Oliver Zelenika
 Oliver Zelenika with Croatia U19 in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oliver Zelenika[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 14 May 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Croatia | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Varaždin | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2006 | NK Špansko Zagreb | ||
| 2006–2011 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2016 | Dinamo Zagreb | 23 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Rudeš (loan) | 29 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 |
→ Lokomotiva (loan) | 67 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Lechia Gdańsk | 1 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | NEC | 4 | (0) |
| 2020– | Varaždin | 51 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2007 | Croatia U14 | 2 | (0) |
| 2008 | Croatia U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Croatia U16 | 6 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Croatia U17 | 11 | (0) |
| 2011 | Croatia U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Croatia U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Croatia U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Croatia U21 | 8 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 May 2023 | |||
Oliver Zelenika (pronounced [ǒliʋer zelěnika]; born 14 May 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer[2] who plays as a goalkeeper for Croatian Football League club Varaždin.
Zelenika was born in Zagreb and played youth football at Dinamo Zagreb Academy before starting his professional career with Rudeš on a season-long loan spell. After returning to Dinamo Zagreb in 2013, Zelenika moved to Lokomotiva in 2014 on a loan spell lasting until the end of the 2015–16 Prva HNL season.
Zelenika won 43 caps with the youth teams of the Croatia national team and remains uncapped with the senior team.
Early life
Zelenika was born in Zagreb on 14 May 1993. He began playing football casually as a young boy in his neighbourhood, and because he was the youngest of his clique he involuntarily played as a goalkeeper so that the older boys could be outfield players. He eventually started to enjoy this role and pursued to develop his goalkeeping skills in the youth teams of Špansko. At the age 13, he joined Dinamo Zagreb Academy.[3]
Club career
Early years
Zelenika's professional career took off in
Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva Zagreb
At the end of the
Lechia Gdańsk
On 15 March 2017 he signed a contract until the summer of 2018 with
NEC Nijmegen
Zelenika signed a contract until the end of the season with the option of an additional year for the Dutch Eerste Divisie side NEC Nijmegen on October 29, 2018, following the injury of the first-choice keeper Norbert Alblas.[8]
International
As of match played 3 September 2014, Zelenika has made a total of 43 appearances for the youth teams of the Croatia national team. Furthermore, he won caps for all of the eight official Croatia national youth teams, ranging from under-14 to under-21 age groups. He played his first international match on 5 June 2007, keeping a clean sheet for the under-14 team in a friendly match against Bavaria. Most notably, he was fielded in all of the three matches the under-20 team played in the group stage of the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[9]
On 14 May 2014 Croatia national team manager Niko Kovač included Zelenika as a third goalkeeper on a shortlist of 30 players that would represent Croatia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[10] His call-up was confirmed on 31 May 2014, when he was listed in a final 23-man squad that would travel to the host nation of Brazil.[11]
Style of play
Zelenika stands 1.92 meters tall, and his dominant foot is left. With regard to his goalkeeping skills, football coach Krunoslav Jurčić described Zelenika as an ideal player for the teams with a strong defensive play that will make the goalkeeper behind it idle for most of the match and then require of him to keep his focus high when reacting to those handful of shots that the opposing team may direct at the goal.[5]
Career statistics
- As of match played 29 April 2016
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2011–12 | Prva HNL
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rudeš | 2012–13 | Druga HNL
|
29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2013–14 | Prva HNL | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
Lokomotiva
|
15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
Lokomotiva
|
2014–15 | Prva HNL
|
10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
Lokomotiva
|
2015–16 | Prva HNL
|
33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| Career total | 99 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 0 | ||
References
- ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ Oliver Zelenika at WorldFootball.net
- ^ a b "Oliver Zelenika: Vraća mi se sve za što sam trenirao" [Oliver Zelenika: all the hard work is starting to pay off] (Interview) (in Croatian). GNK Dinamo Zagreb. 8 September 2013. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Zelenika sretan zbog odlaska Migliorea: Novi golman? Što se mene tiče, nije potreban" [Zelenika happy for Migliore's departure: New goalkeeper? Not needed, as far as I am concerned] (in Croatian). Index.hr. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- ^ a b Bevanda (5 August 2013). "Jurčić hvali mladog golmana: Zelenika je idealan za Dinamo" [Jurčić praises young goalkeeper: Zelenika is ideal for Dinamo] (in Croatian). 24sata (Croatia). Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Oliver Zelenika w Lechii" (in Polish). 90minut. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ Oceny piłkarzy Lechii za mecz z Cracovią. Udany debiut Zeleniki at wyborcza.pl Trójmiasto
- ^ "N.E.C. bindt Oliver Zelenika tot einde van het seizoen" (in Dutch). NEC Nijmegen. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Oliver Zelenika". Croatian Football Federation. 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
- ^ "Kovačevih 30 kandidata za Brazil" [Kovač's 30 candidates for Brazil] (in Croatian). Sportske novosti. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Izbornik Niko Kovač nakon pobjede nad Malijem objavio konačni popis putnika za SP" [Following a victory against Mali, manager Niko Kovač announces a final list of players to travel to the World Cup] (in Croatian). Sportske novosti. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
External links
- Oliver Zelenika at FIFA (archived)
- Oliver Zelenika at UEFA
- Oliver Zelenika at the Croatian Football Federation
- Oliver Zelenika at FBref.com
- Oliver Zelenika at Soccerway.com
- Oliver Zelenika at WorldFootball.net
- Oliver Zelenika at AS.com (in Spanish)
