| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Saša Ognenovski | ||
| Date of birth | 3 April 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997–2000 | Preston Lions | 88 | (8) |
| 2000–2002 | Melbourne Knights | 51 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Panachaiki | 2 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Preston Lions | 26 | (5) |
| 2005 | Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues | 16 | (2) |
| 2006–2008 | Queensland Roar | 38 | (2) |
| 2008–2009 | Adelaide United | 23 | (3) |
| 2009– | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 73 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2010– | Australia | 12 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Saša Ognenovski (Macedonian: Саша Огненовски) (born 3 April 1979) is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays as a central defender for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and the Australia national team. Since moving to South Korea, Ognenovski's success has rapidly risen. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the K-League Best XI, and won the AFC Champions League with Seongnam. These achievements led to his inclusion in the Australian squad for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
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He previously played with Preston Lions in the 1997–2000 and 2003–2004 seasons, then with Melbourne Knights in the 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 seasons, and in the 2002–2003 season with Greek side Panahaiki, and then with Queensland Roar until transferring to Adelaide United FC in February 2008 to play in the Asian Champions League, starting in March 2008.
Ognenovski played his 50th A-League match against Sydney FC[1] on 22 November 2008 scoring the opening goal, his first for Adelaide, in the 2-0 win at Hindmarsh Stadium.[2] He followed this up a week later scoring a dramatic equaliser in Adelaide's 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets heading in from another set piece.[3]
In January 2009 it was revealed that Ognenovski was a target for K-League club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma but the initial bid of A$285,000 was rejected [4] with Adelaide asking for a transfer fee of $570,000. He was also a transfer target of another K-League side, FC Seoul, who sent officials to negotiate the fee with Adelaide.[5]
The transfer saga was resolved on Tuesday 13 January 2009 when Adelaide United revealed Ognenovski would join Seongnam at the end of the A-League 2008-09 season on a two year deal. The defender gave a glowing tribute to the club upon the announcement saying, “I’ve met some great people, the owners Nick and Dario are probably the best people I’ve met in football so it is a tough decision but obviously I have to secure my future and look after my family so that was the main reason that I took up the offer.”[6]
Ognenovski received an accolade when he was voted the second best Macedonian footballer of 2008, behind Inter Milan's Goran Pandev.[7]
In 2010, in his second season with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, Ognenovski captained the team to victory in the AFC Champions League. He scored the opening goal of the match as Seongnam defeated Zob Ahan 3–1 in the final. Ognenovski was named the Man of the Match and the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[8][9]
Ognenovski was eligible to represent Australia, but after not being selected in A-League based Australian squads for Asian Cup Qualifiers against Indonesia and Kuwait, Ognenovski expressed his disappointment and put himself up for selection for the country of his heritage, Macedonia.
Although not available to play for Macedonia (due to not having yet received FIFA clearance) he was called by Srečko Katanec to play for the Republic of Macedonia national football team in the match against Moldova on 11 February 2009, although he did not feature due to issues with his eligibility.[10][11]
After dashing his hopes for playing for Australia under former coach Pim Verbeek his dreams were finally answered when new Socceroos manager Holger Osieck called him up for a friendly against Egypt in Cairo, Egypt,[12][13] and he was subsequently named in the 23-man 2011 AFC Asian Cup squad. Throughout the AFC Asian cup, he started every match and developed a solid defensive partnership with Lucas Neill, and scored the second goal in Australia's 6-0 defeat of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup2 | International3 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Preston Lions | 1997-1998 | 25 | 1 | 25 | 1 | ||||
| 1998-1999 | 30 | 3 | 30 | 3 | |||||
| 1999-2000 | 34 | 4 | 34 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 88 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 88 | 8 | |
| Melbourne Knights | 2000-2001 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||||
| 2001-2002 | 28 | 28 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 51 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 51 | 0 | |
| Panachaiki | 2002-2003 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 4 | 0 | |
| Preston Lions | 2003-2004 | 26 | 5 | 26 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 26 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 26 | 5 | |
| Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues | 2005 | 16 | 2 | 16 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 16 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 16 | 2 | |
| Queensland Roar | 2006–07 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3 | |
| Total | 38 | 2 | 10 | 1 | - | - | 48 | 3 | |
| Adelaide United | 2008–09 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| Total | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 2009 | 24 | 2 | 11 | 0 | - | - | 35 | 2 |
| 2010 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 42 | 5 | |
| 2011 | 24 | 5 | 9 | 2 | - | - | 33 | 7 | |
| Total | 73 | 10 | 26 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 110 | 14 | |
| Total | 317 | 29 | 39 | 3 | 22 | 2 | 378 | 34 | |
1 - includes A-League final series statistics; K-League playoff statistics
2 - includes League Cup statistics
3 - includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008-09 A-League season etc.)
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