Matjaž Kek
Encyclopedia
Matjaž Kek is a former Slovenia
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 footballer and former manager of the Slovenia national team
Slovenia 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....

.

Club career

Kek started his professional football career at his home club Maribor
NK Maribor
Nogometni Klub Maribor , commonly referred to as NK Maribor or simply Maribor, is a professional association football club based in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. Founded on 12 December, 1960, Maribor is one of only three football clubs in the country who have never been relegated from...

 in 1979, before moving to the 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 Spittal/Drau
SV Spittal
SV Spittal/Drau is an Austrian association football club, based in Spittal an der Drau, Carinthia. The club founded in 1921 was promoted to the First League in 1982 and won the championchip of the 1983–84 season, however playing in the Bundesliga only until its immediate relegation in 1985...

 in 1985, where he spent 3 seasons. He then transferred to another Austrian club, GAK
Grazer AK
Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletik-Sport Klub , is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria . The football section is one of the most traditional Austrian clubs, most successful in the decade 1995 – 2005...

 of 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...

 where he played for 7 years. After that he returned to Maribor, where from 1995 to 1999 he won 3 Slovenian 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...

 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
NK Maribor
Nogometni Klub Maribor , commonly referred to as NK Maribor or simply Maribor, is a professional association football club based in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. Founded on 12 December, 1960, Maribor is one of only three football clubs in the country who have never been relegated from...

, 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
Slovenia 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....

, which he led to the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

 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.He was succeeded by Slaviša Stojanović
Slaviša Stojanović
Slaviša Stojanović is a Serbian football midfielder who plays for FK Smederevo in the Serbian SuperLiga.-References:* at Transfermarkt.-External links:* at Utakmica.rs...

.
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