Matjaž Kek

Matjaž Kek

Personal information
Date of birth	(1961-09-09) 9 September 1961
Place of birth	Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Rijeka (manager)
Youth career
–1980	Železničar Maribor
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1980	Železničar Maribor
1980–1985	Maribor	114	(36)
1985–1988	Spittal/Drau
1988–1995	GAK
1995–1999	Maribor	126	(17)
International career
1992	Slovenia	1	(0)
Managerial career
2000	Maribor (assistant/caretaker)
2001	Maribor (assistant/caretaker)
2002–2004	Maribor
2006	Slovenia U15
2006–2007	Slovenia U16
2007–2011	Slovenia
2011–2012	Al-Ittihad
2013–	Rijeka
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Matjaž Kek (born 9 September 1961) is a former Slovenian footballer and current manager of Croatian club HNK Rijeka. He is the former manager of the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Kek started his professional football career at his home club Maribor in 1979, before moving to the Austrian club Spittal/Drau in 1985, where he spent 3 seasons. He then transferred to another Austrian club, GAK of the Austrian Bundesliga where he played for 7 years. After that he returned to Maribor, where from 1995 to 1999 he won 3 Slovenian league 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, 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, which he led to the 2010 FIFA World Cup after beating Russia in the play-offs.

On 24 October 2011, after the unsuccessful UEFA Euro 2012 qualifications, Kek and the Football Association of Slovenia came to a mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract. He was succeeded by Slaviša Stojanović. Kek then became the head coach of Saudi Arabian giants Al Ittihad, however, his brief encounter with the Arabian football finished abruptly when he was sacked couple of weeks later, on 8 February 2012.

On 27 February 2013, after more than a year without coaching, Kek took over Croatian top division club HNK Rijeka. He led Rijeka to the group stage of UEFA Europa League in both the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. He also won the 2013–14 Croatian Football Cup and 2014 Croatian Super Cup, and finished runners-up in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons of the Croatian First Football League.

Personal life

The Kek family always had close ties with NK Maribor. Matjaž's father, Franc Kek, played for Maribor during the early 1960s, earning 50 league appearances for the club and scoring one goal in the process. His son Matjaž (born 1991) is also a footballer.

See also

• NK Maribor players