Ivo Iličević

Ivo Iličević

Iličević (L), playing for Croatia in June 2013.
Personal information
Date of birth	(1986-11-14) 14 November 1986
Place of birth	Aschaffenburg, West Germany
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Winger
Club information
Current club	Hamburger SV
Number	11
Youth career
1994–1996	1. FC Südring Aschaffenburg
1996–2004	Viktoria Aschaffenburg
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2006	SV Darmstadt 98	44	(8)
2006–2008	VfL Bochum II	12	(7)
2006–2010	VfL Bochum	25	(2)
2008–2009	→ SpVgg Greuther Fürth (loan)	38	(4)
2009–2010	→ 1. FC Kaiserslautern (loan)	30	(4)
2010–2011	1. FC Kaiserslautern	25	(6)
2011–	Hamburger SV	36	(3)
National team‡
2007–2008	Croatia U21	11	(5)
2010–	Croatia[1]	8	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:05, 8 December 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2013-0 11-19

Ivo Iličević (born 14 November 1986) is a German-born Croatian footballer, who currently plays for Hamburger SV in the German Bundesliga, as midfielder.

Club career

Early days

Iličević was born in Aschaffenburg, West Germany to Croatian parents. His father emigrated to West Germany from a small village near Odžak, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then SFR Yugoslavia).^[2] He began his career in the youth ranks of Viktoria Aschaffenburg, before joining Regionalliga Süd side SV Darmstadt 98 in January 2005. At the club, he quickly became a first-team regular under former Bundesliga star Bruno Labbadia and scored eight goals in 44 league matches. As a youth-team player, he played as a forward, but later became mainly deployed as an attacking midfielder.

VfL Bochum

In the summer of 2006, Iličević joined Bundesliga side VfL Bochum and made his top-flight debut in the club's opening match of the 2006–07 league season, a 2–1 defeat at 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 12 August 2006. On 24 September 2006, he scored his first Bundesliga goal, netting the match-winning goal in a 2–1 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld. He made a total of 19 Bundesliga appearances in his first season with Bochum, scoring two goals.

In January 2008, he was loaned to Greuther Fürth of the 2. Bundesliga, after making just six Bundesliga appearances (without scoring a goal) with Bochum in the first half of the 2007–08 league season. He went on to spend a season and a half with Greuther Fürth, scoring four goals in 38 league appearances.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In the summer of 2009, Bochum loaned him to another 2. Bundesliga side, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, for the entire 2009–10 season. He scored four goals in 30 league appearances, helping the team to secure promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2010–11 season. He eventually signed a contract with Kaiserslautern in the summer of 2010.

He had a great start to the 2010–11 Bundesliga season with Kaiserslautern, scoring two goals and recording two assists in the club's opening two matches, a 3–1 win at 1. FC Köln and a 2–0 win at home to Bayern Munich. In November 2010, he scored a goal in three consecutive Bundesliga matches. On 20 November 2010, he participated in all of his team's three goals in a 3–1 win at 1. FC Nürnberg, scoring their second goal and setting up the remaining two.

Hamburger SV

On 31 August 2011, on the last day of summer transfer window, he signed four-year contract with Hamburger SV. He made his debut for Hamburg in a match against SC Freiburg coming in as a substitute in 66th minute. He scored his first goal only seven minutes later by scoring a winning goal for Hamburg. In his first season his playing period was not consistent due to various injuries, including a torn muscle. He In his first season he played due to various injuries, including a torn muscle. He made 18 appearances and scored two goals. In the 2012/13 season he suffered a hamstring in the match against Hannover 96 at the end of September 2012, which sidelined him for almost seven weeks. After recovery, Iličević made his comeback 15 December 2012 (day 17) in the match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (0:3). In the second part of the season he was sidelined due to a stomach muscle injury from more than ten weeks. Due to all these injuries the season was disappointing for Iličević, as he made only eight appearances and scored one goal.

National team

In May 2007, Iličević received his first call-up to the Croatian national under-21 team and made his international debut on 2 June 2007 in a 2–0 win against the Faroe Islands in Varaždin. In his second appearance for the team, on 6 June 2007, he scored a brace to help them to a 3–2 win against Greece in Zaprešić. He won a total of 11 international caps and scored five goals for the Croatian national under-21 team, with his last appearance coming on 9 September 2008 in a 1–1 draw against Italy in Varaždin.

On 29 September 2008, he received his first full international call-up for Croatia's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Andorra the following October, but did not feature in any of the two matches.^[3]

He eventually made his full international debut on 12 October 2010, coming on as a half-time substitute for Luka Modrić in a friendly match against Norway in Zagreb, which Croatia won 2–1.^[4] On 17 November 2010, he made his competitive debut in a 3–0 win at home to Malta in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, replacing Ivan Rakitić in the 69th minute. On 9 February 2011, he scored his first goal in his third appearance as a full international, netting the final goal in a 4–2 win against the Czech Republic, in a friendly match played in Pula. He came on as substitute of Niko Kranjčar in the 64. minute in the match against Republic of Ireland.

Iličević was listed among 23 Croatian players for the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament in Poland, but he had to withdrew due to an injury he suffered during practice with national team, only one week before the tournament.

Honours

1. FC Kaiserslautern

• 2. Bundesliga: 2009–10

References

External links

• Ivo Iličević at Transfermarkt
• Ivo Iličević at goal.com