Niko Kovač
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| Niko Kovač | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Niko Kovač | |
| Date of birth | 15 October 1971 | |
| Place of birth | West Berlin, West Germany | |
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 91⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Red Bull Salzburg | |
| Number | 6 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1989–1991 1991–1996 1996–1999 1999–2001 2001–2003 2003–2006 2006– |
Hertha Zehlendorf Hertha BSC Bayer Leverkusen Hamburger SV Bayern Munich Hertha BSC Red Bull Salzburg |
25 (7) 148 (16) 77 (8) 55 (12) 34 (3) 75 (8) 53 (9) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1996– | Croatia | 78 (14) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Niko Kovač [ˈniːkɔ ˈkɔʋaːtʃ] (born October 15, 1971 in West Berlin, Germany) is a Croatian football midfielder who is the captain of the Croatia national team. He is a defensive midfielder who is known for his excellent passing and tackling skills.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early career
Born in West Berlin to a family of Croatian gastarbeiters hailing from the 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 at the age of seventeen. He moved 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.
[edit] Bayer Leverkusen
In the summer of 1996, he left Hertha BSC, still a Second Bundesliga side at the time, for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. He made his Bundesliga debut on August 17, 1996, 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 32 Bundesliga matches in his first season with Leverkusen, also scoring three goals. However, he mostly played as a substitute in the following two seasons and missed several 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 77 Bundesliga appearances and scored eight goals in the league competition. At the club, he was teammates with his younger brother, Robert, for the first time in his professional career.
[edit] Hamburger SV
He joined Hamburger SV in the summer of 1999 and spent two seasons with the club, making 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 teammates with his brother Robert.
[edit] FC Bayern
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 34 Bundesliga matches and scored three goals for FC Bayern in the league.
[edit] Hertha BSC Berlin
Kovac then signed for Hertha BSC Berlin. He made 75 Bundesliga appearances for Hertha BSC and scored eight goals for the club in the league.
[edit] Red Bull Salzburg
After the World Cup, Kovač left Hertha BSC Berlin after three seasons for Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg. 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 signed one more year until summer 2009 in May 2008.
[edit] International career
Kovac 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 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 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 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 campaign for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. He appeared in nine out of the 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 three of Croatia's group matches, despite sustaining an injury which forced him to leave the pitch after 40 minutes of the team's opening match against Brazil. Kovač 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 by virtue of finishing third in the group. This was the third consecutive time this had happened in a major tournament.
He is currently the captain of the national team.
