected together; I hope and believe that Hajduk will rise in the next period and get where it belongs," said Vukas. His assistant Jurica Vucko also left the club.

In his coaching career, Vukas was Tudor's assistant at Hajduk, Karabukspor, Galatasaray, and Udinese, and last year he took over Zrinjski and was fired after five months.

Hajduk then named the new coach of Hajduk - Boro Primorac. 

The head of the HNK Hajduk Academy, Luka Kaliterna, Primorac accepted this role after talks with the President of the Management Board, Luksa Jakobusic.

Boro Primorac's professional staff consists of his first assistant Toni Golem, the goalkeeper coach remains Hrvoje Sunara, and fitness coaches are still Toni Modric and Sime Versic. Coach Primorac will have his first game leading Hajduk on Saturday at 5:05 pm.

Boro Primorac is a legendary Hajduk player and coach who spent most of his career in England at Arsenal, where he was Arsène Wenger's first assistant (21 years in total). As head coach, he led Cannes and Valenciennes, the Guinea-Bissau national team, and as an assistant coach to Wenger, he also worked for Naoya Grampus in Japan.

In his playing career, he played for Velež, Hajduk, Lille, and Cannes. He scored the first official goal for Hajduk at Poljud stadium. He played a total of 283 games for Hajduk and scored 53 goals.

Source: Hajduk.hr

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November 4, 2020 - The changes at Hajduk continue, as Ivan Kepcija is no longer the club's sports director. 

The Split club announced the news on their official website:

"As of today, Ivan Kepcija is no longer the sports director of Hajduk.

He performed this function from December 2019 to November 2020, and he parted ways with the Club after an agreed termination."

"It was an honor to be part of the club, and I thank the people who gave me the opportunity and trust. Despite the president's desire to continue cooperation, I felt it was time to leave and therefore proposed an amicable termination of my contract. I want to thank everyone for their cooperation and wish the Club a lot of luck and success in further work and competition," Ivan Kepcija said about parting ways with Hajduk.

"We wish Mr. Kepcija a lot of luck and success in his future career!" Hajduk concluded. 

This is a continuation of the major changes at Poljud led by the new president Luksa Jakobusic. However, according to Kepcija above, there was a chance that Hajduk would continue with him as the sports director.

Jakobusic is Hajduk's 11th president, and when he took over the Split club on Friday, he announced a sudden change in operations. The first to lose his job was the legendary Mario Stanic, who served as chief adviser to former Hajduk president Marin Brbic. Stanic was sacked by the club on Monday.

Kepcija was brought to Hajduk by Stanic.

Next on Jakobusic's list is coach Hari Vukas, who has suffered three defeats in Hajduk's last three games. Jakobusic's first pick for the new Hajduk coach is Slovenian coach Matjaz Kek, who was not only the longest-serving manager by single appointment in the history of the Croatian First Football League during his time at Rijeka, but also won the Croatian Championship, Cup, and Super Cup with the club. 

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