Dario Smoje

Dario Smoje
Personal information
Full name	Dario Smoje
Date of birth	19 September 1978 (age 45)
Place of birth	Rijeka, Croatia
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–1997	Rijeka
1997–1998	Milan
1998–2000	Monza
2000–2001	Ternana
2001–2003	Dinamo Zagreb
2003–2004	NK Zagreb
2004–2009	Gent
2009–2010	Panionios
2010–2011	Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Total
International career‡
2003	Croatia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 June 2011; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 February 2003

Dario Smoje (born 19 September 1978 in Rijeka, Croatia) is a former Croatian footballer who played as a defender. He started his senior career at NK Rijeka, before spending four years in Italy. He spent the next three years back in Croatia before moving to Belgium for five years and finishing his career with short stints in Greece and back in Croatia.

Career edit

Early career edit

Dario Smoje began his senior career at NK Rijeka. There he debuted as a 16-year-old.

Move to Italy edit

After two years in the senior team at Rijeka, he moved to Italian giants A.C. Milan, in a move worth close to €1m. Competing for places at Milan with the likes of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Marcel Desailly, the young man didn't get many chances, making just seven appearances in all competitions in his first season with Milan. He moved to Serie B side Monza where he made 22 appearances and even scored a goal in his first season. The next season, he was a constant in the first team, making 30 appearances and scoring another goal. A move to Ternana followed in 2000, but it proved to be a poor career choice for Smoje, as he made just three appearances for the second division side.

Return to Croatia edit

He returned to Croatia in 2001 to sign for Croatian giants GNK Dinamo Zagreb. At Dinamo, Smoje won the Croatia Cup, Supercup and league title. After 38 appearances over two seasons in the blue of Dinamo, he moved to cross-town rivals NK Zagreb in 2003 and spent a year with the Poets.

Later years edit

Smoje signed a 5-year deal with Gent in 2004. He spent all five years of his contract with Gent, making 89 appearances in that time. He ruptured his achilles tendon in 2007 and never truly recovered, unable to make himself a first team regular since and was duly released when his contract expired in 2009.

On 22 May 2009 Panionios F.C. signed the Croatian central defender on free transfer.^[1] He made just one appearance for Panionios before being released.

He signed for Hrvatski Dragovoljac on 9 September 2010, but made just three appearances in the 2010/11 season before deciding to retire.