Aleksander Knavs
Encyclopedia
Aleksander Knavs is a former Slovenia
n football
defender
.
and started his professional career playing at the club Olimpija Ljubljana
from the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana
in 1993. He played for Olimpija until June 1997 and went on to move abroad by signing with Austria
n club Tirol Innsbruck
after being noticed by Kurt Jara
, the club's head coach at the time. Playing for Olimpija, Knavs appeared in 70 domestic league
matches and scored five goals for the club in the league. He also won the Slovenian championship twice with the club, in 1994 and 1995.
Knavs won two consecutive champions titles in the Austrian Bundesliga
with Tirol Innsbruck in 2000 and 2001 before he went on to sign with German
Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern
in July 2001. He played for Kaiserslautern in the next three seasons, appearing in 64 Bundesliga matches and scoring three goals for the club in the league before leaving it for another Bundesliga team, VfL Bochum
, in June 2004. He spent only one season with Bochum and left the club after their relegation to the Second Bundesliga at the end of the 2004-05 season, making 26 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal for the club in the league. He subsequently returned to Austria by signing with Red Bull Salzburg in July 2005. He stayed there three seasons, making 30 appearances and scoring one goal.
|1993–94||rowspan="4"|Olimpija
||rowspan="4"|PrvaLiga||8||1||||||||||||||||
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|1994–95||18||2||||||||||2||0||||
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|1995–96||22||1||||||||||||||||
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|1996–97||21||1||||||||||||||||
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|1997–98||rowspan="4"|Innsbruck
||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga||32||3||||||||||||||||
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|1998–99||21||1||||||||||||||||
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|1999–00||29||1||||||||||||||||
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|2000–01||31||1||||||||||2||0||||
|-
|2001–02||rowspan="3"|Kaiserslautern
||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga
||23||0||2||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||25||1
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|2002–03||16||2||3||0||colspan="2"|—||2||0||21||2
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|2003–04||25||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||1||0||27||1
|-
|2004–05||Bochum
||26||1||2||0||1||0||2||0||31||1
|-
|2005–06||rowspan="3"|Salzburg||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||28||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08||2||0||||||||||||||||
70||5||||||||||||||||
143||7||||||||||||||||
90||4||8||1||1||0||5||0||104||5
303||16||||||||||||||||
playing as a substitute in the final ten minutes of their friendly match against Iceland
on 5 February 1998 during an international friendly tournament in Cyprus
. He became a regular in the Slovenian national team already during the same year and subsequently appeared in ten out of possible twelve matches in the qualifying session for the Euro 2000. He also managed to score one goal in the team's away match against Georgia
that ended in a 1-1 draw. The Slovenian team surprisingly qualified for the finals after beating Ukraine
3-2 on aggregate in the play-offs. Knavs also appeared in two group matches at the final Euro 2000 tournament, playing as a substitute in the last 22 minutes of the second match against Spain
as well as all 90 minutes in the final group match against Norway
. With two points scored, Slovenia finished last out of four teams in their group and was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.
He continued to play for the Slovenian national team in the qualifying session for the 2002 World Cup
, appearing in nine out of possible twelve qualifying matches and scoring one goal in the team's away match against Russia
that ended in a 1-1 draw. Slovenia went on to qualify for their second consecutive major tournament after beating Romania
3-2 on aggregate in the play-offs. Knavs was also part of the Slovenian team at the 2002 World Cup finals and appeared in two group matches before the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by finishing last out of four teams in their group, scoring no points. He played the entire first match against Spain and was also a starting player in the second match against South Africa
, but was substituted in the 60th minute.
With the Slovenian national team, he also appeared in seven out of possible ten matches in the qualifying session for the Euro 2004 and scored one goal in the team's 3-1 victory over Israel
at home. The Slovenian team did not manage to qualify for the finals after being defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Croatia
in the play-offs. He also appeared in seven out of possible ten matches in the qualifying session for the 2006 World Cup
, where the Slovenian team finished only fourth in their group, behind Italy
, Norway and Scotland
.
He made his international comeback in August 2006 after ten months of absence from the national team, playing all 90 minutes in Slovenia's friendly match against Israel. His last match for national team was during qualifying campaign for the Euro 2008 in their first qualifier against Bulgaria
, which they lost 3-0. In all, Knavs won 65 international caps and scored three goals for Slovenia.
and Markus Anfang
stated that they have not heard from him in a long time - Anfang had planned a meeting with him in Frankfurt in 2008 which he did not attended, Bjelica reportedly phoned him on daily basis for years, but one day Knavs just stopped picking up the phone. It is speculated that he has joined a sect in Portugal which is partly under the influence of the family of his former Kaiserslautern-teammate and "busenfreund", José Dominguez
. Knavs left his ex-wife Daniela two estates, the rest of his money has disappeared along with him.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
.
Club career
He was born in MariborMaribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
and started his professional career playing at the club Olimpija Ljubljana
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1911)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana was a Slovenian association football club based in Ljubljana. The club had traced its origin back to 1911 when it was originally founded as SK Ilirija. It had gone through a series of mergers in the first half of the 20th century before adopting the name Olimpija in 1962...
from the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
in 1993. He played for Olimpija until June 1997 and went on to move abroad by signing with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n club Tirol Innsbruck
FC Tirol Innsbruck
FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association footballclub from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared....
after being noticed by Kurt Jara
Kurt Jara
Kurt Jara is a retired Austrian footballer.-Club career:Jara started his professional career with local side FC Wacker Innsbruck before moving to Spanish outfit Valencia CF in 1973. After two seasons in La Liga he joined German Bundesliga team MSV Duisburg where he spent 5 seasons and reached the...
, the club's head coach at the time. Playing for Olimpija, Knavs appeared in 70 domestic league
PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije
Slovenian First Football League also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the main football league in Slovenia, and was formed in 1991 after Slovenia became an independent country. From 1920 until the end of the 1990–91 season, the Slovenian Republic League was a lower division of the Yugoslavian...
matches and scored five goals for the club in the league. He also won the Slovenian championship twice with the club, in 1994 and 1995.
Knavs won two consecutive champions titles in the Austrian Bundesliga
Austrian Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA.The Austrian Bundesliga, which began...
with Tirol Innsbruck in 2000 and 2001 before he went on to sign with German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
in July 2001. He played for Kaiserslautern in the next three seasons, appearing in 64 Bundesliga matches and scoring three goals for the club in the league before leaving it for another Bundesliga team, VfL Bochum
VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum, is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding to World War II:...
, in June 2004. He spent only one season with Bochum and left the club after their relegation to the Second Bundesliga at the end of the 2004-05 season, making 26 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal for the club in the league. He subsequently returned to Austria by signing with Red Bull Salzburg in July 2005. He stayed there three seasons, making 30 appearances and scoring one goal.
Statistics
|-|1993–94||rowspan="4"|Olimpija
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1911)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana was a Slovenian association football club based in Ljubljana. The club had traced its origin back to 1911 when it was originally founded as SK Ilirija. It had gone through a series of mergers in the first half of the 20th century before adopting the name Olimpija in 1962...
||rowspan="4"|PrvaLiga||8||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994–95||18||2||||||||||2||0||||
|-
|1995–96||22||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||21||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||rowspan="4"|Innsbruck
FC Tirol Innsbruck
FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association footballclub from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared....
||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga||32||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||21||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||29||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||31||1||||||||||2||0||||
|-
|2001–02||rowspan="3"|Kaiserslautern
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
||23||0||2||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||25||1
|-
|2002–03||16||2||3||0||colspan="2"|—||2||0||21||2
|-
|2003–04||25||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||1||0||27||1
|-
|2004–05||Bochum
VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum, is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding to World War II:...
||26||1||2||0||1||0||2||0||31||1
|-
|2005–06||rowspan="3"|Salzburg||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||28||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08||2||0||||||||||||||||
70||5||||||||||||||||
143||7||||||||||||||||
90||4||8||1||1||0||5||0||104||5
303||16||||||||||||||||
International career
Knavs went on to make his debut for the Slovenian national teamSlovenia national football team
The Slovenia national football team is the national football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. The team played their first match in 1992 after the split of Yugoslavia in 1991....
playing as a substitute in the final ten minutes of their friendly match against Iceland
Iceland national football team
The Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition....
on 5 February 1998 during an international friendly tournament in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. He became a regular in the Slovenian national team already during the same year and subsequently appeared in ten out of possible twelve matches in the qualifying session for the Euro 2000. He also managed to score one goal in the team's away match against Georgia
Georgia national football team
The Georgia national football team is the national association football team of Georgia and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation. The Georgian team's first match took place in 1990, while Georgia was still part of the Soviet Union. The team have attempted to qualify for each major...
that ended in a 1-1 draw. The Slovenian team surprisingly qualified for the finals after beating Ukraine
Ukraine national football team
The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After Ukrainian Independence and breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992...
3-2 on aggregate in the play-offs. Knavs also appeared in two group matches at the final Euro 2000 tournament, playing as a substitute in the last 22 minutes of the second match against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
as well as all 90 minutes in the final group match against Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
. With two points scored, Slovenia finished last out of four teams in their group and was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.
He continued to play for the Slovenian national team in the qualifying session for the 2002 World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
, appearing in nine out of possible twelve qualifying matches and scoring one goal in the team's away match against Russia
Russia national football team
The Russia national football team represents Russia in association football and is controlled by the Russian Football Union , the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home grounds are Luzhniki Stadium, Lokomotiv Stadium , and Petrovsky Stadium in St.Petersburg and their head coach is...
that ended in a 1-1 draw. Slovenia went on to qualify for their second consecutive major tournament after beating Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
3-2 on aggregate in the play-offs. Knavs was also part of the Slovenian team at the 2002 World Cup finals and appeared in two group matches before the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by finishing last out of four teams in their group, scoring no points. He played the entire first match against Spain and was also a starting player in the second match against South Africa
South Africa national football team
The South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is Soccer City, known as FNB Stadium due to a naming rights deal, in...
, but was substituted in the 60th minute.
With the Slovenian national team, he also appeared in seven out of possible ten matches in the qualifying session for the Euro 2004 and scored one goal in the team's 3-1 victory over Israel
Israel national football team
The Israel national football team is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association .Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate...
at home. The Slovenian team did not manage to qualify for the finals after being defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Croatia
Croatia national football team
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...
in the play-offs. He also appeared in seven out of possible ten matches in the qualifying session for the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, where the Slovenian team finished only fourth in their group, behind Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
, Norway and Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
.
He made his international comeback in August 2006 after ten months of absence from the national team, playing all 90 minutes in Slovenia's friendly match against Israel. His last match for national team was during qualifying campaign for the Euro 2008 in their first qualifier against Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...
, which they lost 3-0. In all, Knavs won 65 international caps and scored three goals for Slovenia.
Private life
In May 2010 it appeared that Knavs has been missing since 2008 when his contract with Salzburg ended. Former Kaiserslautern-teammates and friends Nenad BjelicaNenad Bjelica
Nenad Bjelica is a former Croatian football player and currently coach who played for Albacete Balompié, Real Betis and Kaiserslautern. Bjelica played as midfielder.-Career:...
and Markus Anfang
Markus Anfang
Markus Anfang is a German footballer who plays for Eintracht Trier.-Career:Anfang's career began in the late 80s at the northern Cologne low tier club KSV Heimersdorf. His first steps in the professional football league were done in 1995 with Fortuna Düsseldorf...
stated that they have not heard from him in a long time - Anfang had planned a meeting with him in Frankfurt in 2008 which he did not attended, Bjelica reportedly phoned him on daily basis for years, but one day Knavs just stopped picking up the phone. It is speculated that he has joined a sect in Portugal which is partly under the influence of the family of his former Kaiserslautern-teammate and "busenfreund", José Dominguez
José Dominguez
José Manuel Martins Dominguez is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger.A diminutive player with above-average technical skills and speed, he surprisingly started playing professional football not in his own country but in England with Birmingham City; he also had...
. Knavs left his ex-wife Daniela two estates, the rest of his money has disappeared along with him.
International goals
- Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 1999-03-27 Boris Paichadze Stadium Boris Paichadze StadiumThe Boris Paichadze National Stadium , also known as the Dinamo Stadium, is a football stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. It is the home stadium of FC Dinamo Tbilisi. The stadium was built in 1976 by Georgian architect Gia Kurdiani. Before then Dinamo's stadium was a smaller ground with a maximum...
, TbilisiTbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1-1 1-1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualification 2 2001-03-24 Luzhniki Stadium Luzhniki StadiumThe Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow, or briefly Luzhniki Stadium , is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 78,360 seats, all covered. The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, previously called the Central Lenin Stadium...
, MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
1-1 1-1 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualification 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....3 2003-09-06 Stadion Bežigrad Stadion BezigradBežigrad Stadium , also known as the Bežigrad Central Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It has been closed since 2008. Joc Pečečnik, a Slovenian multimillionaire, plans to renovate it starting in January 2011....
, LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
2-0 3-1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
Olimpija Ljubljana
- Prva liga: 1993-94Slovenian PrvaLiga 1993-94-Season 1993-1994:The season started on August 22, 1993 and ended on June 12, 1994.*Each team plays a total of 30 matches.-Final table:-External links:* '* '...
, 1994-95Slovenian PrvaLiga 1994-95-Season 1994-1995:The season started on August 7, 1994 and ended on May 31, 1995.*Each team plays a total of 30 matches.-Final table:-External links:* '* '...
- Runner-up: 1995-96Slovenian PrvaLiga 1995-96The Slovenian PrvaLiga 1995-96 was the fifth season of Slovenian top division football. The season started on July 30, 1995 and ended on June 8, 1996 with each team playing a total of 36 matches.-Final table:-External links:* '...
- Runner-up: 1995-96
- Slovenian CupSlovenian CupThe Slovenian Football Cup , is the top knockout tournament of Slovenian football and the second most important football competition in Slovenia after the Slovenian PrvaLiga championship...
: 1995-96Slovenian Cup 1995-96-First round:-Round of 16:-Quarter-finals:-Semi-finals:-First leg:-Second leg:...
Tirol Innsbruck
- Bundesliga: 1999-00Austrian Football Bundesliga 1999-00Statistics of Austrian Football Bundesliga in the 1999/2000 season.-League standings:-References:...
, 2000-01Austrian Football Bundesliga 2000-01Statistics of Austrian Football Bundesliga in the 2000–01 season.-League standings:... - ÖFB-CupAustrian CupThe Austrian Cup, in German: ÖFB-Cup is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB.It has been held since 1919, with the exception of the time of the Anschluss between 1939 and 1945 and the period between 1950 and 1958 when the competition was deemed of...
:- Runner-up: 2001
External links
- Player profile at fussballdaten.de
- Player profile at national-football-teams.com
- Player profile at NZSFootball Association of SloveniaThe Football Association of Slovenia is the governing body of football in Slovenia. It organizes the following football leagues and cups: 1st division , 2nd division , 3rd division East, 3rd division West, Slovenian Cup - Hervis, Slovenian Women's National League, etc. It is also responsible for...
- Player profile at prvaliga.net
- Knavs missing? - Sportnet.at
- Player profile at transfermarkt.de
- Player profile at worldfootball.net