Ned Zelic
Encyclopedia
Nedijeljko "Ned" Zelić (ˈzɛːlitɕ) (born 4 July 1971) is a former Australian football (soccer)
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...

 player.

Club career

Zelic started his career in the old Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...

,where he played with clubs Sydney Croatia and Sydney Olympic. In his junior years he played for Croatia Deakin.

Zelic spent most of the 1990s playing in Europe, most notably for Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

 where he reached the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 Final in his first season with the club, losing to Juventus Turin of Italy and won the German 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...

 title in 1995. He had a small stint in the Premier League for QPR
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

, moving for £1.25 million, which was beset by injury and discontent. After just 11 Premier League games for the West London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 club, he departed to Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...

 in Germany
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...

.

After only a few months he signed for AJ Auxerre
AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...

 of France. At Auxerre, he replaced Laurent Blanc
Laurent Blanc
Laurent Robert Blanc is a French association football manager and former player. He is the head coach of the French national team, having replaced Raymond Domenech in the wake of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was previously the manager of Bordeaux...

 who moved to FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

, and participated in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

. In July 1996, Zelic was selected to play for a World All Star team vs. Brazil at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...

 New York. The All Star team was coached by Euro 92 winner with Denmark, Richard Moller Nielsen and consisted of such players as Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...

, George Weah
George Weah
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah is a Liberian humanitarian and politician, and an ex-footballer. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting...

, Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer and star of the France national football team squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...

, Lothar Matthaus
Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus , is a German football manager and former player.In 1990, he was named European Footballer of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year after captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup...

, David Ginola
David Ginola
David Karl Ginola is a French former international football player who has also worked as an actor and model.Ginola was born in Gassin, Var...

 and Fernando Redondo
Fernando Redondo
Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri is a retired Argentine footballer.A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute both defensively and offensively, he played one full decade in La Liga, mainly for Real Madrid, then finished his career in Italy with Milan.Redondo was a member of the Argentine...

. In 1998, Zelic decided to move back to Germany and went on to make 102 appearances for 1860 Munich in the Bundesliga.

In 2002, Zelic moved to Japan to play in the J-League, where he stayed for two years and played under Dutch coaches Hans Ooft
Hans Ooft
Marius Johan Ooft is a Dutch football manager who is the first foreigner to coach Japan national football team. Under Ooft, Japan won AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 1992.-Honors:*AFC Asian Cup Champions - 1992*J. League Cup Champions - 2003...

 and Wim Jansen
Wim Jansen
Wilhelmus Marinus Anthonius Jansen is a Dutch former association football player and manager.- Playing career :He spent most of his playing career with his hometown team, Feyenoord, between 1965 and 1980...

, winning the Japanese Cup with his club Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...

. Zelic signed for FC Wacker Tirol
FC Wacker Tirol
FC Wacker Innsbruck is an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck. The club was formed in June 2002, and plays their home games at Tivoli-Neu. The club regard themselves as the spiritual continuation of the team FC Tirol Innsbruck, who went bankrupt in 2002...

 of Austria in July 2004 and stayed there for one season.

A-League

In 2005, Ned Zelic agreed terms to a two year deal to captain the Newcastle Jets in the Hyundai A-League, where he played out the whole season from central defence. The Jets finished fourth on the league table and lost to the Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners FC
Central Coast Mariners Football Club is a professional football club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. They participate in the A-League and are one of three teams from the state of New South Wales playing in the competition...

 2-1 on aggregate over two legs in the Minor Semi-Final.

Several weeks before the Hyundai A-League season was to commence, it was reported that Zelic required knee surgery which would sideline him for up to three months. Zelic underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee after the semi-finals. Several months later he decided to move back overseas and it was not certain if he would continue his career.

Back Overseas

After being granted a work permit, he signed a one-year deal with Dutch side Helmond Sport
Helmond Sport
Helmond Sport is a Dutch football club, playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie and located in Helmond, Noord-Brabant. The club was founded on July 27, 1967, as a breakaway from the local professional club Helmondia '55, which had gone bankrupt.-History:...

 in August 2006, working again with his former 1860 Munich team mate Gerald Vanenburg
Gerald Vanenburg
Gerald Mervin Vanenburg is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a right winger.He amassed Eredivisie totals of 372 games and 112 goals for Ajax and PSV combined, winning fifteen major titles between the two clubs, including the 1988 European Cup with the latter...

, who was coach there. However, he left Helmond after only two months due to knee problems and considered retirement.

In January 2007, Zelic joined Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

n club FC Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi is a Georgian football team, based in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prominent clubs in Soviet football and a major contender in the Soviet Top League almost immediately after it was established in 1936...

 on a free transfer, where he played under former Czech National Team coach Dusan Uhrin
Dušan Uhrin
Dušan Uhrin is a Czech and Slovak football coach and former player. He was the coach of Slovan Bratislava...

.

He announced his retirement from football in May 2008, after winning the Georgian Championship with Dinamo Tbilisi.

International career

He has played for the Australian youth, Olympic and senior teams,but made himself unavailable in November 1999, in controversial circumstances after disagreements with coach Frank Farina
Frank Farina
Frank Farina OAM is a retired Australian football player. He most currently coaches the Papua New Guinea national football team....

. Upon announcing his retirement, Zelic was quoted as saying, "I love playing for the Socceroos, but I refuse to play for coach Frank Farina". Zelic was captain of the Australian team that competed and finished 4th at the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

.

Despite discussion in The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

newspaper that Zelic was up for a recall to the Australian national side around October 2005, Zelic did not make a return to the side and took up a career in the media. He first appeared as a football analyst on Australian television channel SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

 during the World Cup play-off against Uruguay, and continued this role (alongside Andrew Orsatti
Andrew Orsatti
Andrew Orsatti in Sydney, Australia is a sports presenter and football commentator, based in the United States. After nearly 12 years on free-to-air television in Australia, Orsatti left the Special Broadcasting Service , to take up a position at the global headquarters of US sports giant ESPN...

) during the 2006 FIFA 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...

.

In 2008, Zelic continued as an analyst for SBS Television at the EURO 2008 final, alongside English football commentator Martin Tyler
Martin Tyler
Martin Tyler is an English football commentator who was voted as the FA Premier League Commentator of The Decade...

. He also made appearances for SBS at the World Club Cup in Japan, December 2008 and South Africa 2010.

Zelic was selected in Four Four Two magazine's Top 25 Australian Footballers of All-Time.

Statistics

|-
|1989||rowspan="3"|Sydney Croatia||rowspan="3"|National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...

||8||0||||||||||8||0
|-
|1989/90||2||0||||||||||2||0
|-
|1990/91||26||0||||||||||26||0
|-
|1991/92||Sydney Olympic
Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian football club that plays in the NSW Premier League. It competed in the National Soccer League from 1977 until the league's demise in 2004, having won the championship in 1989–90, 2001–02, the League Cup in 1980, the minor premiership in 2002–03 and the...

||National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...

||16||1||||||||||16||1

|-
|1992/93||rowspan="3"|Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||19||0||||||||||19||0
|-
|1993/94||18||1||||||||||18||1
|-
|1994/95||4||0||||||||||4||0

|-
|1995/96||Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

||Premier League||4||0||||||||||4||0

|-
|1995/96||Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...

||Bundesliga||17||1||||||||||17||1

|-
|1996/97||Auxerre
AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...

||Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

||12||0||||||||||12||0

|-
|1997/98||rowspan="5"|1860 München
TSV 1860 München
Turn- und Sportverein München von 1860, commonly known as TSV 1860 München or 1860 Munich, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. The club's football team plays in the Second Bundesliga, after relegation from the Bundesliga following the 2003–04 season...

||rowspan="5"|Bundesliga||13||0||||||||||13||0
|-
|1998/99||33||1||||||||||33||1
|-
|1999/00||23||2||||||||||23||2
|-
|2000/01||27||0||||||||||27||0
|-
|2001/02||6||0||||||||||6||0

|-
|2002||Kyoto Purple Sanga||J. League 1||1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0
|-
|2002||rowspan="2"|Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...

||rowspan="2"|J. League 1||1||0||1||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|2003||22||2||1||0||7||0||30||2

|-
|2004/05||Wacker Tirol
FC Wacker Innsbruck
FC Wacker Innsbruck was Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol.- History :The Fußball-Club Wacker Innsbruck was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and other now unknown football enthusiasts and adopted club colours of black and...

||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...

||22||0||||||||||22||0

|-
|2005/06||Newcastle United Jets||A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

||21||1||||||||||21||1

|-
|2006/07||Helmond Sport
Helmond Sport
Helmond Sport is a Dutch football club, playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie and located in Helmond, Noord-Brabant. The club was founded on July 27, 1967, as a breakaway from the local professional club Helmondia '55, which had gone bankrupt.-History:...

||Eerste Divisie
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...

||7||0||||||||||7||0

|-
|2006/07||Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi is a Georgian football team, based in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prominent clubs in Soviet football and a major contender in the Soviet Top League almost immediately after it was established in 1936...

||Umaglesi Liga
Umaglesi Liga
The Georgian Top League is the top division of football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football Federation. From 1927 to 1989, the competition was held as a regional tournament within the Soviet Union...

||11||0||||||||||11||0
73||2||||||||||73||2
160||5||||||||||160||5
4||0||||||||||4||0
12||0||||||||||12||0
24||2||2||0||7||0||33||2
22||0||||||||||22||0
7||0||||||||||7||0
11||0||||||||||11||0
313||9||2||0||7||0||322||9
|}
|-
|1991||3||0
|-
|1992||5||0
|-
|1993||5||1
|-
|1994||2||0
|-
|1995||3||0
|-
|1996||0||0
|-
|1997||14||2
|-
!Total||32||3
|}

Honours

With Australia
Australia national football (soccer) team
The Australia national association football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos"...

:
  • FIFA Confederations Cup
    FIFA Confederations Cup
    The FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams...

    : 1997
    1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
    -Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:7 goals Romário5 goals Vladimír Šmicer4 goals Ronaldo-References:...

     (Runners-Up)

With Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi is a Georgian football team, based in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prominent clubs in Soviet football and a major contender in the Soviet Top League almost immediately after it was established in 1936...

:
Umaglesi Liga
Umaglesi Liga
The Georgian Top League is the top division of football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football Federation. From 1927 to 1989, the competition was held as a regional tournament within the Soviet Union...

: 2007-2008
Umaglesi Liga 2007-08
-League standings:-Promotion/relegation play-offs:-References:*...

 (Champions)
With Urawa Reds: J. League Cup
J. League Cup
J. League Cup is a Japanese football competition organized by J. League. It is also known as Yamazaki Nabisco Cup or Nabisco Cup because confectionery/bakery company Yamazaki Nabisco have sponsored the competition since its inception in 1992.It is generally regarded as the Japanese equivalent to...

: 2003 (Cup Winners)
With Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

:
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...

: 1994-1995 (Champions), UEFA Cup 1992-93
UEFA Cup 1992-93
The UEFA Cup 1992–93 was won by Juventus, who beat Borussia Dortmund 6–1 in the final aggregate over, a record score for a UEFA Cup final. It was the third victory in the competition for the Italian team ....

 (Runners-Up)

External links

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