Šime Vrsaljko

Vrsaljko in 2017, photo by katatonia82/Bigstock.com

Place of Birth: Rijeka, Croatia

Date of Birth: 10 January, 1992

Ethnicity: Croatian

Šime Vrsaljko is a Croatian professional footballer. He played as a right-back, and has played with Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva, Genoa, Sassuolo, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, and Olympiacos, and for the Croatia national team.

Šime was born in exile in Rijeka, due to the bombing of his hometown of Zadar, where his family returned after the war. He is the son of Branka (Ćelić), who is from Dračevac Ninski, near Poličnik, and Mladen Vrsaljko, a footballer, from Zadar, who played with NK Zadar. His uncle, Svemir, was deputy mayor of Benkovac, and served as commander of the special unit force “Poskoci” (Long-Nosed Vipers), during the Croatian War of Independence. He has a son with his wife Matea Kedžo; and a daughter with Slovenian model Kaja Vidmar.

Šime is named after his paternal grandfather. His great-grandfather was killed by the Yugoslav Partisans when his grandfather was a child.