Josip Iličić

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Josip Iličić
Personal information
Full name Josip Iličić
Date of birth (1988-01-29) 29 January 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Prijedor, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Atalanta
Number 72
Youth career
1995–2006 Triglav Kranj
2006–2007 Britof
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Bonifika 24 (3)
2008–2010 Interblock 55 (12)
2010 Maribor 5 (1)
2010–2013 Palermo 98 (20)
2013–2017 Fiorentina 105 (29)
2017– Atalanta 19 (7)
International career‡
2008–2010 Slovenia U20 4 (0)
2009–2010 Slovenia U21 6 (0)
2010– Slovenia 50 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 January 2018
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 October 2017

Josip Iličić (born 29 January 1988) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays for Italian club Atalanta and the Slovenia national team as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Born in Prijedor, Iličić started his career playing in the youth teams of Triglav Kranj and later Britof from Kranj. At the age of 19, he moved to SC Bonifika, where he played for a season in Slovenian second division, 2. SNL. It was there when his talent was spotted by Interblock, where he stayed for two seasons playing in Slovenian top league, 1. SNL. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Interblock was relegated into 2. SNL after two qualifications matches against Triglav. Despite being one of the best players of his club and one of the top prospects of Slovenian football Iličić finished the season as a reserve.[1]

Aged 21, Iličić contemplated an idea of finishing his playing career altogether, however, a few weeks later he received a phone call from Zlatko Zahovič, Director of Football at Maribor, who proposed he should sign for the club.[2] In a life changing decision, Iličić took the offer immediately and moved to Slovenia's second largest city where he made a big impact from the start as he scored twice in the UEFA Europa League match against the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian in July 2010.[3] He then scored again, in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff round against Sicilian Palermo, which ended in a 3–2 win for the Slovenian side. On the very next day, it was confirmed that Palermo had acquired Iličić and teammate Armin Bačinović from Maribor for a permanent move.[4] The transfer fee paid by Palermo was undisclosed, but it was reported to be around €2.3 million.[5]

Palermo

Iličić debuted for Palermo in the Serie A on 12 September 2010 against Brescia, replacing Giulio Migliaccio in the second half.[6] In the next round, he was already a starter and scored his first goal for Palermo at home against reigning champions Internazionale.[7] Only four days later, on 23 September 2010, he scored his second goal of the season, this time against another Italian giant Juventus.[8] His good performances against top Italian teams continued when he scored a goal against Fiorentina on 3 October 2010,[9][10] and against Roma on 28 November 2010.[11]

On 20 June 2011, Iličić signed a new five-year contract.[12] He changed his shirt number to 27 on 16 August 2011.[13] However, in the 2011–12 season Iličić struggled to make an impact mostly due to Javier Pastore – Iličić's attacking midfield partner – being sold in a record bid to Paris Saint-Germain, and Iličić provided only two goals as a result. Despite that, he was confirmed for the 2012–13 season as well, being paired with new signing Franco Brienza in a 3–4–2–1 formation by new head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Iličić's top moment of the season came on 24 November 2012, when he scored a winning brace in a 3–1 home win for a struggling Palermo side against Catania in the Sicilian derby.

Fiorentina

On 23 July 2013, Palermo officially confirmed the sale of Iličić to Serie A rivals Fiorentina on their website. Later, the deal was officially announced by Fiorentina on their website.[14] The transfer fee was undisclosed, reported to be in the sum of €9 million including add-ons.[15] He scored six goals in his first season at Fiorentina. The 2014–15 season was more successful for him, finishing as the club's top scorer with ten goals in all competitions, along with Mario Gómez.

Atalanta

On 5 July 2017, Atalanta signed Iličić from Fiorentina for a reported fee of €5.5 million.[16][17]

International career

Iličić missed out on the 2010 FIFA World Cup but made his debut for the national side in a friendly match against Australia on 11 August 2010.[18] He scored his first international goal on 10 September 2013 against Cyprus.

Career statistics

Club

As of 6 January 2018[19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bonifika 2007–08 2. SNL 24 3 0 0 — — 24 3
Total 24 3 0 0 — — 24 3
Interblock 2008–09 1. SNL 27 9 4 1 — — 31 10
2009–10 28 3 2 1 2 0 2 0 34 4
Total 55 12 6 2 2 0 2 0 65 14
Maribor 2010–11 1. SNL 5 1 0 0 6 3 — 11 4
Total 5 1 0 0 6 3 — 11 4
Palermo 2010–11 Serie A 34 8 5 0 0 0 — 39 8
2011–12 33 2 1 3 2 1 — 36 6
2012–13 31 10 1 1 — — 32 11
Total 98 20 7 4 2 1 — 107 25
Fiorentina 2013–14 Serie A 21 3 2 1 8 2 — 31 6
2014–15 25 8 2 0 7 2 — 34 10
2015–16 30 13 1 0 6 2 — 37 15
2016–17 29 5 2 0 4 1 — 35 6
Total 105 29 7 1 25 7 — 137 37
Atalanta 2017–18 Serie A 19 7 1 0 4 2 — 24 9
Career total 306 72 21 7 39 13 2 0 368 92

International

Slovenia national team
Year Apps Goals
2010 6 0
2011 8 0
2012 8 0
2013 1 1
2014 4 0
2015 8 1
2016 9 0
2017 6 3
Total 50 5

Last updated: 8 October 2017
Source: Josip Iličić

International goals

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.[19]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 September 2013 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus
2–0
2–0
 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 27 March 2015 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  San Marino
1–0
6–0
 UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
3 10 June 2017 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Malta
1–0
2–0
 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 4 September 2017 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Lithuania
1–0
4–0
5 2–0

Personal life

Josip Iličić was born in Prijedor, present day Bosnia and Herzegovina and moved to Slovenia after the death of his father when he was only one year old, together with his mother Ana and brother Igor. As a top prospect without national team experience he was once asked in an interview if he would be interested in playing for Croatia national football team, due to his Croatian ancestry, but Iličić replied that he would have never accepted the offer because he had lived in Slovenia his whole life.[20] Later, he made a similar comment regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country where he was born.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gorenjci imajo prvoligaša" (in Slovenian). Siol. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Lorenzo di Benedetto (10 November 2015). "Ilicic, a 21 anni volevo tornare al calcetto" [A 21-year-old wanted to return to football] (in Italian). firenzeviola.it. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. ^ "NK Maribor 3–0 Hibernian". BBC Sport. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Iličić in Bačinović v Palermo, Rep iz Celja v Maribor" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor official website. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Jan Krstovski, M. P. (8 June 2011). "Ukradeni talent – 16-letni Stojanovič" (in Slovenian). Žurnal24. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Iličić skoraj izenačil, Cesar s Chievom na vrhu" (in Slovenian). rtvslo.si. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Video: Prvenec Iličiča v Serie A" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  8. ^ "Iličič zadel tudi ob veliki zmagi Palerma v Torinu". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  9. ^ "MatchView: Fio-Pal 1-2" (in Italian). gazzetta.it. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Iličič z 20 metrov snel pajčevino z gola Fiorentine". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Posticipo 14/a giornata Palermo-Roma 3-1" (in Italian). gazzetta.it. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  12. ^ "Insieme fino al 2016". US Città di Palermo (in Italian). ilpalermocalcio.it. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Numeri di maglia: Ilicic prende il 27". US Città di Palermo (in Italian). ilpalermocalcio.it. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  14. ^ http://en.violachannel.tv/breaking-news-detail/items/fiorentina-and-palermo-agree-terms-on-ilicic-deal.html
  15. ^ http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2013/07/23/4137956/official-ilicic-joins-fiorentina
  16. ^ "Iličićev avtogram na pogodbo z Atalanto" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Ecco Josip Iličić" (Press release) (in Italian). Atalanta B.C. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Zlatko in Zlatan z goloma krstila stoženski stadion". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  19. ^ a b "J. Iličić". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  20. ^ "Iličić: "Nikoli za Hrvaško!"" (in Slovenian). zurnal24.si. Retrieved 30 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Iličić: Sve je ovo poput sna" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josip_Iličić&oldid=819092226"