Matjaž Kek

Matjaž Kek

Personal information
Full name	Matjaž Kek
Date of birth	9 September 1961 (1961-09-09) (age 50)
Place of birth	Maribor, Yugoslavia
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979–1985	Maribor	114	(36)
1985–1988	Spittal/Drau
1988–1995	GAK
1995–1999	Maribor	126	(17)
National team‡
1992	Slovenia	1	(0)
Teams managed
2000–2006	Maribor
2006	Slovenia U-15
2006	Slovenia U-16
2007–2011	Slovenia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 March 2010 (2010-03-21). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 July 2007 (2007-07-09)

Matjaž Kek (born 9 September 1961) is a former Slovenian footballer and former manager of the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Kek started his professional football career at his home club Maribor in 1979,^[1] before moving to the Austrian club Spittal/Drau in 1985, where he spent 3 seasons. He then transferred to another Austrian club, GAK of the Austrian Bundesliga where he played for 7 years. After that he returned to Maribor, where from 1995 to 1999 he won 3 Slovenian league titles, before retiring. He spent most of his career playing in defense, mostly in the centre back position and was known for his leadership abilities.

Managerial career

After finishing his career as a player, Kek stayed at Maribor, serving as an assistant coach for one season, before being appointed manager in 2000. He immediately won the league title in the 2000–01 season. Under his guidance the team won the league again in 2003. In 2006 he was the coach of the Slovenian under-15 and under-16 national football teams. On 3 January 2007, Kek was appointed manager of the Slovenia national team, which he led to the 2010 FIFA World Cup after beating Russia in the play-offs.

On October 24th 2011, after the unsuccessful Euro 2012 qualifications, Kek and The Slovenian Football Association (NZS) have come to a mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract.^[2]He was succeeded by Slaviša Stojanović.

References

1. ^ http://www.zerodic.com/autor/fudbal_1945-1992/igraci/igraci_k.htm
2. ^ http://www.football.si/news/2011-10-24-Kek-No-Longer-National-Football-Team-Coach

Persondata
Name	Kek, Matjaz
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 September 1961
Place of birth	Maribor, Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death