Veli Kavlak

Infobox Football biography
playername = Veli Kavlak


fullname =
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1988|11|3
cityofbirth = Vienna
countryofbirth = Austria
height = Height|m=1.78
position = Midfielder
currentclub = Rapid Wien
clubnumber = 17
youthyears =
youthclubs = SK Slovan/HAC Wien Rapid Wien Amateure
years = 2004-present
clubs = Rapid Wien
caps(goals) = 73 (7)
nationalyears = 2007-
nationalteam = fb|Austria
nationalcaps(goals) = 4 (0)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
pcupdate = 20 July 2008
ntupdate = 21 August 2008

Veli Kavlak (born 3 November, 1988) is an Austrian footballer of Turkish origin, playing for SK Rapid Wien and the Austrian Football Team.

Club career

The midfielder came to Rapid in 2004. On the 22nd of May 2005 he played his first match against Wüstenrot Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga at 16 years, 6 months, 19 days of age which makes him one of the youngest people ever to play there. Kavlak scored his first goals against SV Ried on the last matchday of the 2004/2005 season. He already won the Austrian football championship in 2004/05 even if he only played twice.

In summer 2007 he returned to Austria from the U-20 World Cup in Canada and several European clubs showed interest in the talented, young midfield player, most notably German side Hertha BSC Berlin who offered between 1-2 million euro for Kavlak, but Rapid declined the offer.

International career

Kavlak played for the Austrian U-19 team which reached the semifinals of the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, losing 0–5 against the later champions Spain. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/season=2006/round=2227/match=84483/report=lu.html Spain sweep into U19 final] - UEFA]

In October 2006 Austrian national coach Pepi Hickersberger selected Kavlak for the squad for the matches against Liechtenstein and Switzerland, but he did not play. His first appearance was on 24 March 2007 against Ghana, which ended 1:1, being 71min substitute for Roland Linz.

In the summer of 2007, aged 18, he was selected to play for Austria at the U-20 World Cup in Canada, reaching the semi-finals with his team. [ [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=267475/index.html Record at FIFA Tournaments] - FIFA]

Honours

*Austrian Football Bundesliga (2):
** 2005, 2008

External links

* [http://www.skrapid.at/14191.html Player profile] - Rapid Wien
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=17106 Career stats] - National Football Teams

References