Dario Vidoà ¡ià( ; ; born 8 April 1987) is a former soccer player and current coach who is the manager of Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented Australia at international level.
Vidoà ¡iàwas born on 8 April 1987 in Osijek to Croatian parents, mother Jasna and father Rado Vidoà ¡iÃÂ. He moved with his parents from Croatia to Australia in 1988 when his father received an offer to play for the Queensland Lions. The family settled in Brisbane, and he attended Yugumbir State School for his early education at Regents Park, when Dario grew up he attended Cavendish Road State High School. His father was known for his extended career in both the A-League Men & Women's leagues, consisting of both head coaching and assistant roles.
Vidoà ¡iàplayed with Queensland Lions in 2004 and also competed in the 2004 National Schoolboys football competition. He received a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport and trained in their football (soccer) program before moving onto the A-League, signing a two-year contract with Queensland Roar at the start of the 2006âÂÂ07 season.
In Round 1, coming on as a substitute in the second half, Vidoà ¡iàset up a goal for Scotsman Simon Lynch before scoring a goal himself. Vidoà ¡iàstarted up front for Queensland Roar in Round 8 against Perth Glory and scored to make it 2âÂÂ1 in the Roar's favour, before being substituted. In Round 17, with midfielder Matt McKay out injured, Vidoà ¡iàstarted against the Central Coast Mariners and scored two goals; becoming the first player under the age of 21 to score 2 goals in an A-League game, and the first player under the age of 20 to score more than three goals in a season. Vidoà ¡iàscored once more in the season, against Melbourne Victory in Round 20.
His performance in the season was enough for the Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg to give him a two-week trial. 1. FC Nürnberg was a club that had strong Australian ties with four other players at the time, two of whom had come from the A-League the previous season. It was confirmed on 22 March 2007 that Vidoà ¡iàhad accepted a three-year contract with the Bundesliga club.
He was rarely used in his first season at the club, seeing just 60 minutes of playing time in four games for the Bundesliga side that was relegated at the end of the season. However, he was an integral part of the reserve side's promotion efforts that saw 1. FC Nürnberg II reach the newly organised Regionalliga Süd.
In the following season, he was hampered by injury trouble early on, seeing just three matches for the professional team and four â with one goal â for the reserve side before the winter break. He went on to unsuccessfully trial with Danish club Esbjerg fB.
Surprisingly, Vidoà ¡iàappeared back on the scene when he was brought on in a first-team match against SC Freiburg in which he scored his first competitive goal for 1. FC Nürnberg, giving the team the 1âÂÂ0 win at Dreisamstadion. After that match, Vidoà ¡iàwon more opportunities in the Nürnberg first-team scoring another crucial goal in a 1âÂÂ0 win over FC Ingolstadt 04 in early May, before another a week later in the Franconian derby against Greuther Fürth which ended 1âÂÂ1. Vidoà ¡iàwent on to help Nürnberg seal promotion back to the Bundesliga.
In an interview in May 2009, Vidoà ¡iàadmitted a debut call-up to the Australian national team would be a dream end to a great season.
On 19 January 2010, his club 1. FC Nürnberg announced that Vidoà ¡iàwould play on loan for MSV Duisburg the rest of the season.
On 1 January 2011, Vidoà ¡iàmoved to Arminia Bielefeld on loan for the rest of the 2010âÂÂ11 season after only making five appearances for Nürnberg prior to the loan.
In July 2011, Vidoà ¡iàreturned to Australia and signed a three-year contract with A-League club Adelaide United as their Australian marquee on a reported AU$320,000 a season. He scored his first goal for the club in just his second game against Sydney F.C.
On 26 August 2013, Adelaide United announced that they had released Dario from his contract so he could continue his career playing for Swiss club FC Sion for a transfer fee of AU$700,000.
Western Sydney Wanderers confirmed that Vidoà ¡iàhas joined the club on a two-year deal on 21 September 2015.
Liaoning Whowin confirmed that Vidoà ¡iàhas joined the club on 22 June 2016. He was introduced right away into the starting line-up and made his debut the same week against Guangzhou R&F. Following changes to the Chinese Super League's foreign allowance and Liaoning Whowin signing Australians Robbie Kruse and James Holland, Vidoà ¡iàwas released along with his Australian teammate Michael Thwaite in February 2017.
On 17 February 2017, a Korean media reported his move to Seongnam FC as a free agent. In June 2017, Vidoà ¡iÃÂ's contract was officially terminated by mutual consent.
On 4 August 2017, it was reported that Vidoà ¡iàwould be joining his father Rado at Wellington Phoenix on a one-year deal. On 20 December 2017, both Vidoà ¡iàand his father left the club.
On 29 December 2017, shortly after leaving Wellington Phoenix, Vidoà ¡iàjoined Melbourne City.
In July 2019, ATK confirmed that they had signed Vidoà ¡iàas their final foreign signing for the 2019âÂÂ20 ISL season. His start to his career with ATK was rough, as he sustained an injury in preseason that kept him out of action for the first half of the season.
In October 2006, Vidoà ¡iàwas selected in the Australian Under-20 squad, known as the Young Socceroos, and went on to compete in the 2006 AFC Youth Championships in India. In February 2007, he played for the Australian Under-23 team, the Olyroos, in an Olympic qualifier in Adelaide, scoring the 11th goal in Australia's 11âÂÂ0 win over Chinese Taipei.
In July 2008, after being left out of the Australian Olympic team for Beijing by Olyroos head coach Graham Arnold, he publicly mooted the possibility of playing for the Croatian national team at a senior level. However, according to FIFA Article 18, Vidoà ¡iàhas been ineligible to represent any country other than Australia in international football since April 2008, when he turned 21.
On 17 June 2009, Vidoà ¡iàmade his debut for the Socceroos in their last World Cup qualifier against Japan, he was substituted in for Tim Cahill in the 86th minute. His second cap was received while playing in a friendly against the Netherlands on 10 October 2009.
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