Igor Tudor (born April 16, 1978 in Split, Croatia), is a former Croatian football (soccer) defender. He was one of Croatia's best defenders in recent history.
His last club was Hajduk Split. On July 22, 2008 he decided to retire after the problems with his right ankle reappeared.
Football career
Early years
Tudor started his professional career at Hajduk Split in 1995 scoring 5 goals in 58 matches, being considered a revelation for his technique and ball control above the average of a defender.
Juventus
After three seasons at Hajduk, he was acquired by Juventus in 1998. He spent six full seasons at Juve before he went on loan to AC Siena in January 2005. Following Juventus' relegation to Serie B and the expiration of his loan contract with Siena, Tudor returned to Juventus, but injuries kept him off the pitch all the season. His contract expired on 30 June, 2007.
Return to Croatia
Constantly struggling with injuries and mysterious bacterial infection of his ankle, Tudor was almost forced to end his career in 2007, but in June 2007 he decided to join his former club Hajduk Split after not renewing his contract with Juventus. After a highly cautious rehabilitation process his comeback was in the match against NK Zadar on October 20, 2007. This was his first official match in over 16 months. However he was unable to reach his previous form and his ankle injury problems continued. On July 22, 2008 he announced his early retirement.
International career
He was a regular in the Croatian national team from 1997 to 2006.
Tudor was paIgor Tudor begann seine Karriere beim kroatischen Traditionsklub Hajduk Split und galrt of the Croatian squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup but missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup with injury. He won the Croatia's Player of the Year Award in 2002, [1]and also played for his country at Euro 2004, unfortunately scoring an own goal, but he also scored a goal when Croatia lost by 4-2 against England. Igor Tudor was also included in Croatia's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad.
Career statistics
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