Milenko Ačimovič

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Milenko Ačimovič (Serbian: Миленко Аћимовић/Milenko Aćimović) (born 15 February 1977 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian footballer who plays for FK Austria Wien. He is a playmaker who has a great passing range and an abundance of skill.

He was born in Ljubljana to Serbian parents (his father Jovan Aćimović was a well-known professional footballer). Young Milenko started his career in the youth ranks of Olimpija Ljubljana. As an extremely gifted youngster, he made three first-team appearances for Zeleznicar when he was just 17 years old. From 1996 until 1998 he found himself again playing for Olimpija, scoring 7 goals in 34 matches. He then joined Red Star Belgrade, a club his father starred in during the 1970s.

Milenko played in Belgrade for three and a half years. He developed into quite a dependable midfielder. After successful appearances for Slovenian national team on EURO 2000 and especially World Cup 2002, many bigger European clups expressed interest in him. In the summer of 2002, he joined Tottenham Hotspur. In his first season in London, he made some appearances, but he never started in the first eleven. In his second season, he was mostly warming up the bench.

In January 2004, Lille offered him a contract, which he accepted. His first appearances for Lille were very good and soon he was playing the first eleven. He also played in UEFA Cup. Lille were eliminated in the round of 16. At the end of the season his club was second in the league. They played in qualification round for Champions League, and successfully qualified. Mile wasn't playing a lot, but he scored against Manchester United, where he also started in the first eleven. Lille won that game 1-0. He scored Lille's only goal of the campaign.

After playing for Lille in France for 2½ seasons, he joined Al Ittihad for the 2006-07 season. He agreed on a mutual termination of the contract, subsequently moving to Vienna.

He debuted for the Slovenia national team on 22 April 1998 in Murska Sobota against the Czech Republic. He represented Slovenia at both Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002, scoring in their 1-3 defeat to Paraguay in Seogwipo. His final appearance for the national side came on 28 March 2007 in Celje, during a 1-0 home defeat to the Netherlands in a Euro 2008 qualification match. He announced his retirement from international football that August.^[1]

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v • d • e Slovenia squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Simeunovič • 2 Sankovič • 3 Milinovič • 4 Vugdalič • 5 Galič • 6 Knavs • 7 Novak • 8 A. Čeh • 9 Osterc • 10 Zahovič • 11 Pavlin • 12 Dabanovič • 13 Rudonja • 14 Gajser • 15 Tavčar • 16 Tiganj • 17 Pavlovič • 18 Ačimovič • 19 Karič • 20 N. Čeh • 21 Cimirotič • 22 Nemec • 23 Bulajič • Coach: Katanec