Niko Kovač

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Niko Kovač
Personal information
Full name	Niko Kovač
Date of birth	15 October 1971
Place of birth	Berlin, Germany
Height	178 cm
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Red Bull Salzburg
Number	6
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1989-1991 1991-1996 1996-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 2003-2006 2006-present	Hertha Zehlendorf Hertha BSC Berlin Bayer Leverkusen Hamburger SV Bayern Munich Hertha BSC Berlin Red Bull Salzburg	25 (7) 148 (15) 77 (8) 55 (12) 34 (3) 75 (8) 9 (1)
National team**
1996-present	Croatia	65 (9)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 September 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2006.

Niko Kovač [ˈniːkɔ ˈkɔʋatʃ] (born October 15, 1971) is a German-born Croatian football midfielder of Bosnian Croat heritage. He is the current captain of the Croatian football team and is arguably the heart and soul of the team alongside brother Robert.

Born in Berlin to a family of Croatian gastarbeiters hailing from Livno area in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovač started to play football at local club Hertha Zehlendorf and became a member of their first team in the summer of 1989. He went on to move to Hertha BSC Berlin in the summer of 1991 and started his professional career with the club that competed in the Second Bundesliga at the time. In the summer of 1996, he left Hertha BSC, still a Second Bundesliga side at the time, for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen and made his Bundesliga debut on August 17, 1996 by appearing as a halftime substitute in the club's opening match of the 1996-97 season, a 4-2 home victory over Borussia Dortmund. He appeared in a total of 32 Bundesliga matches in his first season with the Leverkusen team, also scoring three goals. However, he mostly played as a substitute in the following two seasons and also missed many matches in the 1997-98 season after sustaining an injury in the club's home match against VfB Stuttgart in December 1997. In three seasons with Bayer Leverkusen, Kovač made a total of 77 Bundesliga appearances and scored eight goals for the club in the league. At the club, he was teammate with his younger brother, Robert, for the first time in his professional career.

Playing for Bayer Leverkusen, he earned his first invitation to play for the Croatian national team and made his international debut in Croatia's friendly match against Morocco on December 11, 1996 in Casablanca. He subsequently also appeared in three qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup, but missed the finals in France because he did not fully recover from the aforementioned injury until the beginning of the preparations for the tournament. He was subsequently not part of the national team for two years before making his comeback in a friendly match against France in November 1999.

At club level, he left Bayer Leverkusen for Hamburger SV in the summer of 1999 and spent two seasons with the club, making a total of 55 Bundesliga appearances and scoring 12 goals for HSV in the league. In the summer of 2001, he left HSV for FC Bayern Munich, where he was once again teammate with his brother Robert, who left Bayer Leverkusen after five seasons at the time. However, he did not manage to establish himself as a regular at the club and left FC Bayern for Hertha BSC after two seasons, in the summer of 2003. He appeared in a total of 34 Bundesliga matches and scored three goals for FC Bayern in the league.

At international level, he played for Croatia in five qualifying matches for the 2002 World Cup and scored one goal in their 4-0 victory away against San Marino. At the final tournament, he appeared as a starting player in all three group matches before Croatia was eliminated from the tournament with a third-place finish in their group. He was also a regular in the Euro 2004 qualifying, making a total of seven appearances and scoring two goals in away matches, the 1-0 winner against Estonia and the opening goal in the team's 3-0 victory over Andorra. He also played the entire three group matches played by the Croatian team at the final Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal and scored the opening goal in the final group match against England, but Croatia ended up losing the match 4-2 and was once again eliminated from the tournament as the group third-placed.

After the Euro 2004 finals, Kovač became the Croatian national team's captain and led the team through the qualifying session for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. He appeared in nine out of possible ten qualifying matches and scored two goals, both in Croatia's 4-0 victory over Iceland at home in Zagreb. At the final tournament, he appeared in all of the Croatian team's three group matches, despite sustaining an injury which forced him to leave the pitch after 40 minutes of the team's opening match against Brazil, and he also scored the goal that put Croatia 2-1 up in the final group match against Australia. However, the match ended in a 2-2 draw and Croatia was eliminated as the group third-placed in their third consecutive major tournament.

After the World Cup, Kovač left Hertha BSC Berlin after three seasons for Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg. He made a total of 75 Bundesliga appearances for Hertha BSC and scored eight goals for the club in the league. He is now a regular in the Salzburg team and also appeared in all of their four UEFA Champions League qualifiers in the summer of 2006. On August 26, 2006, he scored his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga, netting the second goal in their 4-0 home victory over Wacker Tirol.

He also continues to play for the Croatian national team, for which he won a total of 63 international caps and scored nine goals so far.

[edit] External links

• Profile on JadranSport.org (English)
• Leverkusen who's who

	Croatia squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Pletikosa | 2 Šerić | 3 Šimunić | 4 Tomas | 5 Rapaić | 6 Živković | 7 Vugrinec | 8 Prosinečki | 9 Šuker | 10 N. Kovač | 11 Bokšić | 12 Butina | 13 Stanić | 14 Soldo | 15 Šarić | 16 Vranješ | 17 Jarni | 18 Olić | 19 Vlaović | 20 Šimić | 21 R. Kovač | 22 Balaban | 23 Vasilj | Coach: Jozić

	Croatia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Pletikosa | 2 Srna | 3 Šimunić | 4 R. Kovač | 5 Tudor | 6 Vranješ | 7 Šimić | 8 Babić | 9 Pršo | 10 N. Kovač | 11 Tokić | 12 Didulica | 13 Tomas | 14 Modrić | 15 I. Leko | 16 J. Leko | 17 Klasnić | 18 Olić | 19 N. Kranjčar | 20 Šerić | 21 Balaban | 22 Bošnjak | 23 Butina | Coach: Z. Kranjčar