At 6ft 2in this towering rock in the heart of MyTeam’s defence, cuts an imposing figure in the backline amongst his opponents. A former Croatian National Junior, Mijo Dadic is the pillar of strength with great aerial ability that makes him one of the most consistent performers in the team. He first made his mark in Malaysia with MK Land, before returning in 2006 as part of coach Bojan Hodak’s foreign recruits in MyTeam’s Premier League debut.
Mijo, the youngest in a family of five, loved the game since he was a kid and was enrolled in a football school at his birthplace in Rijeka at the age of 7. Despite having no football blood in the family, his father is retired and his mother is a cook, Mijo excelled in the sport he chose and was selected to play for Croatia’s National Juniors at the Under-16, Under-17 & Under-18 age groups.
Mijo signed his first professional contract when he turned 19, for his hometown club NK Rijeka, which is the third most successful club in his country. He was tied for 4 years there with Rijeka plying in the First Division. Targeted as one for the future, Rijeka loaned out the youngster to NK Pomorac in his first season, to gain more experience in the top level competition. The central defender who was occasionally used as a cover in defensive midfield, spent six months there before being sent to NK Orient in the Second Division, also on loan. Following his successful short term stints at both clubs, Rijeka recalled Mijo for the start of his second season there in 2001. Off the field, things did not turn out the way Mijo expected as he was not paid wages regularly, while on the field he did not get a chance. A new coach from across town took over the reigns at Rijeka, side-lining Mijo in favour of players that had followed him there. Hapoel Ranana, promised to free Mijo of his misery in 2002 following successful trials with the Israeli outfit, but Rijeka demanded an astronomical figure of DM1 million (1 million Deutsche Marks = RM2.85 miliion Ringgit in 2002), causing Ranana to balk at the figure and abandon plans of signing Mijo. Fed-up of his prospects at Rijeka with two more years remaining on his contract, Mijo began the search for other opportunities to venture abroad. He brokered at deal with the club that had owed him USD100,000 (RM380,000 in 2002), telling the management of Rijeka that he would be willing to forego the amount in return for his International Transfer Certificate (ITC). Mijo wanted out, and they agreed.
Childhood friend Marin Mikac convinced his fellow compatriot to seek fortune in Malaysia, and Mijo duly followed in 2004. Together with Marin, they managed to land a contract with Premier League side MK Land, under the watchful eye of head coach Khan Hung Meng, joining a team laden with big stars of the Malaysian game such as Marlon Alex James, K.Nanthakumar, Shahrin Majid, Paidiya Rao, M.Chandran amongst others. There was much excitement for club football back then; fighting for honours with the states in the Malaysian League and MK Land emerged as a force to be reckoned with. In his first season there, MK Land missed out on promotion to the Super League, finishing three points behind winners MPPJ, as during then only the champion’s gain promotion. It was an almost similar tale the following season in 2005 when MK Land finished third in the standings, once more failing to obtain promotion. A cruel twist of fate in 2006, caused MK Land to pullout from the M-League that year citing financial difficulties, and thus were handed a 5 year ban by FAM. Their staff including the players were left in a quandary and Mijo was forced to head home, due to FAM’s ridiculous ruling whereby foreign players were not allowed to switch camps immediately within the League, upon completion of their contract, despite him attracting attention from other teams.
Returning to Croatia in 2006, Mijo played Second Division football with a club from Zagreb. It was a decent club but they too struggled with players’ wages. Fellow countryman Bojan Hodak rescued Mijo from obscurity in their country, offering the latter a chance to play for another club side, MyTeam FC in their Premier League debut. Mijo was glad to learn that his former mentor at MK Land, Khan Hung Meng also assumed a coaching position at the club, and immediately agreed to come back to Malaysia. It was a remarkable season for MyTeam, chugging their way up the standings to earn promotion to the Super League, finishing runner-up. However, Mijo who played a pivotal part in the first half of the campaign, even scoring MyTeam’s first ever goal in the M-League, was struck by ligament injury in the home match against Sabah in April, and missed the rest of the season recuperating.
Mijo’s back at his best now, and will feature in the Super League for the first time in yet another debut of sorts for MyTeam FC. Thoroughly enjoying his time here, he recently signed on an extension to his playing career saying “I give my best all the time, and I hate to lose”
Mijo is still single and currently resides in Taman Desa.
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