Ned Zelic facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nedjeljko Zelic | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 4 July 1971 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Centre-back, defensive midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1987 | Canberra FC | |||||||||||||||
| 1988 | AIS | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Sydney Croatia | 36 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Sydney Olympic | 16 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 1992–1995 | Borussia Dortmund | 72 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Queens Park Rangers | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1996 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 20 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Auxerre | 18 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 1997–2001 | 1860 Munich | 102 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Urawa Reds | 23 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Wacker Tirol | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Newcastle Jets | 21 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | Helmond Sport | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 34 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 372 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Australia U-20 | 8 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Australia U-23 | 16 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 1991–1997 | Australia | 34 | (3) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Nedjeljko Zelic (born July 4, 1971), known as Ned Zelic, is a famous Australian former football player. He was known for playing as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder. Ned Zelic spent most of his career playing for top clubs in Europe and Japan, winning important titles along the way. He also proudly represented Australia in many international matches.
Contents
Playing for Clubs
Ned Zelic started his football journey in Australia's old National Soccer League. He played for teams like Sydney Croatia and Sydney Olympic. When he was younger, he played for Croatia Deakin.
Playing in Europe
Ned Zelic spent most of the 1990s playing football in Europe. One of his most important teams was Borussia Dortmund in Germany. In his first season there, his team reached the UEFA Cup Final. They played against Juventus from Italy but unfortunately lost. However, in 1995, he helped Borussia Dortmund win the German Bundesliga title, which is a very big achievement!
He also had a short time playing in England for QPR. He moved there for a club record fee of £1.25 million. But he had some injuries and wasn't happy, so he only played 4 games. After that, he moved back to Germany to play for Eintracht Frankfurt.
After just a few months, he signed with AJ Auxerre in France. At Auxerre, he took the place of a famous player named Laurent Blanc. Ned Zelic also got to play in the UEFA Champions League, which is a huge competition for top European clubs. In July 1996, he was chosen to play for a special World All-Star team against Brazil. This game was held in New York City. The All-Star team had many famous players like Jürgen Klinsmann and Lothar Matthäus. In 1998, Ned Zelic decided to return to Germany. He played 102 games for 1860 Munich in the Bundesliga.
In 2002, he moved to Japan to play in the J1 League. He stayed there for two years and played for Kyoto Purple Sanga and Urawa Reds. He even won the Japanese Cup with Urawa Reds! In July 2004, Ned Zelic signed with FC Wacker Tirol in Austria and played there for one season.
Playing in Australia (A-League)
In 2005, Ned Zelic agreed to a two-year deal to be the captain of the Newcastle Jets in Australia's A-League. He played the whole season as a central defender. His team finished fourth in the league. They lost to the Central Coast Mariners in the semi-finals.
After the semi-finals, Ned Zelic had surgery on his knee. A few months later, he decided to move back overseas. It was not clear if he would keep playing football.
More European Adventures
In August 2006, after getting a work permit, he signed a one-year deal with a Dutch team called Helmond Sport. He worked with his former teammate, Gerald Vanenburg, who was the coach there. However, he left Helmond after only two months because of his knee problems. He even thought about retiring from football.
In January 2007, Ned Zelic joined a team in Georgia called FC Dinamo Tbilisi. He played under a former Czech National Team coach. He officially announced his retirement from football in May 2008. This was after he won the Georgian Championship with Dinamo Tbilisi.
Ned Zelic was chosen as one of the Top 25 Australian Footballers of All-Time by FourFourTwo magazine.
Playing for Australia
Ned Zelic played for Australia's youth, Olympic, and senior national teams. He was the captain of the Australian team that finished 4th at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In November 1999, he decided not to play for the national team anymore because he had some disagreements with the coach at the time.
About His Life
Ned Zelic went to Wanniassa High School in Canberra, ACT. He is the older brother of Ivan Zelic, who used to be a footballer and is now an actor. His sister, Lucy Zelic, is a television presenter.
Honours and Awards
Ned Zelic won several important titles during his career:
With Dinamo Tbilisi
- Umaglesi Liga: 2007–2008 (Georgian League Champions)
With Urawa Reds
- J.League Cup: 2003 (Japanese League Cup Winners)
With Borussia Dortmund
- Bundesliga: 1994–1995 (German League Champions)
- UEFA Cup: runners-up 1992–93 (Finished second in the UEFA Cup)
With Australia
- FIFA Confederations Cup: runner-up, 1997 (Finished second in the Confederations Cup)
See also
In Spanish: Ned Zelić para niños
