Marija Banušić

Marija Banušić
Personal information
Full name Marija Maredinho Banušić
Birth name Marija Banušić
Date of birth (1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Uppsala, Sweden
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
 Napoli
Number 10
Youth career
VP
IK Fyris
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 Gamla Upsala SK
2012 IK Sirius 16 (16)
2013–2014 Kristianstads DFF 33 (7)
2015 Chelsea Ladies 8 (0)
2016 Eskilstuna United DFF 16 (6)
2017–2018 Linköpings FC 26 (13)
2018–2019 Beijing BG Phoenix
2019–2021 Montpellier 13 (3)
2021 Roma 5 (1)
2021–2022 Pomigliano 21 (7)
2022–2023 Parma 13 (4)
2023– Napoli 1 (0)
International career‡
2014–2018 Sweden 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:52, 2 January 2022 (UTC)

Marija Maredinho Banušić (born 17 September 1995) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Napoli. She previously played for Linköpings FC, Eskilstuna United DFF and Kristianstads DFF of the Damallsvenskan, spent a season in England with FA WSL club Chelsea, a season in China with Beijing BG Phoenix and two seasons in France with Montpellier before spending half a season with AS Roma in 2021 and then one year with Pomigliano and one year with Parma. She won her first cap for the Sweden women's national team in November 2014. She has previously worn the name Maredinho on her shirt, originally a nickname her father had given her in homage to male footballer Ronaldinho,[1] which she later adopted as her middle name.[2]

Club career

In 2012 Banušić scored 16 goals for Norrettan club IK Sirius and became a transfer target for clubs in the Damallsvenskan, Sweden's top division.[3] Banušić made a favourable early impression after signing for Kristianstads in 2013. Teammate and fellow Uppsala-native Josefine Öqvist called her a potential "världsspelare" (English: world-class player), while coach Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir declared her the biggest talent in the history of Swedish women's football.[4]

Playing for Kristianstads in 2014

Banušić gave Kristianstads the lead in the 2014 Svenska Cupen (English: Swedish Cup) final, but they were defeated 2–1 by Linköpings FC.[5] After the season she decided to leave Kristianstads and returned to Uppsala, where she considered several offers from other clubs from Sweden and abroad.[6] Banušić agreed a transfer to London-based FA WSL club Chelsea Ladies in January 2015.[7]

With Chelsea Banušić started three of her eight league appearances as the club won the 2015 FA WSL title. She was an unused substitute in Chelsea's 1–0 win over Notts County at the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time. Banušić had fallen further down the pecking order when Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign Fran Kirby during the season.

In December 2015 Banušić announced that she would return to Sweden to play for Damallsvenskan club Eskilstuna United DFF in 2016.[8] After moving to Linköpings FC the following season, her new club won the 2017 Damallsvenskan title. While her teammates celebrated, an emotional Banušić invited her critics to eat their words.[9] In July 2018 she was reunited with her former Linköping coach Kim Björkegren when she transferred to the Chinese Women's Super League club Beijing Phoenix.[10]

On 1 February 2021, Banušić signed with Italian Serie A team Roma.[11] She made her Roma debut on 6 February 2021, coming off the substitutes' bench in Roma's 4–0 away victory over Pink Bari.[12] In her third appearance for Roma, Banušić scored an overhead kick against Inter Milan in what would prove to be the winning goal on the day.[13] Banušić was also part of the Roma squad that won the 2021 Coppa Italia final against AC Milan in May 2021.[14]

In total, Banušić made five appearances for Roma and scored one goal during her half-year stay in the Italian capital. On 14 July 2021, it was announced that Banušić had moved from Roma to newly-promoted Serie A club Pomigliano.[15] Seven goals in 21 appearances helped Pomigliano avoid relegation, before Banušić signed for Parma in July 2022.[16]

On 2 August 2023 she signed for newly-promoted Serie A club Napoli.[17]

International career

In June 2013 Banušić was named in senior national team coach Pia Sundhage's squad for a 1–1 friendly draw with Brazil.[18] She was hopeful of a surprise call-up to Sweden's UEFA Women's Euro 2013 squad,[19] but was not selected and went to the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship instead.

Playing for Sweden in 2015

In November 2014 Banušić made her senior Sweden debut against Canada in Los Angeles. The match, which finished in a 1–0 defeat, was played behind closed doors but still counted as a full FIFA international fixture. Banušić was disappointed with the result but satisfied with her performance after coming on as a second-half substitute. She hoped to stay in contention for a place at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[20] She was particularly disappointed to be dropped from the national team for UEFA Women's Euro 2017, although she was recalled shortly afterwards.[2]

Because of her Croatian origin,[2] she was also eligible to represent Croatia.

References

  1. ^ Bergström, Kristoffer (13 June 2013). "17-åriga Maredinho är landslagets okända artist" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Grefve, Daniel (18 September 2017). "Marija Banusic redo för landslagsspel – efter uppmärksammade konflikten: "Har varit tufft"" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  3. ^ Liljedahl, Carl-Johan (11 April 2013). "Brasiliansk samba för Marija Banusic" (in Swedish). Kristianstadsbladet. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  4. ^ Palm, Olle (12 April 2013). "Meriterad stjärna och 17-årig talang" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  5. ^ Rogovitski, Dmitri (8 August 2014). "Ryazan and Linköping claim cups". Moscow: UEFA. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  6. ^ Meisels, Daniel (18 November 2014). "Vägen till VM går via Uppsala" (in Swedish). Upsala Nya Tidning. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Marija Banusic: Chelsea Ladies sign Sweden international forward". BBC. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Banusic och Björn till Eskilstuna" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  9. ^ Fagerlund, Frida (29 October 2017). "Banusic bröt ihop: "De får äta upp sina ord"" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  10. ^ Gustafsson, Jeppe (2 July 2018). "Marija Banusic till Kina" (in Swedish). Göteborgs-Posten. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  11. ^ "ROMA WOMEN MAKE BANUSIC ADDITION". asroma.com.
  12. ^ "Pink Bari vs. AS Roma Match Report – Saturday February 6, 2021". FBref.com. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  13. ^ "AS Roma vs. Internazionale Match Report – Saturday March 20, 2021". FBref.com. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  14. ^ bren (31 May 2021). "Roma Wins 2021 Coppa Italia in Penalty Shootout". Chiesa Di Totti. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Colpo del Pomigliano: ecco Marija Banušić dalla Roma". L Football (in Italian). 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Banusic joins Parma". LTA Agency. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Banusic, Pellinghelli, Beretta, Bertucci e Giai in azzurro" (in Italian). 2 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  18. ^ Broman, Elin (5 June 2013). "Lina Hurtig i Sundhages trupp" (in Swedish). Dalarnas Tidningar. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  19. ^ Edwinsson, Lisa (10 June 2013). "Banusic: En 17-årig målspruta" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  20. ^ Nordström, Gunnar. "Sverige förlorade mot Kanada i Los Angeles" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
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