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Marko Livaja - best football player of the year according to tportal's 'Captains Choose'

21.1.2023

  • The title of the best player of the SuperSport Croatian Football League went to Marko Livaja with 32 points more than the runner-up Bruno Petković
  • This title before him went to Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva, Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Sammir, Ivan Santini, Leon Benko, Andrej Kramarić, Marin Tomasov, Franko Andrijašević, El Arabi Hilal Soudani, Dani Olmo, Bruno Petković, and Arijan Ademi.
  • The traditional poll tportal.hr conducted among all the captains of SuperSport Croatian Football League clubs; the best player was selected based on the sum of their votes
Marko Livaja - best football player of the year according to tportal's 'Captains Choose'


Marko Livaja, Hajduk's offensive player, was named the best footballer in a poll conducted by tportal among football captains for the 20th year in a row. The title of the best player of the SuperSport Croatian Football League went to Marko Livaja with 64 points, 32 more than the runner-up Bruno Petković.

tportal.hr conducted this traditional poll among all the captains of SuperSport Croatian Football League clubs and the best player was selected based on the sum of their votes. Each captain selected five players he thinks showed the most in the field in 2022. The first, or the best, was awarded ten, and the fifth two points. Hajduk's Marko Livaja became the best player of the Hrvatski Telekom First League by adding up the points. He won 64 points out of a possible 100. 

'The selection, which the sports editorial office of tportal has been carrying out since 2003, in cooperation with the captains of the Croatian major leaguers, is one of the most important sports awards in Croatia. 'Captains choose' for the 20th time, and the anniversary edition comes at an unusual time because of the World Cup in Qatar. As one of the leading news portals in Croatia, tportal also broke readership records in the days of football euphoria fueled by the Croatian national football team's great results and once again testified to the magical appeal of football and sports content, in general, will be just as important to us in the future,' said the tportal's editor-in-chief Dijana Suton.

On this occasion, she thanked the journalist and creator of the Captain's choose project, Silvija Škrlec, who, before announcing the winner, greeted numerous football guests at the Ambasador Hotel in Split. There were also representatives of the city of Split, the deputy mayor Antonio Kuzmanić, representatives of Hajduk, legends of the Split club, such as Stipe Andrijašević, Tonči Gabrić, and Ivica Šurjak

The first winner of this award, Niko Kranjčar, also addressed the audience via video message.

'I am honored to have been the first award winner, and I am overjoyed that this award has grown into what it is today. It is a great honor when your rivals choose you, with whom you share the football field, with whom you have a great rivalry and respect. Congratulations to all the winners so far, and I hope that Marko Livaja is overjoyed to have won this award once again', said Nike Kranjčar, who spent part of his successful football career in Split.

The previous 19 awards always took place after the end of the first part of the season. This time, due to the national team leaving for the world championship, it was moved to the beginning of the continuation of the season.

Before Livaja thanked for the votes, we reminded him that before him, the award went to Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo da Silva, Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Sammir, Leon Benko, Andrej Kramarić, Marin Tomasov, Franko Andrijašević, El Arabi Hilal Soudani, Dani Olmo, Bruno Petković, and Arijan Ademi. He received this recognition twice, just like Eduardo da Silva and Sammir.

It is an exceptional honor to win this prestigious award twice in a row, especially this year when it is the 20th edition. I emphasized last time that it is a special pleasure to be in the company of such names, great players who were chosen as the best by captains in the past. That will continue to be one of my motivations for further growth. I want to thank everyone who participated in the selection. I would especially like to thank Hajduk and my teammates, without whose help I would not have been able to achieve this,' said Livaja when receiving the tportal award, but also announced the exciting year 2023. 'Last year was a trophy year for us, we won the Croatian Cup, and I hope this year will be even more successful, both in domestic competitions and on the European level.'

Marko Livaja is the winner of the 20th selection, just as he was in 2021.

Final ranking

Marko Livaja (Hajduk) - 64 points
Bruno Petković (Dinamo) - 32
Josip Mišić (Dinamo), Mislav Oršić (Dinamo) - 30
Laszlo Kleinheisler (Osijek) - 26
Arijan Ademi (Dinamo) - 24
Josip Šutalo (Dinamo) - 18
Dion Drena Beljo (Osijek), Josip Drmić (Dinamo), Ivica Ivušić (Osijek), Lovre Rogić (Šibenik), Tonio Teklić (Varaždin) - 10
Toni Fruk (Gorica), Dominik Livaković (Dinamo), Lindon Selahi (Rijeka)- 6
Emir Sahiti (Hajduk) - 4
Ante Crnac (Slaven Belupo), Ante Erceg (Istra 1961 - 2

All previous winners

    1. Niko Kranjčar (Dinamo)
    2. Tomislav Erceg (Rijeka)
    3. Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo)
    4. Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo)
    5. Luka Modrić (Dinamo)
    6. Mario Mandžukić (Dinamo)
    7. Ermin Zec (Šibenik)
    8. Sammir (Dinamo)
    9. Ivan Santini (Zadar)
    10. Sammir (Dinamo)
    11. Leon Benko (Rijeka)
    12. Andrej Kramarić (Rijeka)
    13. Marin Tomasov (Rijeka)
    14. Franko Andrijašević (Rijeka)
    15. El Arabi Hilal Soudani (Dinamo)
    16. Daniel Olmo Carvajal (Dinamo)
    17. Bruno Petković (Dinamo)
    18. Arijan Ademi (Dinamo)
    19. Marko Livaja (Hajduk)
    20. Marko Livaja (Hajduk)