SC East Bengal have completed the signing of Australian defender Tomislav Mrcela ahead of the ISL 2021-22 season. The 30-year-old was with A-League side Perth Glory up until 2020.
Born in Perth, Australia, Mrcela moved to Croatia at a young age and was part of the academy at Croatian club RNK Split between the years 2001 and 2009. He left the academy in 2009 and spent a couple of years at lower division clubs before joining NK Imotski who were playing in the Croatian second-tier – the Druga HNL.
After a couple of seasons in the second tier which also included a spell at NK Mosor, Tomislav switched sides in 2013 to NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac who compete in the Prva HNL – the top-tier league in Croatia. A year later, he moved to NK Lokomotiva Zagreb and spent two more seasons in the top flight. He also represented Zagreb in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
In 2016, Mrcela transferred to South Korean club Jeonnam Dragons and spent three years with the club in K League 1. Then, he joined Perth Glory on a two-year contract in 2018 and won the league in his first season with the club. His contract with Perth Glory ended in September of 2020 and the centre-back has been a free agent ever since.
Overall in his club career, Mrcela has made 224 appearances and the 6’4″ defender has a penchant for goal-scoring with 14 goals and six assists to his name.
Tomislav Mrcela, Stats, A-League 2019-20
| Total | Position | Minutes played | Goals | Assists | Shots / on target | xG | Passes / accurate | Long passes / accurate | Crosses / accurate | Dribbles / successful | Duels / won | Aerial duels / won | Interceptions | Losses / own half | Recoveries / opp. half | Yellow card | Red card |
| Tomislav Mrcela, 18 apps | CB, RCB | 1748 | 2 | 0 | 11/27.3% | 1.4 | 811/90% | 123/63.4% | 1/0% | 1/0% | 191/61.3% | 93/65.6% | 95 | 110/41.8% | 186/11.8% | 4 | 0 |
One Comment