Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Tomislav Šokota | ||
Date of birth | 8 April 1977 | ||
Place of birth | Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1996–1997 | Samobor | 24 | (11) |
1997–2001 | Dinamo Zagreb | 92 | (49) |
2001–2005 | Benfica | 60 | (21) |
2005–2007 | FC Porto | 3 | (0) |
2007–2009 | Dinamo Zagreb | 20 | (6) |
2009–2010 | Lokeren | 27 | (5) |
2010–2011 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 19 | (7) |
Total | 245 | (99) | |
National team | |||
1993 | Croatia U16 | 1 | (0) |
1994 | Croatia U18 | 1 | (0) |
1994 | Croatia U19 | 1 | (0) |
1995–1996 | Croatia U20 | 3 | (0) |
1997–2000 | Croatia U21 | 19 | (10) |
2001 | Croatia B | 1 | (0) |
2003–2004 | Croatia | 8 | (2) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Tomislav "Tomo" Šokota (born 8 April 1977) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a striker. Šokota was a powerful striker but his promising career was overshadowed by frequent injuries, especially in second half of the 2000s. Šokota gave his best performances during his first spell with Dinamo Zagreb (1997–2001) and at Portuguese side Benfica (2001–2005). He was also a Croatia international and was capped eight times during the team's Euro 2004 campaign.
Šokota joined Porto from rivals Benfica, where he played between 2001 and 2005. He previously played four seasons for Croatian First League side Dinamo Zagreb, who signed him to his first professional contract from his youth club NK Samobor in 1997. While playing for Dinamo Zagreb, he became the top goalscorer of the Croatian First League in both 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons, scoring 21 and 20 goals respectively. He also made several appearances in the UEFA Champions League with the club during their participations in the 1998 and 1999 group stages of the competition. Following his very successful 2000–01 season he was signed by Primeira Liga side Benfica. During his time with the Lisbon side he played up front alongside Norwegian striker Azar Karadas for two seasons.
By the end of 2004, and after refusing all Benfica's contract renewal proposals, Šokota was relegated to Benfica B, the club's reserve squad, where he eventually played for the rest of the 2004–05 season. On 25 January 2004, he played in a 1–0 away win against Vitória de Guimarães, a game overshadowed by the tragic death of his team mate Miklós Fehér. In June 2005, after his contract with Benfica finally expired, he joined rivals FC Porto on a free transfer.