Etien Velikonja

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Etien Velikonja
250px
Velikonja playing for Cardiff City in 2013
Personal information
Full name Etien Velikonja[1]
Date of birth (1988-12-26) 26 December 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Lierse
(on loan from Cardiff City)
Youth career
Gorica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Gorica 104 (32)
2011–2012 Maribor 48 (20)
2012– Cardiff City 3 (0)
2014–2015 → Rio Ave (loan) 7 (1)
2015– → Lierse (loan) 44 (30)
International career‡
2006–2007 Slovenia U19 3 (1)
2007–2010 Slovenia U21 14 (3)
2009–2012 Slovenia 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 April 2016
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 April 2016

Etien Velikonja (born 26 December 1988 in Šempeter pri Gorici)[2] is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Lierse on loan from Cardiff City.

Club career

Gorica

Velikonja started to play football at Gorica which is a club well known for their excellent youth system.[3] Coming through their youth system, he was improving season by season until 2006–07, when he was promoted to the senior squad.[3] In his first season he took part in seven matches, scoring one goal. Next year during season 2007–08 the managerial staff already understood that he is an enormous talent and Velikonja played 31 matches, scoring seven goals.[3] During the 2008–09 campaign Velikonja exploded, the young striker played 32 matches, scoring an amazing total of 17 goals. Finishing the campaign as the top goal scorer in the Slovenian 1.SNL.[3] In October 2009, on a league match against Koper,[4] he sustained a serious knee injury which caused him to miss the majority of 2009–10 season.[5] He was not available to the team up until the end of April 2010, four rounds before the end of the season, when he returned to the pitch as a late substitute in a league match against Drava.[6]

Maribor

File:NK Maribor2011.jpg
Velikonja with the Slovenian PrvaLiga trophy in 2011.

During the 2010 summer transfer window it was speculated for the first time that Velikonja could join 1.SNL Maribor, however, the deal was eventually not carried out and Velikonja stayed in Gorica for the start of the 2010–11 season.[7] He then prepared himself for the new season, putting his injury behind him, as by the end of 2010 he had played a total of 18 league matches for Gorica with an average of over 89 minutes per round, scoring five goals in the process.[8] On 17 January 2011, during the winter transfer window, Velikonja was signed by Maribor in a deal that included an undisclosed transfer fee and a player, Vito Plut, going the other way.[9][10] Velikonja has signed a contract with Maribor until 31 December 2013.[2] He played his first league match for the new club on 26 February 2011, and scored one goal in a 4–2 victory against Rudar.[11]

Cardiff City

On 12 July 2012, Velikonja signed a four-year contract for Football League Championship side Cardiff City.[12][13][14] The whole transfer is reportedly worth €3.6 million and Zlatko Zahovič, director of football at Maribor, stated that the Velikonja transfer was a record high for the Slovenian PrvaLiga, at the time.[13][14][15][16] Maribor reportedly received a compensation of €2 million, with Velikonja earning around €400,000 per season for a total of €1.6 million in four years with the Welsh side.[13][14][15][16] He joined his new club on 25 July after the second qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League.[13] He made his debut on 21 August in a 0–0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. Despite a prolific goalscoring record for Cardiff's Development Squad, Velikonja found first-team opportunities limited during his first season at the club, but was rewarded for his patience with a start up front at Hull City on the final day of the title-winning campaign, which resulted in being substituted at half time after an ineffective performance.

Rio Ave

After months of waiting for his Premier League debut and with manager Malky Mackay seemingly unwilling to include him in any of his matchday squads City loaned him to Rio Ave in January 2014 until the end of the season. He played two cup finals with Nuno Espirito Santo's team but lost the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga showdowns against Benfica.

Lierse

With Cardiff swiftly relegated to the Championship Velikonja was loaned out again in January 2015. Former Slovenia national team manager Slaviša Stojanović brought Velikonja to Lierse, where he was fighting relegation with his assistant Miloš Kostić. The team with Spanish world cup winner Joan Capdevila and Montenegrin goalkeeper Boban Bajković lost the battle for survival with Velikonja scoring one of his five goals in the play-offs. He stayed with Lierse and started life in the Belgian Second Division with a bang, scoring eight goals in his first eight appearances.[17] With mid-table Lierse struggling in the fight for promotion the former Gorica man broke his all-time goalscoring record for a single season by scoring his 21st goal against Heist on 19 March.[18] Velikonja finished the season with a record goal tally of 25 and as the league's top scorer for the second time in his career. He was crucial to Lierse in the fight for the top eight places. Lierse finished 7th and avoided the drop to Belgian amateur league football.[19] He became Lierse fans' player of the season.[20]

International career

Etien Velikonja was a member of all the Slovenian youth national teams.[3] On 12 August 2009, Velikonja made his full international debut for Slovenia national team at the Ljudski vrt stadium, Maribor, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against San Marino.[21]

Personal life

Velikonja was born in Šempeter pri Gorici, present day Slovenia. He is a cousin of football player Tim Matavž.[22] The two were also childhood friends of football players, Valter Birsa and Goran Cvijanović.[22][23] He is in a long-term relationship with Slovenian triple jumper Maja Bratkič.[24]

Career statistics

As of 5 April 2016[25]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Slovenia League Slovenian Cup League Cup Europe Total
2006–07 Gorica 1. SNL 7 1 1 0 2 0 10 1
2007–08 31 5 1 0 2 0 34 5
2008–09 32 17 4 4 3 1 39 22
2009–10 16 5 0 0 2 0 18 5
2010–11 18 4 3 3 2 0 23 7
2006–11 Gorica Total 104 32 9 7 – – 11 1 124 40
2010–11 Maribor 1. SNL 16 6 3 1 – – 19 7
2011–12 30 14 5 6 7 1 42 21
2012–13 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
2010–12 Maribor Total 48 20 8 7 – – 8 1 64 28
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2012–13 Cardiff City Championship 3 0 1 0 0 0 – – 4 0
2013–14 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
2014–15 Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 – – 1 0
2012– Cardiff City Total 3 0 1 0 1 0 – – 5 0
Portugal League Taça de Portugal Taça da Liga Europe Total
2013–14 Rio Ave (loan) Primeira Liga 7 1 0 0 0 0 7 1
Belgium League Belgian Cup League Cup Europe Total
2014–15 Lierse S.K. (loan) Belgian Pro League 11 4 0 0 0 0 11 4
2015–16 Lierse S.K. (loan) Belgian Second Division 29 25 0 0 0 0 29 25
Total
Slovenia 152 52 17 14 – – 19 2 188 68
England 3 0 1 0 0 0 – – 5 0
Portugal 7 1 0 0 0 0 – – 7 1
Belgium 44 30 0 0 0 0 – – 44 30
Career total 198 78 18 14 0 0 19 2 236 94

Honours

Club

Maribor[26]

Individual

References

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External links

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ http://www.nogomania.com/Slovenski-Nogomet/Igralec/Etien-Velikonja/Novica/Osmic-na-osmi.aspx
  18. ↑ http://www.nogomania.com/Slovenski-Nogomet/Igralec/Etien-Velikonja/Novica/Velikonjinih-rekordnih-21.aspx
  19. ↑ http://int.soccerway.com/national/belgium/second-division/20152016/regular-season/r31609/
  20. ↑ http://www.nogomania.com/Slovenski-Nogomet/Igralec/Etien-Velikonja/Novica/Navijaci-izbrali-Eti-najboljsi.aspx
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ http://www.all-athletics.com/node/146487
  25. ↑ http://us.soccerway.com/players/etien-velikonja/35356/
  26. ↑ http://etienvelikonja.com/si/razsirjen-profil/
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ http://us.soccerway.com/national/belgium/second-division/20152016/regular-season/r31609/
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