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Opinion
The tiny Croatian village of Bijelo Brdo was named after an archaeological site – that encompasses a medieval graveyard.
With a population of under 2000 people, its quaint lifestyle could present the perfect opportunity for a former young Australian prodigy to resurrect his football career.
Mark Tokich may not be a name familiar to casual supporters, but he has recently signed for NK Bijelo Brdo who play in the Croatian second division
The former Canberra Croatia FC junior’s player, was one of the star graduates of the Coever Coaching program.
Coever Coaching is a philosophy from Dutch coach Will Coever – that was based on analysis of superstars like Pelé and Diego Maradona.
The teachings are aimed more at attacking players with a high emphasis on ball control, dribbling, passing, movement, creativity and finishing.
Regardless of how good Tokich’s technical ability was in his early teens, he ended up being passed over by a lot of Australian clubs – due to his small stature
The player did have his admirers though and FFA CEO head coach Tony Vidmar took a chance on the scrawny 14-year-old, by allowing him to train with the centre of excellence – before eventually offering a scholarship.
Entering the academy at only 165cm in height and 47kg in weight before graduating as a 17-year-old who had grown to 183cm in height and filled out at 72kg in weight – yet another classic Australian football tale of a teenager developing extremely late.
Tokich was named the 2016-17 Foxtel National Youth League Player of the Year which led to trials in Germany before signing his first professional contract with the Western Sydney Wanderers.
His time with the Wanderers didn’t go as expected, with the coaches preferring more mature age players rather than exciting youngsters with potential.
When Tokich was making inroads at training and with the NPL side, his hard work was halted due to repetitive soft tissue injuries that marred his tenure with the wanderers.
Tokich finally got his long-awaited move to Europe, signing for Swedish side Mjallby in 2021- but was only able to make just the 1 substitute appearance in a competitive match.
In January 2022 the player transferred to another Swedish side, Sölvesborg before leaving in august for the country of his ancestry, Croatia – to link a deal with NK Bijelo Brdo.
Tokich has been given the #11 shirt by his new club and has so far made 4 appearances in season 22/23
NK Bijelo Brdo already are bottom of the league due to a leaky defence and the club look set to be in for a very difficult season.
Mark Tokich is 23 years old now and it’s only been less than 18 months, since he had helped Australia qualify for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup – with a crucial goal against Indonesia
The player is still regarded very highly by Australian coaching staff due to his technically ability – but really needs to start building a consecutive run of matches together.
It is hard to believe that in the last four years Tokich has played almost as many underage international matches for Australia as actual club side matches
Croatian footballs second division may not be the strongest second division in Europe, but Tokich could find the village of Bijelo Brdo matches up well – with his quiet demeanour.
Right now, all Mark Tokich has to focus on – is getting more miles into his legs.
If he is unable to do this, then he will be yet another name added to the lengthy list of former talented Australian teenagers – whose football careers didn’t turn out, how they were expected to.
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