Oliver Zelenika

Oliver Zelenika (pronounced [oliʋer zelenika]; born 14 May 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays for Varazdin.

Zelenika was born in Zagreb and played youth football at Dinamo Zagreb Academy before starting his professional career with Rudes on a season-long loan spell. After returning to Dinamo Zagreb in 2013, Zelenika moved to Lokomotiva in 2014 on a loan spell lasting until the end of the 2015–16 Prva HNL season.

Zelenika won 43 caps with the youth teams of the Croatia national team and remains uncapped with the senior team.

Club Career

Early years

Zelenika's professional career took off in Dinamo Zagreb. After completing his youth academy training, he would finally be promoted to the first-team squad in 2011, albeit shortly thereafter, without making a single appearance for the club, he would join a tier two club Rudes on a season-long loan spell. While at Rudes, he immediately established himself as a first-choice goalkeeper for the club and, in the end, missed out on only one out of 30 league matches the club played during their 2012–13 Druga HNL campaign and conceded a total of 30 goals.

Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva Zagreb

At the end of the 2012–13 season, Zelenika returned to Dinamo Zagreb and rejoined the club's first-team squad. On 23 July 2013, after an abrupt departure of the club's first-team goalkeeper Pablo Migliore, Zelenika was fielded by the head coach Krunoslav Jurcic in a 2013–14 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase home match against Fola Esch, thus making his first official appearance for the club and also keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win. He would make his first league appearance for the club five days later, playing a full match and keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw against Rijeka. After achieving his fourth consecutive clean sheet in his fourth appearance for the club, Jurcic praised Zelenika and commented that he "is exactly the type of a goalkeeper the club needs, a one that woul