Macarthur Bulls winger Marin Jakoliš is not giving up on his dream of playing for the Subway Socceroos, despite discovering he is currently ineligible to represent the Australian national team.
The 27-year-old was born in Šibenik, Croatia but also holds an Australian passport thanks to his father, who spent the first 15 years of his life in Melbourne. But crucially for Jakoliš’ Socceroos eligibility, his father was born in Croatia just months before his arrival in Australia.
Four rounds into the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season, Jakoliš is one of the form players of the competition and sits equal-top of the Golden Boot leaderboard with four goals for Macarthur, in a continuation of his stellar pre-season form which helped his new club to the Australia Cup title.
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Jakoliš joined the Bulls after one season on loan at Melbourne City – his first in Australia and the Isuzu UTE A-League. Since he arrived at City, Jakoliš has spoken openly about his desire to represent the Socceroos, however a recent conversation with a Macarthur staff member clarified his standing per FIFA rules.
Regarding a potential call-up, the fact neither his parents nor grandparents were born in Australia means Jakoliš must live in the country for five continuous years to satisfy FIFA’s eligibility requirements for Socceroos selection.
“Obviously, I was disappointed,” Jakoliš told aleagues.com.au.
“Usually, I’m a guy who is always laughing but those three or four days at training I was a little bit off. It hits you even though you know you can do nothing about it. I cannot control that my father moved to Australia at three months (old).
“When I was thinking about the national team I was talking with my mum and dad and they were like: ‘Yeah, your father grew up there, your father’s sister was born in Australia, she’s living in Sydney, she was living there for 15 years, my grandma was living there for 15 years, my grandfather, everybody was in Australia so it’s only logical to represent them’.
“I love it here, I can see myself being here and when someone says to you: ‘You can’t do that’, but it’s not your fault, it’s even harder to accept than: ‘We’re sorry, we have better players’. If someone said to me that someone is better then okay, that’s no problem. I agree or don’t agree. But (this), I can’t do anything about it.
“I’m still hoping about it. Obviously you can’t control it and I can’t be mad or angry about something I cannot control. So if it’s meant to be it will come.
“Three or four days I was a little bit down, but then why? Why am I down? I cannot control something, so why be down about it? It’s not a nice feeling but life goes on… hopefully this will happen eventually.”
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An eventual Socceroos debut is a dream held dearly by Jakoliš who, growing up in Šibenek, heard plentiful stories about Australia and Australian life, thanks to his father who was gripped by the nation’s sporting culture through his 15 years in the country.
“He was one month when they went to the boat, and spent two months on the boat to come to Australia when he was about three months old,” Jakoliš explained.
“He grew up in Melbourne. All of his life he’s talked to me about Collingwood, about how he played footy, how he had a big backyard in Fairfield in Melbourne and how he played cricket there, he played footy there.
“Then my grandmother and grandfather divorced and my grandmother went back to Croatia and he decided to go to Croatia with my grandmother, and he’s spent his whole life there.
“He was crazy about Collingwood. Collingwood was everything to him. Back when I didn’t know anything about Australia he’d be listening to something at five or six in the morning, and I was like: ‘What’s happening here? It’s five or six in the morning and you’re listening to the footy?’ He would be drinking coffee and listening to the games.
“Even cricket, he was playing in Split with Australians and people who came to Split for work. He was all about it, and he loved it.
“His dream when he left Australia was he (wanted) to come back in 1994 or 1995, but he said Australia was just too advanced, and the life was fast and he could not handle it. He was like: ‘I’m here, and everything I knew about it, I don’t know about it anymore’. He was disappointed in himself because he could not keep up with everything that was happening in Australia, but he was always telling me: ‘I want to go with you to Australia, I want to visit Australia with you’.
“And I was saying to him: ‘One time, when I’m playing somewhere and I have one month off, we’ll go together. I will bring you to Australia’. Because he was talking so much about it.”
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Little did Jakoliš know that an opportunity would arise to fulfil that promise not as a tourist, but as a footballer. Jakoliš played for clubs in Croatia, Belgium, Austria, France and Cyprus before the opportunity arose to join Melbourne City in 2023, and to bring his father back to Australia for the first time since his childhood.
“I never was thinking it would be like this,” Jakoliš said.
“I thought we’d go for a vacation for two or three weeks. I wanted to see it as well because when someone talks to you like that, obviously their memory about it is a huge thing, and they think about it so nicely so I wanted to see what he was talking about. I wanted to experience that.
“Then, when the call came from City last year I thought: ‘Yeah, this is the moment to do it, to make a new step in your life’. And I’m glad. I think it was the best decision I made since I played football.”
If you’ve tuned into the Isuzu UTE A-League throughout Jakoliš’ first season and change in Australia, you will have seen the City-turned-Macarthur star darting up and down the wing in kit number 44 – an unusual choice for an attacking player.
But Jakoliš has worn number 44 at several clubs throughout his career, paying homage to Croatian basketball star Dražen Petrović, who tragically lost his life in a car accident in 1993, aged 28.
Petrović was born in Šibenek and was coached by Jakoliš’ father in the early years of a career that led the shooting guard to the NBA, where he played for Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets before being posthumously honoured in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“My father was a basketball coach,” Jakoliš explained.
“I love basketball, and he was always talking about Dražen Petrović, one of the first (Croatian) guys who ever came to the NBA. He was talking to me about his work ethic, how he would always be in the gym, outside shooting. When the people came to clean he was there shooting the ball.
“Unfortunately he died when he was really young. Just because in Portland he was wearing 44, and he’s from my hometown, it just meant something to me so that’s the reasoning behind it. He (my dad) was his coach in Šibenek before he went to Cibona and the NBA.”
As a kid in Šibenek, Jakoliš was an avid basketball and football fan, and split his time playing both.
But in his early teens, he was confronted with the harsh reality of deciding between the two sports.
“I loved basketball the same amount as I loved football,” he said. “So I was like: ‘We have a problem right now. We have a big problem’. Because I was good at basketball, I was very good, and people were telling me I’m very good at soccer, and to decide on one.
“I was a kid, so my parents were deciding for me. Whatever they decided, I’d be happy and sad at the same time.
“Whoever coached me said: ‘You need to play football, don’t even think about basketball’. And then my neighbour, who was my basketball coach, said: ‘Don’t even think about football, you need to play basketball!’.
“In the end, it was my parents’ choice and happily, they made the right choice.”
The decision led to a career in football for Jakoliš, who has followed in the footsteps of his older brother and fellow professional, Antonio.
“I was always looking up to him,” he said. “He was three-and-a-half years older than me so it was nice to have a brother to help me with everything. I looked up to him, I was trying to do whatever he was doing.
“Three years ago, we played at Šibenek together and it was the best thing that could ever happen, playing with your brother in the same team in your hometown.
“At the point we played together in Šibenek we had a good chat, and he said: ‘You can make a lot more than I did, you just need to keep doing what you do and everything will come’.
“Now on a daily basis we are talking, he watches every game and I watch all of his games. He’s my older brother so he’s there for me, when I was struggling in France he was there for me, when I was happy last year in City he was there for me. It’s nice to have an older brother to help and guide you through this career, because it’s not easy to be a professional, for any athlete it’s hard.
“So when you have someone to be there for you whenever you need something, it makes it easier.”
Now, at 27 years of age, Jakoliš is relishing his new life in Australia.
Convinced to return to the Isuzu UTE A-League for a second season by Macarthur CEO Sam Krslovic, Jakoliš has wasted no time settling into life in Campbelltown, putting four goals and two assists on the board in four league appearances for the Bulls after notching three goals and three assists in the 2024 Australia Cup campaign – including the match-winning strike in a 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory in the final.
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“Since I arrived, everybody has helped me in the best possible way,” he said.
“I’m thinking the pitch is a reflection of what’s happening in your private life and if you’re happy or not. Everything about Macarthur, about Sydney is going really great. I just think that everything happening in the club, around the club, in my private life is showing on the pitch, and I’m full of confidence.
“Last year when I came to Australia, it was a new life. You need time to get used to it. I was thinking it would be much easier but it was actually pretty hard the first few months, I was coming to Australia from Europe, it’s a completely new life and you just need to get used to it.
“This year, I knew what’s coming, what’s happening in Australia, how teams play, which abilities they have so I was much more prepared this year than last year.
“At City, I could be happy with the season but the numbers weren’t there. This season, I feel good. The cup was unbelievable to win something and it just gave me a huge boost (to think): you are someone and you can do something in this league. And we have this mentality with all the players that came in, and the experienced players at the club. We want to be the best and we want to prove to everyone the cup was not lucky, and we deserve to be there.
“I was in Croatia, in Šibenek and I had some issues with the French club about my contract, because I had one more year. They didn’t want me to come back, I didn’t want to come back, it was a mutual agreement not to come back.
“Sam called me and said he wants me to come here, the coach wants me to come to Macarthur… after two days I signed. I just said: ‘Let me fix things with the French team and I’m coming’. He knows I gave him my word that I would come back.
“It was pretty easy, it was not a tough decision. I had some offers in Europe but I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to be in Australia because I love it here. As long as you’re happy, it doesn’t matter where you are – and it shows on the pitch.”
Next up for Jakoliš and Macarthur is a meeting with Auckland FC in Unite Round; the Black Knights have a perfect record after three games, having beaten Brisbane Roar, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix in their first season in the competition.
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The Bulls take on Auckland in the final game of Unite Round – a special occasion on the A-Leagues calendar in which all 14 clubs across the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Liberty A-League Women convene in Sydney for 12 games across two venues, with the men’s fixtures taking place at Allianz Stadium.
“It’s amazing,” Jakoliš said, looking ahead to Unite Round. “It’s the first time I’ve seen in football that there’s one weekend where everyone is playing in the same city.
“It’s good for the city, it’s good for Australia, it’s unbelievable because if you support some team you can be here. I think this game against Auckland will be full, there will be a lot of supporters because everyone wants to see good football.
“When I first heard about it I was like: ‘No way, this is actually unbelievable, I’d never heard about it before’. So I’m very excited about it… it’s just amazing.
“We’re playing Auckland, a good team, good start, new team, they are on fire. They won three from three games, so it will be a good game for football.”
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