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Niko Sigur

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Niko Sigur
Personal information
Full name Niko Kristian Sigur
Date of birth (2003-09-09) September 9, 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hajduk Split
Number 8
Youth career
Mountain United FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2021 Vaughan Azzurri
2022 NK Radomlje
2022–2023 Hajduk Split
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021 York Lions 11 (2)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023– Hajduk Split 50 (3)
International career‡
2023–2024 Croatia U21 6 (0)
2024– Canada 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 19, 2024

Niko Kristian Sigur (born 9 September 2003) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a right-back for Prva HNL club Hajduk Split and the Canada national team.[2][3][4]

Early life

Sigur was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada and first began playing soccer with Mountain United FC in Burnaby,[5] in which he won the 2016 BC provincial championship and the 2018 BCSPL League Cup title.[1] He was then selected to play for the Whitecaps FC Academy, winning the USSDA Northwest Division championship in 2018. He attended at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School at the high school level, where he won the 2019 BC AA provincial championship.[1]

University career

Sigur played one year of university soccer at York University in 2021. During his university career he started in 10 of 11 matches, scoring 2 goals and registering 1 assist. He was named York's athlete of the week in November for his semi final playoff performance, which saw him score the winning goal against Ryerson in the 119th minute and recording an assist in the same game. York would later finish with a silver medal the OUA championship during his only season.[1]

Club career

Academy

Sigur played for Vaughan Azzurri's "C" team in 2021, making 2 appearances for the club.[6] He then moved to Slovenia in early 2022, joining Radomlje's youth setup.[7]

Hajduk Split

In 2022 Sigur transferred to Hajduk Split in Croatia to play for their academy, registering 2 goals and 3 assists in his first youth season.[8] He was ineligible to play in Hajduk Split's historic UEFA Youth League run due to a special rule where older players in the junior ages must have at least two years of club experience in order to be eligible to play.[9]

After injuries to Dino Mikanović and Gergő Lovrencsics, Sigur made his official senior debut as a right back in a 2–0 win against Varaždin on April 22, 2023.[10] He scored his first goal for Hadjuk Split against Varaždin on February 24, 2024.[11]

Style of play

Sigur is described as a very technical midfielder who can impact the game on both ends.[1] Sigur regards himself as a defensive midfielder who can also play in several midfield positions.[8] He is also able to play as a right back, as shown on his senior professional debut.[10]

International career

Born in Canada, Sigur is of Croatian descent.

In May 2023, he received call ups to the Croatia U-21 side ahead of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and the Canadian national team, and opted to represent the former.[12][13] In June 2024, Sigur was named in the Croatia standby squad for UEFA Euro 2024.

In August 2024, the Croatian Football Federation announced that Sigur had decided to switch his international allegiance and would be representing Canada.[14][15] On August 27, he was officially called up by Canada for two friendly matches against the United States and Mexico.[16] Sigur made his debut in the second friendly against Mexico on September 10.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played November 9, 2024[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Croatian Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hajduk Split 2022–23 HNL 7 0 1 0 — — 8 0
2023–24 HNL 34 1 2 0 2[a] 0 1[b] 0 39 1
2024–25 HNL 9 2 2 0 1[a] 0 — 12 2
Career total 50 3 5 0 3 0 1 0 59 3
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  2. ^ Appearance in Croatian Football Super Cup

International

As of match played November 19, 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Canada 2024 2 0
Total 2 0

Honours

Hajduk Split

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Niko Sigur". YorkU Lions. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  2. ^ "Tko je Niko Sigur (19), Hajdukov debitant? 'Kad mi je Leko rekao da ću igrati, bio sam nervozan'". 24sata.hr.
  3. ^ "EVO TKO JE SLJEDEĆI NA REDU ZA PRIKLJUČIVANJE PRVOJ MOMČADI HAJDUKA, ON VEĆ SADA RADI RAZLIKU NA TERENU". jutarnji.hr.
  4. ^ "Magičan put za 365 dana: Niko Sigur, od uličnog fudbalera do debija za prvi tim Hajduka". nogomania.rs.
  5. ^ "Alumni Players". Mountain United FC. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "Niko Sigur". League1 Ontario. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  7. ^ "Niko Sigur NK Radomlje NK Brinje Grosuplje". NK Radomlje (in Croatian). Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Za Hajduk debitirao igrač koji je prošle godine igrao na ulici". Index.hr (in Croatian). Index Sport. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  9. ^ Alfirević, Slaven. "Tko je neočekivani debitant u momčadi Hajduka? Junior koji ne smije nastupati u Europi zbog posebnog pravila". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Niko Sigur: Bio sam nervozan prije debija, ali suigrači su mi puno pomogli" (in Croatian). HNK Hajduk Split. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "1. HNL: Varaždin - Hajduk 1:1". Hadjuk Split. February 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "Mlada zvijezda Hajduka prelomila između Kanade i Hrvatske?". Gol.hr.
  13. ^ "Dual Citizenship Dilemma: Talented Niko Sigur chooses Croatia". croatiaweek.com.
  14. ^ "Sigur odlučio promijeniti nogometno državljanstvo". Croatian Football Federation. August 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Kloke, Joshua (August 22, 2024). "Croatia dual national Niko Sigur switches to Canada". nytimes.com/athletic.
  16. ^ Rainbird, Daniel (August 27, 2024). "Midfielder Niko Sigur, winger Stephen Afrifa added to Canada roster for September friendlies". CBC Sports.
  17. ^ CANMNT [@CANMNT_Official] (September 10, 2024). "Checking in for the first time in #CanadaRed, Niko Sigur! #CANMNT #CANMEX" (Tweet). Retrieved September 10, 2024 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Niko Sigur at Soccerway
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