Luka Menalo

Luka Menalo (Bosnian pronunciation: [lûːka měnalo]; born 22 July 1996) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Luka Menalo
Personal information
Full name Luka Menalo
Date of birth (1996-07-22) 22 July 1996
Place of birth Split, Croatia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Dinamo Zagreb
Number 70
Youth career
HNK Višići[2]
Čapljina
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Čapljina 12 (2)
2014–2018 Široki Brijeg 71 (28)
2018– Dinamo Zagreb 23 (2)
2019 → Slaven Belupo (loan) 12 (0)
2019–2020 → Olimpija Ljubljana (loan) 33 (10)
2020 → Dinamo Zagreb II 2 (0)
2020–2021 → Rijeka (loan) 28 (6)
National team‡
2014–2015 Bosnia and Herzegovina U19
2017–2018 Bosnia and Herzegovina U21[lower-alpha 1] 7 (2)
2018– Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 November 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2021

Menalo started his senior career at Čapljina, before joining Široki Brijeg in 2014. He moved to Dinamo Zagreb in 2018, and was loaned to Slaven Belupo, Olimpija Ljubljana and Rijeka over the next three seasons, respectively.

A former youth international for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Menalo made his senior international debut in 2018.

Club career

Early career

Menalo was born in Split, but grew up in Čapljina.[3] He made his senior debut for HNK Čapljina against Mladost on 2 March 2014 at the age of 17.[4] On 14 May, he scored his first senior goal against Igman Konjic.[5]

In the summer of 2014, Menalo switched to Široki Brijeg.[6] In January 2015, he signed a professional contract with the team until 2020.[7] Menalo scored his first career hat-trick on 21 September 2016, in a game against his former club Čapljina.[8] Menalo was voted the best young player of the league in his last two seasons with Široki Brijeg.[9]

Dinamo Zagreb

In February 2018, Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb announced that Menalo would join them the following season on a five-year contract.[10] He made his competitive debut for the club against Rudeš on 27 July 2018.[11]

In January 2019, Menalo was loaned to Slaven Belupo until the end of the 2018–19 season.[12]

In July 2019, he was sent on a season-long loan to Slovenian PrvaLiga side Olimpija Ljubljana.[13]

Menalo scored a hat-trick in the 2020–21 Croatian Cup win over Ferdinandovac on 26 September 2020, which were his first goals for Dinamo Zagreb.[14]

In October 2020, he was loaned to Rijeka until the end of the season.[15]

International career

Menalo represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at under-19 and under-21 level.[16][17] As he was born in Croatia and is of Croatian descent, he could have represented Croatia, but declined the offers.[18][19]

In January 2018, he received his first senior call-up, for friendly games against the United States and Mexico.[20] Menalo debuted in a goalless draw against the former on 28 January.[21] On 7 September 2021, Menalo scored his first goal for the national team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Kazakhstan, putting Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–1 ahead in an eventual 2–2 draw.[22]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 25 November 2021[1][23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Čapljina 2013–14 First League of FBiH 122——122
Široki Brijeg 2014–15 Bosnian Premier League 4220—62
2015–16 Bosnian Premier League 16444—208
2016–17 Bosnian Premier League 281074203714
2017–18 Bosnian Premier League 231210402812
Total 7128148609136
Dinamo Zagreb 2018–19 1. HNL 1002000120
2020–21 1. HNL 10130023
2021–22 1. HNL 12211122255
Total 23244122398
Slaven Belupo (loan) 2018–19 1. HNL 120——120
Olimpija Ljubljana (loan) 2019–20 Slovenian PrvaLiga 331010413811
Dinamo Zagreb II 2020–21 2. HNL 20——20
Rijeka (loan) 2020–21 1. HNL 28643413610
Career total 18148231526423067

International
As of match played 16 November 2021[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Bosnia and Herzegovina
201820
201900
202000
202162
Total82
Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Menalo goal.
List of international goals scored by Luka Menalo
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 7 September 2021 Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina  Kazakhstan 2–1 2–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 13 November 2021 Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina  Finland 1–2 1–3 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Široki Brijeg[1]

Notes
  1. Official competitive UEFA matches only.

References
  1. "L. Menalo". soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. "FOTO: HNK Višići imaju bolji teren od većine prvoligaša!". Đaka city - Čapljina portal (in Croatian). 16 August 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  3. "Otkriće Roberta Prosinečkog uzburkalo duhove u Hrvatskoj: Žele ga hrvatski velikani, a on kaže: Nisam rekao da je Hajduk najveći, u mom je gradu..." jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  4. "Sloboda pregazila Troglav, Jedinstvu tri boda u Srebreniku". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 2 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  5. "Golijade u Sanskom Mostu, Orašju, Bugojnu, Konjicu..." sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 14 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  6. "Zvanično: Luka Menalo napustio Široki Brijeg". oslobodjenje.ba (in Bosnian). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  7. "Široki Brijeg: Profesionalni ugovori za trojicu igrača". faktor.ba (in Bosnian). 28 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  8. "Kup BiH: Rutinske pobjede Željezničara i Širokog Brijega, čak pet premijerligaša ispalo". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 21 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  9. "Održan izbor "Kristalnih 11", Zakarić proglašen najboljim igračem Premijer lige". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 14 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  10. "Zvanično: Luka Menalo potpisao za Dinamo!". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  11. "Rudeš umalo zaledio Maksimir na početku prvenstva, Fiolić spasio Dinamo". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 27 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  12. "Zvanično: Luka Menalo pronašao novi angažman". oslobodjenje.ba (in Bosnian). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. "Luka Menalo karijeru nastavlja u Sloveniji". reprezentacija.ba (in Bosnian). 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  14. D. S. (26 September 2020). "Reakcije igrača Dinama poslije Kupa; jedna zvijezda 'modrih' nije skrivala da zamalo nije zaplakala zbog svega što je prošla". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  15. "Igrat će u Evropskoj ligi: Dinamo posudio Menala jednom od najvećih rivala u HNL-u". scsport.ba (in Bosnian). 6 October 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  16. "Juniorska nogometna reprezentacija BiH savladala selekciju SAD-a". Klix.ba (in Bosnian). 28 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  17. "Luka Menalo » Internationals". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  18. "NA PITANJE HRVATSKA ILI BIH: Luka Menalo je dao jasan odgovor". Sportske.ba (in Bosnian). 31 January 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  19. "Ima i hrvatsko državljanstvo, ali dobio poziv BiH pa poručio: Maštao sam..." vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  20. "Prosinečki objavio širi spisak nogometaša za utakmice sa SAD-om i Meksikom". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 9 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  21. "Prosinečki debitovao remijem: Zmajevi bez golova protiv SAD". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  22. "Menalo: Nevjerovatno da ovo nismo dobili, sada nam je potrebno da se ujedinimo". klix.ba (in Bosnian). 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  23. "Luka Menalo » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  24. "Luka Menalo". eu-football.info. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
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